Gothenburg

It's pronounced YER ta BOR ee? I'm doomed.

Or not, since everyone in Sweden seems to speak English. After another night on a ferry and a quick cab to Stockholm's Central Station, we jumped on a high speed train to cross through southern Sweden to the 2nd city of Gothenburg. The train was like most things Swedish: quick, clean, and efficient. Our 2nd class seats were as good as any first class seats we've been on and the wifi was strong. Imagine speeding through Wisconsin's north woods on a high speed train, watching beautiful lakes and trees whiz by and you'll get an idea of what our Swedish train ride was like. It took 3 hours, mostly because it stopped several times in between.

We stayed at a Scandic hotel near the station. This chain is everywhere here and we literally walked by 2 other Scandics to get to our business/budget hotel. It's relatively big room for Scandinavian standards and super quiet. Breakfasts are included, but already we're getting a little tired of cheese and coldcuts for breakfast. At least there's always Muesli. After checking in, we hit the streets and walked through several parks near the canals and hit the Haga neighborhood. It's a trendy and quirky former working class suburb that is now near the center of town. We hiked up a gazillion steps to the top of Skansen Kronen, a former fort at the top of the hill behind Haga, for city views. Then it was a meandering walk back through town to the hotel. Trams are everywhere here as are bikes and bike lanes. As a pedestrian, you really need to pay attention so you don't get run over by one or both. Bike lanes look just like sidewalks so you need to look for the painted icons. I love the bike culture here, but they seem to have the right of way. After you mix in the electric scooters and electric skateboards, it's quite an adventure getting around town. As much as we like bikes, we haven't seen a need to rent any yet, as most things are within walking distance.

The next morning we had another nice buffet breakfast at the hotel and hit a couple of museums. It was another sunny day. After a week in Scandinavia, we've had nothing but sunny days and warm weather. The city museum was well done and we took our time with the exhibits. The highlight was the remains of a viking ship and other viking artifacts. Outdoor restaurants were everywhere this time of year and we found a nice seafood restaurant at the remodeled old market in town by the canal. Deanne had "crawfish" which turned out to be 3 small lobsters. I opted for the hearty bouillabaisse and wasn't disappointed.

Next stop was the Goteborgs Konstmuseum, or Gothenburg Art Museum. They had a lot of impressionists, Picassos, and Rembrandts, along with lots of Swedish artists of various styles. Great museums and they only cost about $6 each. A long walk back to the hotel later and we found the hotel elevator still broken. We're on the 5th floor which means the 6th floor to Americans. At least we're getting our steps in.

Tomorrow we take a 3 hour ferry to Frederikshavn, Denmark across the Kattegat sea. I'd never heard of that one before. It's between the North sea and the Danish Straits which lead to the Baltic sea. From there, we'll take a local train up to the very top of Jutland and spend the night in Skagen.

More photos and vids are here. https://photos.app.goo.gl/CFMhcGSc3kiRdYQV8Read more