Lidköping

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Arrived in Lidköping after a pleasant train trip across the Västra Götaland plains - and it's eyewateringly windy. Found Stadshotell quickly and was confronted by various disclaimers in reception. Not really the service I was hoping for. Apparently they've been trying to reach me by phone "all week" (I booked on Thurs, it's now Mon) to let me know that their nightclub will be open Mon and Tues and thus to expect late-night noise. But they didn't seem to be capable of leaving a message on my voicemail or putting the info on their booking page. I mean, it's either habitable or uninhabitable, not something in between that requires calling each guest personally to give them a chance to back out of their booking. Sigh. I never leave home without earplugs so I guess I'll survive. Next disclaimer: the door card. It demagnetises if placed beside a mobile phone. I remember this phenomenon from a hostel in Gothenburg, and as pretty much everyone carries their phone with their card, I'm guessing 90% of the receptionist's job is to remagnetise cards. Great system, bigly impressed.

Went for a walk around town late afternoon, starting with the old town. There's a cute but tiny district called Limtorget that's worth a look - it's a reconstructed artisan quarter with various handicrafts but sadly all that was open on my visit was the cafe with its cabinet of Rörstrand porcelain. Ambled over the pedestrian bridge to the new town. There's an oversized square where the former town hall stands and a few interesting streets, along with an Indian restaurant where I had an OK dal to the tones of house remixes, bizarrely enough. Then back to the hotel for the night, and yes, I needed the earplugs.

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