OLD AND NEW IN MALMö - STOCKHOLM TO MALMö - DAY 14

Up too soon at 5:30AM. We pack our things, say a teary goodbye to Anna Karin, and catch an Uber to the train station. Mom and Dad are off to Göteborg to see more family friends, and I’m off to Malmö to see Leo. Like Isa and Alex in Paris, I haven’t seen him in 10 years- I’m really excited.

I have a lot more time to kill since my train left an hour after Mom and Dad’s. I see a Starbucks, and I have a gift card, so I thought it would be a good idea to buy my lunch sandwich there for the train. Guess what? Sweden doesn’t accept American gift cards to Starbucks...They only do that in London. 99Kr later, ugh. Oh well, it would’ve been that price for a sandwich anywhere in the train station or on the train itself. Too bad.

I get on my train at 9:30AM, and knock out until 12:30PM. I think from the excitement of the wedding, constantly traveling, being sick, and not enough sleep the night before, finally caught up with me. I woke up, riding backwards, to rain and then sunshine as we passed in between cities, trees and farmland. I took the speed train, and at times, we went so fast, it was actually a bit dizzying. For the most part, it was really beautiful. I had my neck craned to the right, staring out the window as everything rushed by me, in reverse.

I arrived in Malmö and met Leo. It’s been so long- He’s totally grown, and has tattoos, uses snus, (Swedish tobacco that you put under your lips), and has a man bun. His face stills looks the same though. We walked through the town, and he gave me the whole history and tour of the city. On our way, we passed a few of their family's old apartments, and one of their restaurants. We eventually come to the old town main square.

Malmö had so many old, classic buildings, but a lot of them have been torn down and rebuilt to be modernized since the 70s. It has quite an eclectic mix of architecture.

We grab a seat at the main square in old town. I treat him and myself to two beers, and we catch up on life for at least two hours. We talk jobs, family, significant others, our generation, film, restaurants- Everything.

You’ll be happy to hear this, but for the first time this whole trip, my stomach actually feels 100%. I think it was that last antibiotic I took the previous night- I’ve felt perfect since

Hopefully I’m over whatever I had...I’ll keep you posted.

Leo tells me him and his sister Lova are possibly going into the family business of co-owning their new restaurant with their parents. Lova has a good job, and their brother Ludde is a lawyer for copyrights and patents- Apparently he’s making way too much money for his own good haha! Leo is still kicking ass in the restaurant business, but is considering something else, like PR in gaming. I told him I’d reach out to Tommy without any promises, but of course to help. Their Dad had a close call with his health, but has completely recovered. Since the family opened their new restaurant, they haven’t had any time to process it. They’re all workhorses.

We carry on our tour of the city, and walk past the canals. Leo tells me the Swedish King, Gustav III had an obsession with France, and brought a lot of art, culture, and language from France into Sweden, including parks. We passed through many of these parks and squares, as that’s what Malmö seems to be entirely made up of.

We get to Leo, and his girlfriend’s apartment- it’s STUNNING. It’s a totally perfect place, and in a great area. We take some coffee here of course, before meeting his parents Lotta and Bjorn. We talk more about life, and wake up from the beer. We do this for about an hour, and then Lotta calls for us to come over.

We walk through more of Malmö, and discover an ostentatious Protestant Church in the center of the city, built in the 1800s. It has such a unique look, but no one knows why it was built the way it was. We get to Lotta and Bjorn’s.

It’s a magnificent and massive apartment. Lotta embraces me right away as she’s always been a force. Bjorn is moving a bit slower, but still completely intelligent and totally sweet as usual. They have a little Doxen dog from France who has a full personality, and huge puppy eyes. Despite my allergies and me being careful, she takes to me right away, and sits by me.

I catch up with the whole family as we drink champagne and eat olives. We discuss the family, my Dad’s very famous rosemary chicken that he used to cook for everybody back in the day, and my upcoming trip to Denmark. It’s like no time had passed, and I feel like I’m back in Ekerö.

We head to dinner where Leo’s girlfriend, Moa, will meet us. We pass another one of their soup restaurants on the way, and come into a small, and very cool new place. They basically serve tapas, but not Spanish food. I let Lotta and Bjorn take the reigns on what to order.

We have beer, red wine, more red wine, tacos, lamb, bread, egg, fish, chicken and everything in between. They basically ordered the entire menu to share amongst the four of us. Every. Single. Thing. Is absolutely delicious.

We make five as Moa comes in to join us. She’s made of sugar, because she is truly the sweetest person I’ve ever met. Her and Leo are a really cute couple and balance each other well. He’s a bit younger and can be down for whatever. She’s conservative, mature, kind and immensely generous. She’s in equestrian therapy, and loves taking care of people.

We enjoy every minute of our dinner. The food and company were all 10/10.

Lotta grabs the bill. Of course, I try to contribute, but both Leo and Bjorn subtly shake their heads at me. Instead I thank them profusely.

We head back, and discuss the possibility of working in Sweden, Isa,

and Alex, and visiting France at Bo and Lisa’s new place. Before parting ways, Bjorn hugs me long and hard and tells me to give my love to my parents. He misses all of us like we miss them. Lotta hugs me as well, and I thank her again a million times for dinner.

Leo, Moa, and I carry on to their apartment. We settle with some tea and more conversation at their place. Moa got a new iPad, so I put on my blue Apple fleece and help her set it up. They had to translate a few things for me in Swedish though.

We call it a night at it’s 1AM. I crash on the floor on their air mattress with rain outside the living room window. Moa has work in the morning with her equestrian and occupational therapy work, and Leo and I will wake up for breakfast. Stomach still feels great after all this. That’s a good sign. Talk to you soon from Denmark!