Chill Göteborg
A couple of weekends ago I snatched the opportunity to visit Sweden’s Second city, Göteborg. If the o with the two little dots (ö) scare you, the other version of the name is Gothenburg. I tell this to myself as much as anyone, because I feel it’s time for me to get serious about learning the language. So I’m gonna have a staring contest with those two little dots on the extra Swedish vowels and see what develops ;)
Anyway, I made another date with the train and took a short trip up the west coast of Sweden on a beautiful late summer day. My Airbnb host was amazingly helpful, and got me pointed in the right direction for my two days there. What follows are a few highlights.
The pictures above are from my walk to city center, which reveals a mix of historic and modern architecture. And as always in Sweden, a well organized network of pedestrian, bicycle, mass transit and automobile lanes. I almost didn’t notice the swimmers in the top picture as no one on the ground was looking up. I did however feel I was being watched somehow, so I looked up and returned the notice with my camera.
After my people watching hour, I took a boat tour around the canals of Göteborg then out into the harbor, which happens to be the largest in Scandinavia and is where the Göta älv River flows into the North Sea. In the video attached here my tour is cruising the canals, and our young Annie Lennox look-alike guide is showing off her linguistic talents. (If I had known she was going to speak fluently in yet a third language, I would have kept the camera running.)
https://photos.app.goo.gl/jtbpPnSlA6K46Tsx1
Above is the famous Feskekôrka (or Fish Church), a truly unique landmark to Göteborg housing a massive seafood market. After the tour, I spied the most beautiful putt putt course on the way to dinner (below). I mean, really Sweden...
The best for last here on this post. My dinner was in the Haga District, the oldest in the city and once home to the medieval working class masses. It is now this chill town’s hipster central, but only hipster in a laid back “I naturally look better at this than anywhere else” sort of way. First impression mind you.
I had heard the food scene here was legit, and my dinner did in fact turn out to be spot on amazing. The following pics are pre and post dinner as the sun was going down on another great day. I was full and completely satisfied. Probably had a grin on my face.