Have you ever crossed the sea by train? Between Denmark and Sweden it is possible and the cities of Lund and Malmö are both about an hour away from Copenhagen, so I decided to cross the sea and change countries for a day.
I have a friend living in Malmö, but she was working and would only be available to be with me from 5pm, so I went to Lund first. Lund is a small university town, and its biggest attractions are the cathedral (with an amazing astrological calendar), the university, the botanical garden (which I haven’t visited) and Sweden’s second oldest open-air museum (the first it’s Skansen, which I visited in April with my aunt).
The visit to Kulturen, the open-air museum, was quite interesting. Coincidentally, a guided tour in English took place 20min after my arrival. Open-air museums were an idea at the beginning of the industrial revolution to preserve the memory of how people lived before in the countryside and in the city and examples of various social backgrounds. There are also examples of other buildings, such as a church.
In the church the most important people were ahead and the poorest behind. The rows of seats even had family names written and the front row had “double benches” to look forward to while the priest was at the altar, and to look back as he went to the pulpit. This was also a way of being seen by the rest of society.
We visited two country houses, the first from a rich family and the second from a less affluent family. Both had only one room with a fireplace, so in winter everyone lived in that room and in summer they could occupy the whole house. The wealthy house had two nonstructural ceiling beams. The first, by the door, was the limit to which beggars could enter. Since the winter was harsh, no one could refuse the peasants shelter, so they could enter the houses to warm themselves but only to such a point. The other was the one that divided the sleeping area of men and women.
The town houses were “the ones we already know,” many small rooms, libraries, music rooms, dining rooms, and bedrooms, all interconnected.
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I then took the train to Malmö. I still had about half an hour before Sara, my friend, to arrive, so I decided to go to Malmö Castle, a star-shaped fortress with a moat and a beautiful park around it.
When I met Sara in the city center, I realized that during this week the Malmö Festival was taking place and that she had arranged to meet some friends for dinner at the food trucks set up for the festival and then watch the concert that evening. Along the way I could see little of the city and photograph less.
