Blogs from Gothenburg, Västra Götaland County, Sweden, Europe - page 12

We drove down to Goeteborg, Sweden, where we spent a night in a Hotel. It was great not sleeping in the car and the breakfast there was wonderful also. We drove to the old part of town and walked up to the little crown castle where we overlooked the city of Goeteborg. Then we drove on to Odense, where we met up with our couchsurfer who gave us his key. We ate some soup at his appartement and then explored Odense at night, the town where Hans Christian Anderson was born.... read more

Finally, the big summer trip has arrived, just as I mastered saying the 10 countries we are travelling to. This trip was definitely going to be different than the previous trips to India/Nepal, Vietnam/Cambodia, South America....this time we went to Northern Europe on a road trip including camping and couchsurfing (www.couchsurfing.org). Daddy's main reason for choosing this trip was that it was time to get rid of his 1996 torn up Honda Civic and buy a new car....and why not by a volvo "car with no top" through their "overseas delivery program". What a deal.......Here is what it included: 1. 2 free tickets to Gothenburg Sweden. We flew SAS and even got to use this really cool room at the airport with free drinks/food during our 4 hour layover in Newark. I had fun there and ... read more

Recoucou pour aujourd’hui. Vous êtes pas prêts de vous débarrasser de moi! Donc, notre deuxième halte en magnifique Scandinavie a été Götenbourg dans le sud-ouest de la Suède. A notre arrivée, après 4 heures de train à partir d’Oslo, il était environ 17h et nous avons été surpris par la température pas mal plus clémente qu’en Norvège. Monsieur le Français a pu commencer à dégeler (il a beaucoup souffert du froid, pauvre tit pet) et a chialé légèrement moins qu’aux autres endroits. Avant même de descendre du train, quelque chose (je devrais plutôt dire deux) nous est arrivé. Tout d’abord, quelques arrêts avant notre destination finale, un vieil homme est venu s’asseoir à côté de nous et s’est mis à nous fixer la bouche ouverte en bavant. On l’a par la suite surnommé Boris le neurasthénique. ... read more

March 5, 2008: Gothenburg, Sweden Today started in much the same way as yesterday: the air in my mattress had been successfully demoralized and scattered again, my belly was filled with a little Muesli and yogurt (and what the hell, a few slices of salmon too). I knocked on Henrik's door to rouse him for my tour of Gothenburg and received a muffled groan in reply. Yet another thing that crosses cultural boundaries: the groan of the reluctant to rise; a wordless expression that says, in any language, "just five more minutes you energetic prick." The struggle between waking and hitting the snooze (or me in this case since I was the alarm clock), I posture, can be easily resolved by a bucket of cold water to the face. Upon administration of said water, the victim--err, ... read more

March 3, 2008: Gothenburg, Sweden The sun rose over the levee. Why in the world did I wake at dawn, and why won't my neck move? Oh right, our late night stops saw the addition of a few more cabin-mates, which forced me to abandon my comfortable, prone position in favor of a much more unnatural stance: one suitable for a contortionist. I wished my other conscious companions a good morning, as the only words uttered last night were groans and incoherent mumbles that sounded more like a pissed off groundhog than like words. The sky shimmered a bright gold, steam rose from someone's morning coffee, glowing orange as the sun edged over the top of the levee. A clear, bright sky solidified the feeling of a crisp winter day, and I realized I still only ... read more