Last Friday I packed a suitcase, loaded up the stroller, and made my way with Petra down to the bottom of Sweden for a long weekend visiting friends. It was my first trip to that part of the country–a region that is often the object of some disdain in other areas of Sweden–and I have to admit that I was prepared to be somewhat underwhelmed by the city of Malmö, where I was to stay for three days. Instead I fell in love almost immediately, and felt a little twinge of regret when it was time yesterday morning to come back home. I would have liked to be able to stay a while longer and to do some more exploring.

For the first year-and-a-half that I was in Sweden, we lived in a suburb of Stockholm and I spent a good deal of time in the city itself. I was reasonably content there, and I will acknowledge that it has some beautiful and fascinating sights to see, but–unlike so many people I know–I have never felt particularly fond of it overall. Since we moved up north I’ve been back down that way at least a couple of times a year, and each time I’m there I find myself vowing anew that I couldn’t be paid enough to live there again. Even though I have a good time seeing friends and shopping (and eating at Pizza Hut), I am always more than ready to come back home after a couple of days.

Visiting Malmö was something else entirely, however. The city has a positive, friendly energy that I have never felt in Stockholm, and the Old Town in particular has a charm that I wished I could pack up and bring back to Skellefteå. A weekend there was not nearly enough, and I am already trying to talk Olof into making a trip there with me later in the year. In just the space of a weekend it started to feel like “my place,” and I’m eager to share it with him.