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Published: September 25th 2010
Willie and Erik
Central Station, Gothenburg“On a thread”
14 August 2010 Saturday
We are in the Hotel Drott, Norköpping.We were slow to rise, but the noise of the outside traffic finally pulled us out of bed.
We (by we, I mean Willie and I and often our 2 boys) have traveled the world far and wide, 4x4’ed in Africa, pulled motorhomes around in America, camped all over Europe, stayed in ski-huts, tents, bed and breakfasts, our car...We are serious budget-travelers and with that serious hostelers - we have, or rather my husband, Willie, has refined it to an art. It is not even “on a shoestring” - it is “on a thread”.
Why am I telling you this? Because we did the same on our Scandinavia trip with an old bit of difference? Our travel partners were both 76 - used to comfortable hotels with good service and all the bells and whistles. And...they totally deserved it: they’ve worked for many years, many hours and have poured their resources into the communities where they lived.
More than a year ago my mom shared that one of her life dreams is to see the Scandinavian countries. Well, when you are 76 you cannot
Gothenburg ship
oupa and ouma watching dream about it too long! So, they asked us to go with them if Willie would plan our trip for us. To see what we wanted to see and do what they asked for, meant a “on a thread” trip. They were ok with that, because the Rand-Euro exchange rate at the time was: 1000 South African Rand = Euro 106. So, it is extremely expensive for South Africans to travel abroad.
One of our(Willie and mine) travel philosophies is: why pay loads of money for a place you are only going to sleep in?. Our personal accommodation criteria: 1) Clean 2) Clean sheets and towels 3)No smoking rooms 4) if possible a shower and toilet en suite
For this trip we added a 5th: Breakfast included or at least served. With all the medication between the 3 of us (that includes me, unfortunately) we covered all the major bases of illnesses. So, we needed a breakfast to swallow down our pills!
Hotel Drott is a family-owned hotel and advertised itself as central, close to the station, museums etc. They served a breakfast and the price/night was right!
We have to get out of Norköpping, but an
excellent buffet-style breakfast was served and for that alone I can recommend Hotel Drott.
On to Gothenburg
From Norköpping we traveled south-west to Gothenburg or Göteburg on the west coast of Sweden. Lunch included it took us +/- 5hours. Göteburg is Sweden’s second largest city and dates back from the early 16 hundreds. It was the time of the summer music festival and a truly festive atmosphere cloaked the city.
We stayed with our son’s graduate friend, Erik. Although not too fond of adults Erik appointed himself as our Göteburg tour guide. The drone of his monotonous voice guided us to the central station from where we took a bus to the harbor/waterfront area.
One of the main attractions in the harbor is the salvaged 18th century wooden merchant ship - The Gothenburg. It was a beautiful sunshine day and the colors reflecting off the ship, as well as the sailors’ traditional clothing were brilliant.
The ship has an interesting, intriguing history. It ran the trading waters for more than 2 years and then on it’s 3rd homecoming from China, struck a reef 900 meters from the dock, and dissappeared into the vast ocean as waiting
onlookers were watching! No one died - fortunately.
Thousands of tourists milled around in old town enjoying the outdoor markets, artist stalls, music and play performances on plazas, in parks or in clubs. Street cafés were packed and there was an electric feel of excitement in the air. We joined the crowd at a Capuccino bar and watched street-acrobats perform some tricks.
By 6pm, Erik slowly, because Erik cannot do anything fast, herded his little group back to the station, all the time checking to see where Ouma or Oupa are. His concern for their well-being was special.
Erik’s dad served us grilled salmon, potatoes and salad - a true Swedish dinner that we thoroughly enjoyed.
It was another early to bed night, because we were booked on the 6:30am ferry for Denmark.
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