Back in Sverige

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I'm up at 3:30 Thursday morning in order to grab a taxi to the train station where I grab a bus to the airport to grab a plane back to Sweden.... Boy that sounds like a long day and when I arrive, because of the time difference and the length of the flight, it's actually before I left! In fact I'm almost ever back to the Central Station in Stockholm before I left!

I was lucky enough to realize a few days before, that my eurail pass includes the Arlanda Express train. This is a direct train from the airport to the train station in about 20 minutes, maxing out at 205km/h, at least that's what it reached today.

I wrote yesterday's blog in the station waiting for my connecting train to Gothenburg (in Swedish: Göteborg, pronounced YO-tuh-bore-ee... Crazy right?!) where I will spend the next couple of nights.

I entertain my hunger in the train ride with the leftover Finnish chocolate I snagged at the grocery store the night before, and some almonds I've been preserving in a ziploc since Bergen... No way SJ is gonna scam me for food during the journey!

After a short 3 hours, we arrive at Gothenburg central station, and then begins my journey through endless construction, to the new hostel. It was honestly ridiculous, and I actually really started to get mad at the city right away, quick to guess this wasn't going to be my favourite place.

But after checking in and leaving my bags locked up, I head out to prove myself wrong... It is actually an extremely gorgeous city with picturesque churches and public parks littering the city. The vibe quickly changed to homey and welcoming, especially during a beautiful day weather wise.

I found a great lookout spot with the help of hostel recommendations, where I sat to watch the sun set later in the day while writing this.

I also found one of the biggest parks in the city and a old lighthouse I think, perched on top of one of the park's peaks.

This was an acquainting afternoon, so I basically strolled around, seeing stuff in the distance and following my feet where they wanted to go. This led me to a cool, but much less spectacular fortress located just off the water. Decorated with a golden crown on the top, it too was a great lookout point across the city.

Back to hostel to make some dinner; I finally sucked it up and bought some chicken breasts to get some meat into me, and veggies too mum, don't worry!

I headed back out, like I said earlier, to watch the sunset by the church, and then went on a coffee hunt!

I was on my way to Café Publik initially, another hostel recommendation, but caught the quick sound of music coming from an open door as someone slipped into a bar. I crossed the street and sure enough, there was a live jazz band rockin' out and I was just in time for the drum solo!! I stayed by the door for a bit and listened and then moved in to find the café... It wasn't really my style when I got there, so I moved ton once more to find a non-existent coffee shop for a drink and dessert. I ended up just buying a stale danish form a grocery store and some instant coffee to take along for the rest of my trip. Not an awful substitute... Ok ya it was, but it was something, anything!

I took a nice long shower, clipped my nails and climbed into bed for a nice sleep to shake the homesickness... And it worked like a charm.

- NB

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Photos

201km/h
It actually reached 205 but I felt awkward taking a picture of it

Dat View Tho
The view from one of the lookouts I found