Helsingborg for beginners!

Helsingborg is going to be my residence for the next six months. This is for sure now. In this context it is very important for me to get to know the city, since I haven’t been there so far, so everything is totally new.

However, before I have even start doing the research about the city by myself, the first opportunity to discover Helsingborg was given by the institution I will go there for, Lund University. They organized a city tour for all the new students in the city, including me of course. It was a tour lasting about two hours when we walked around the centrum of the city, including most of the basic information, not only for students, but also for everyone new in Helsingborg, or for any tourist coming here for a city break.

Here are some of the things I discovered:

There are projects to change the city plan. This wants to say that the city was developed in the middle of the 20th century, being designed for easy access, by cars, to the city centrum. Now, because the focus has changed towards a greener and more eco-friendly environment, with more walking and cycling, the plans are to take the main street and the train rails underground, leaving a more aired centrum, and an easy access, by foot and/or bike…at least in the southern part of the city, the one we began the tour with. For the moment there are tunnels for pedestrians to go under the rails and road to the other side.

Southern part of Helsingborg, called Söder, has not a very good reputation and it is not very attractive. It seems that here is the district where most of the immigrants and homeless people live. From my little experience with the city, I also consider the Northern part of Helsingborg a lot more beautiful and interesting than the southern part, with the beautiful seaside, the Sofiero Castle and the green forests, to mention just a few.

Want cheap food?…then visit Gustav Adolf Market. It is located in the same area, Söder, next to the church with the same name, Gustav Adolf Church. As I understood, the products here are cheaper than other places around the city, but in the same time you have to check them for the quality.

There are two main churches in Helsingborg: Gustav Adolf Church, in Söder, and Sankta Maria Church, in centrum of the city; churches that can be visited as well.

In Helsingborg lived Linda Nilsson. At Bruksgatan 5, in the central Helsingborg, lived Hida Nilsson, one of the famous angel makers in Sweden. She is believed to have killed eight babies before she was sentenced to death. The babies were given to her, by the mothers who got pregnant outside their marriages or before the marriage, in an era when this kind of behavior was harshly condemned (http://www.algonet.se/~hogman/angel_maker.htm).

Tura! Helsingborg is the closest Swedish point to Denmark. From here are only 20 minutes ride by ferry to the Danish city of Helsingør. Now, as it was told to us, Swedes have a funny tradition and enjoy taking the ferry between these two cities! Until here nothing funny or unusual; the funny thing is that they don’t get off on the Danish coast, but ride the ferry back to Sweden, and then again to Denmark, and so on!!!! This is because they use to enjoy the time on the ferry together with friends, drinking and eating, and only when they are full, they decide to get off the ferry, most likely in the Swedish port. This is because the drinks are cheaper on the ferry than in any of these cities. This kind of trip has even a name, which is Tura! So, whenever you are invited to a tura, you know what to expect.

Kärnan Tower, is the high tower oversees the city from its top. It is a symbol of the city, representing and lasting from the old times when it was used in defending Helsingborg from the enemies’ assaults, especial during the war with Denmark.

Kullagatan Street. It is the oldest shopping street in Sweden. Although not a very long street, it is very crowded with people looking to explore the multitude of shops. The street looks very nice especially due to the many flags hang up.

Fika! Not the last, I found out which is the most loved social activity in Helsingborg, and generally in Sweden; it’s called Fika, and it defines the moments when people use to sip a coffee and have a cinnamon cookie, but it also require that those having these two things engage in friendly discussions to each other.

These are the first things I learned during my first time exploring Helsingborg guided by the representative from Lund University. However, there remains many aspects to be discovered. For instance, just walking around the city –this time alone- I enjoyed a lot the view, from instance the one of the harbor, the city hall building, again the superb view given by the top of Kärnan Tower, the Dunker Culture House ( museum and art center designed by Kim Utzon, the son of Jørn Utzon, who designed Sydney Opera House) and Sofiero Castle and gardens (this place is a bit outside the city –only 5km away- but it worth any effort made to visit it. It is like a corner of heaven on earth: green, quiet, a lot of flowers, restaurant, forest, a lot of different plants which would make jealous almost any botanical garden etc.).

