While looking at day trips near Copenhagen, Chris looked at the map and noticed that we could visit Sweden on a quick 40-minute train ride, so we decided to do this on Friday. Malmo is a coastal city in southern Sweden, and lots of people take the train across a bridge-tunnel running between Copenhagen and Malmo. Malmo is quite small and quaint, with a population of about 340,000 people. We spent the day walking around the city, visiting its single Christmas market, even buying several pairs of pants that were on sale for Kaia at H&M (since Sweden is H&M’s headquarters), and ending the day with a visit to the Disgusting Food Museum.

We walked through a large local park and made a quick stop at Slottstradgardens Kafe, which definitely evoked the “fika” vibe that Sweden is globally famous for. I learned about the concept of fika when a small chain of Swedish cafes opened in New York in the 2010s. Fika is like Denmark’s “hygge” in that it’s a concept for taking a break for a coffee/tea and snack, while also relaxing and enjoying time with friends, family, or colleagues, and having meaningful conversation. It’s considered an important part of the day (often happening twice in the day) that refreshes the mind and strengthens relationships. We came in when the cafe was not yet officially opened, but the manager was so warm and hospitable that she still invited us to sit down and order anything that was ready. We just wanted some hot drinks, so we got a flat white and a large inviting cup of mumma, which is a traditional Swedish Christmas spiced mixed drink. It’s traditionally alcoholic with a blend of a dark beer, light beer or ale, and a fortified wine. But the version the cafe was serving was non-alcoholic and made of apples, so it was like almost like a spiced, very thinned out apple sauce with some citrus thrown in. It was really soothing, especially since it was chilly outside. The whole vibe and decor, together with the warm hospitality of the manager, was all about the fika, and a very nice welcome to Sweden.

A highlight of our visit to Malmo was their public library. We’ve visited a lot of different libraries across the world, but this library definitely takes the cake when it comes to how warm and welcoming it is to young children and families. There’s a very colorful entry way for children, which even includes a (much lower height – watch your head!) entrance that Kaia happily ran through. It requires everyone who enters the area either remove their shoes or put on shoe coverings (so that the babies can crawl around and not worry about dirt). The floor is fully carpeted in thick, warm, brightly colored carpeting. And there are numerous rooms with books in a large array of languages, organized by age level. Age-appropriate-by-room play and reading spaces have been built, which include tunnels, bean bags, jumpy spaces, and endless stuffed animals and little friends. In the restroom, there is an adult toilet and a toddler toilet, with ample space for changing baby diapers. To really top it off to show how welcoming they are, there’s even a little kitchen area where you can prepare bottles and re-heat food. I’ve never been in a library where food and beverage were welcome!

For lunch, we stopped at a more locals’ spot for Swedish meatballs served with a rich cream sauce, topped with generous lingonberries and served with little potatoes. I remember having Swedish meatballs at Ikea and another restaurant and thinking that other than the lingonberries, this would be a pretty easy dish to re-create. But then I thought about how much heavy cream the authentic recipes use, and I wasn’t sure I’d be that comfortable having that much heavy cream-based sauce in the house; I’d rather have someone else make it for me. The meatballs are traditionally half pork, half beef (or veal); these were 100 percent pork, and they were dense and well seasoned, perfect for today’s wintery weather.

One funny thing that Chris was not very thrilled about was that all the “glogg” served at the Christmas market was non-alcoholic. Chris subsequently found out that Sweden does not allow alcoholic drinks in public areas. While it was not ideal and was likely the only Christmas market ever we’d been to where we’d had non-alcoholic mulled “wine,” the one cup we did get of hot apple must was topped with a really delicious vegan whipped cream that was made from a base of lentils. If you didn’t tell me beforehand, I never would have guessed that it was not real cream, nor that it was made from lentils!

Sweden is also the home of Oatly. Swedish people, as we were told at the Disgusting Food Musuem, absolutely love their dairy and all things like it. So when we were served lactose-free milk after tasting all the disgusting foods during the tastings portion of our visit, we were both shocked to taste how delicious and creamy it was… even without the lactose. If there’s a place that is very plant-based/focused and friendly, it is definitely Sweden.