When dreams come true or just Sweden!

We dreamt of these journeys and the day to meet in one of the European cities for a long time. We used to meet a lot in Yerevan, capital of our homeland country Armenia, and have long and fruitful conversations. Back then we couldn’t even imagine that our meeting point will be the city of Helsingborg, calendars will show June 15, 2022 with our hearts filled with happiness and joy. This article is not about Sweden, but my personal feelings and experience in two Swedish cities- Helsingborg and Lund.

Helsingborg is one of the oldest cities of what is now Sweden having the population of 147,734 people.

Kärnan (The Kernel)

One of the town's most famous sights is the "Kernel," or Kärnan. It is 35 meters high tower and was originally part of a Danish fortress built in the 14th century.

The Town Hall

This beautiful 19th century town hall was under reconstruction when I was there, that’s why I don’t have a single photo of it. But the red building is really very impressive with its neo-Gothic style.

We haven’t managed to see a lot in Helsingborg, but this city will always stay in my memories as a place, where I passed one of the long awaited days of my life. Besides, a very interesting encounter happened with a local winemaker. The day we were in Helsingborg, there was a festival with different pavilions open to host visitors. We approached the first pavilion to ask the man standing there what was going on in the city. He told us about the festival and introduced his wines. As in Sweden it’s forbidden to drink alcohol in public, we were allowed to only smell it. Later the winemaker asked us where we come from and got excited when heard the word “Armenia”. We were not expecting at all that a Swedish winemaker will recognize the country, as very few people know about the country or mistake Armenia with “Albania” or “Romania” because of the similarity in the pronunciations. “Oh, you are from Armenia, cradle of winemaking!” Our surprise grew even more. (To know more about the wine making traditions in Armenia, you can read this article.)

The Swedish winemaker told us that he studied winemaking traditions from different countries for many years and ended up in the method used in the Caucasus- Armenia and Georgia. The method is mainly about keeping the wine in clay jars, which give the wine very interesting and unique taste! We took photos with the winemaker, exchanged contacts and many words of sincere gratitude.

Next stop in Sweden was the university city of Lund. I have a special connection with this city too. In 2020 I applied and was accepted to Lund University, but couldn’t start my education in Sweden, as I didn’t manage to get a scholarship. In June 2021 I finally came to Lund not as a student, but as a tourist and was happy to see the green wall of the library building, which I remembered from the photos.

We enjoyed a very slow and lazy day in Sweden, lying for hours under the sun (yes, the weather was generous that day), enjoying coffee, talking and watching people.

Was interesting to visit Lund Cathedral, which also hosted Cathedral School since 1085. The cathedral reminded me the Armenian sacral architecture between 10-13th centuries, in particular the monasteries of Sanahin and Haghpat.

The trip was full of emotions, which created unforgettable memories in two Swedish cities.