Sofiero Castle!

Helsingborg’s City Hall!

The entrance in Helsingborg’s harbor!

As a consequence I believe that Helsingborg has a lot of resources to make worth it a city break. I would live there more than that and for sure some of the sights will become no longer of interests, but I can already foresee that the overall beauty of the city will not stop delight and attract me.

PS. If possible, don’t miss this weekend in Helsingborg, ’cause this is when it takeS place Helsingborg’s Festival, and I heard it’s a pretty cool time to be there.

Visiting Sofiero Castle or the Schönbrunn of the North (as I would call it)!

It has been almost three years since I arrived in Denmark and I decided to settle her for a while. But despite this fact I haven’t travel to much into the nordic countries, although there are now very accessible to me. To this has contributed in a very high degree the weather which is not very welcoming, and which has driven me to more sunny and warmth destinations. However, recently I was accepted as an exchange student to Lund University, in Campus Helsingborg. This event has just put Helsingborg on my mind’s map, as a destination of high interest. Therefore, few days ago, in one of my free days from work I decided to travel and see what this city looks like.

However, before hitting the road I made a bit of research about what I can do/see and where and what I can eat – since I call myself a foodie, this is a must! As an outcome of my research I set as first priority to visit Sofiero Castle, together with its gardens, and to have the lunch there.

With this in mind, the next day -was a Monday- early morning I took the Øresund train, from Copenhagen Central Station, to Helsingborg. It was a one and a half hour trip. Once arrived in Helsingborg train station I got just enough time to buy tickets for the bus who supposed to take me to the castle, n to board it. The Castle is not so far away from the city center, especially for the ones who enjoy walking; there are circa five kilometers to there, most of the time walking along the shore, which may be a very pleasant walk. As an alternative it can be taken bus number 8, which run that direction twice an hour, and the trip takes circa 17 minutes. Although I love walking, I opted for the bus because I considered I would arrive to late for lunch at Sofiero Castle; beside I was a bit concerned about the route I have to follow to the castle. 

As I said, not after a long ride, I saw myself in front of the Sofiero Castle. There is a visitor fee to be paid at the entrance in the garden, and then it comes the splendid view; a view which seems to me pretty similar to the view one have at the Schönbrunn Palace, in Vienna, although in the case of Sofiero Castle, the distance from the entrance to the building it is filled by nice cut grass, the temperatures are a lot lower, and the tourists are not so many, so it becomes easier to enjoy the visit. Yet at the first sight the way everything is found (big and imposant castle in sight, flowers garden on the right, beautiful and multitude of flowers, nice view over the sea and castle, the little forest etc.) made it easy for me to recall the famous austrian castle.

Yet in spite of the beauty opened in font of my eyes, the first thing I did was to go streight to the restaurant and book the lunch. After I happily left the restaurant I allowed myself to be emerged in the beauty of the gardens.

The view based on a natural beauty, touched each and there by a human hand focused on details, made me feel so easy and excited. I started with the flowers part of the garden, where there where a lot of different plants and flowers, all blooming, and having from spot to spot benches which are placed perfectly to the right points in order to take te best pictures. However the gardens are not huge: it takes about one, one and a half hours to make the whole round of the gardens, but the beauty is at its home. Among others there are two small mazes, japanese garden, melon garden…it look a lot better than the botanical gardens from many european cities.

After I made the whole round I arrived just in time for the lunch I had made reservation, and which was also an important target of the day for me. I spent in restaurant about two hours, and I got out of it excited, very satisfied and full. It was an absolutely feast for my palates, and more details about this you can read in my review I made to it on TripAdvisor, at the following link: http://www.tripadvisor.dk/ShowUserReviews-g189836-d1042543-r294112495-Sofiero_Slottsrestaurang-Helsingborg_Skane_County.html#REVIEWS .

  

After the lunch I decided it was time to go, although the view and the fresh impressions didn’t let me go easily.

However I will not forget, and neither you the ones who want to visit this place should forget that it is quiet, green, with a lot of fresh air and flowers, knowledge through the little info that’s available about each plant/flower…it is absolutely a piece of heaven.