One Day in Lund

Jeremy invited me and the girls to tag along with him on a collecting trip, and we jumped at the chance to visit another part of Sweden. He needed isopods from an area near Lund, one of Sweden's oldest cities. It's approximately 5 IKEAs hours south of where we live in Tjärnö.

That's Lund at the bottom. We live up by the border with Norway.

Lund is very close to Malmö, Sweden's 3rd largest city. It's also home to Lund University, Scandinavia's oldest university, whose early history began in 1425. Today, it's home to about 40,000 students and is considered one of the top universities in Europe.

We learned on this trip that this is what Swedish graduation hats look like. Who knew?!

We arrived on a grey and drizzly Sunday evening. The town was quiet, most of the shops and restaurants were closed for the night. We found a place was both open AND popular, so we gave it a shot. I believe I had the best veggie burger of my life (and as a Californian and former long-time vegetarian, that's saying something). The place was sort of like a non-chain version of the restaurant Islands, so we felt right at home.

Of course we ate at a place called "Surf Shack"... in Sweden.

The next day, Jeremy was up early and off to fetch little ocean beasties. That left us girls one precious day to explore the city. After our disastrous day in Hamburg, I left the hotel with back-up plans upon back-up plans... prepared for the worst, while still hoping for the best.

Fairy tale entrance ahead.

Trying out the seating in a city square.

Many people rode bikes, we saw people carrying groceries, flowers, even a dog, in their bicycle baskets. Lund is absolutely beautiful. Every step felt like walking into the past, or possibly into an episode of Game of Thrones; Lund was founded around the year 1000!

Old town girls.

We started at the town's most famous attraction: Domkyrkan, or Dome Church. It's Lund's magnificent, thousand-year-old cathedral. It's size and beauty were overwhelming.

Lund's Domkyrkan

Visiting the crypt under the church.

Next stop, a local bakery for a quick mid-morning fika. As with many Swedish restaurants, the coffee was strong and the cups were bottomless. Our fingers were coated with buttery deliciousness after we each scarfed down a freshly baked croissant.

After a bit of a walking around the city (pass the train station, check out a little flea market, make a quick stop in the gigantic toy store), we stumbled upon another church. This was the Alhelgonakyrkan (All Saints Church). Although I don't know much about architectural styles, the differences between this church and the cathedral were immediately apparent. (The All Saints is gothic revival style, and only about 100 years old, while the cathedral is Romanesque and ten times older. Thank you, Internet.)

Checking out the balcony seats.

We found the Sunday school play area!

We had planned to return to the Cathedral for the noontime show of its astronomical clock. Jeremy finished his work and met us there.

Little figures come out of the door and circle around Mary and Jesus.

After the clock show, we headed over to the Saluhallen for lunch. It reminded us all of Liberty Public Market in San Diego: many different types of cuisine, all under a single roof.

Pastries!

So. Much. Cheese.  Mind = blown.

In the afternoon, we chose an outdoor museum called Kulturen. Most of the museum consists of a variety of buildings dating from the Middle Ages all the way up to the present-day. It was perfect for short-attention-span visitors, such as our children. They could run up to each one, explore the interior, and move on to the next. Being outdoors on a gorgeous day was an added bonus.

And you thought Ancient Runes was just something J.K. Rowling made up.

A little bit of dress up.

Jeremy had to get in on the dress-up action.

A little more dress-up in a room full of old toys.

I think this was Miracle Max's place.

Ye Olde Smithy.

Jeremy's favorite was the dark and creepy toy tour.

I wish we'd had one more day. Lund is a gem and there were dozens of little shops I'd have liked to poke around in and cafes I'd like to sit in. Savannah kept saying, "We need to come back!" I'm not sure we'll make it back to Lund, but it would certainly be worth trying.