Day 9- Malmö, Sweden

Hej från Sverige! Today we hit the town in Malmö, but first things first: Vegan kanelbullar.

Emmie is a master baker! She has been baking since the age of seven and makes it look damn easy. She fulfilled my wildest dreams by baking vegan kanelbullar last night while I "helped" (aka stood around and gawked). 

Here in Sweden, they use "fresh" yeast in a cube, unlike the dry yeast packets we use in the States.

Adding melted margarine, soyamjölk, sugar, and spices.

Watching it rise!

In addition to being an awesome baker, Emmie is a goddess of the flea market. Everything in her home is an amazing and beautiful bargain. Perhaps she will allow me to be her apprentice? Anyway, she decided to make one half of the kanelbullar flavored with some hazelnuts. So she broke out this cute little vintage nut grinder! Look at it go!

One of Emmie and Alex's cats, Cookie, is totally not amused.

Spreadin' that buttah! Actually, sugar, cloves, and cardamom in vegan margarine.

Roll it up, bake it up, eat it up, yum!

I didn't get any pics once they baked- what, you expect me to stop stuffing them in my mouth long enough to take a photo? Get real!

After eating delicious leftover kanelbullar for breakfast, we caught a ride into Malmö with Emmie's mom. She has two adorable doggies who immediately became my new best friends! Here's Doris, who's still a baby at 5 months and is totally crazy and hilarious:

And Cece, who is four years old and a little calmer. She just loved sitting on my lap quietly and watching the scenery go by the window:

I was glad to hear from Emmie that there are virtually no dog shelters in Sweden as the concept of 'unwanted' dogs is completely foreign to the Swedish. In recent years, however, some Swedish organizations have brought over dogs from overcrowded shelters in Ireland and other European countries to help find homes for the dogs here! It's about 4-5,000 SEK (around $500-625) to adopt such a dog, which is about as much as you would pay to buy a purebred anyway.

Here is downtown Malmö! Apparently the heart of Malmö is just along one street, so even though it's Sweden's third largest city, it's still quite small and cozy.

Malmö was only half-open today (although this street later filled up with idlers and shoppers) because today is, as Emmie calls it, "Jesus goes to heaven day," celebrating the ascension.

Emmie spotted this paradox of an ice cream shop next door to the diabetes association.

OWWWW!!! These fountains squirt water out of every orifice except the one that's supposed to squirt water. 

I'm happy to report that in the seven years since I was last in Sweden, veganism has exploded! Here in Malmö, it all started with this shop: Astrid och aporna (Astrid and the monkeys), which sells all vegetarian goods and probably 90% vegan goods. After their initial success, several vegan and vegan-friendly establishments have opened up. Additionally, the people behind Astrid och aporna have worked hand-in-hand with local businesses and restaurants to encourage them to carry vegan and vegetarian options- with great success! I'm happy to say that Malmö has more vegan food than I can enjoy in just one day. If you'd said that about Sweden seven years ago, I would have keeled over in shock. 

Yum yum!

DOUBLE yum yum!

Everything here is vegan except for the salad dressing at the lunch buffet! 

(Keep in mind when you see Swedish prices that they have not adopted the Euro. The Swedish crown is about eight to the US dollar- or nearly flush with the Hong Kong dollar, if that helps you with the conversion!)

This kiosk in a wonderful little canal-side park is one of the businesses that has adopted a vegetarian menu on Astrid och aporna's suggestion. And WOW, what a menu! Scroll down for food pics!

The fountain opposite the kiosk.

Our lovely little dining area!

Here's the veggie menu! Notice everything with an asterisk is vegan. Wowweee!

Vegan cheeseburger!

Vegan onion rings!

Back in the city center- there are tons of announcements about the EU elections in June, when everyone elects their country's representative to EU headquarters in Brussels.

Astrid and aporna has been so successful that a few short weeks ago they opened Astrid och aporna Kök ('kitchen'), selling yummy vegan treats!

I got the French potato salad with spicy chorizo! Astrid och aporna makes their own brand of chorizo, which is carried by many of the restaurants that now offer vegan options. At Christmas, they make their own vegan ham tube!

Emmie's sundried tomato pesto sammich!

Alex's vegan salami and cheese sammich!

Alex and Emmie then caught the bus back to their cute little village. Thank you guys so much for your hospitality and, of course, the awesome vegan tour of Malmö! 

Emmie explained this to me last night, and I saw this sticker today- bestiality is technically still legal in Sweden. Those caught abusing animals sexually can only be charged with cruelty to animals- so obviously there is a campaign right now to correct this oversight.

My peeps have some ka-razy names.

Since Emmie and Alex live waay out in the country and I have an early flight to Stockholm, I'm staying in the middle of Malmö city tonight. Look at this cute little room!

Here's the TV room, where you can sit and knit for a bit if you... grit your tits...

I'm just cooling my heels a bit after a long day of pounding the pavement... but since it stays light till 10 here, and I'm just a few short blocks to the park surrounding the old castle, I may stroll over and take a few more photos. Stay tuned!

Stockholm tomorrow! The first place on this damn tour I've actually visited before! Wheeee!