Hej!
Our day started with our first breakfast here at the hostel. There were were many options including fresh bread from a local bakery. After breakfast, we spent the majority of the say on a bus tour of Gothenburg. This was very helpful to get a lay of the land and see some of the landmarks the city has to offer. Our tour guide was very friendly and even remembered JJ’s wife, Suzie, from other trips. I learned that the only stuffed blue whale in the entire world is a 2-minute walk down the street from where we’re staying ath the natural history museum.
The first stop was to Feskekôrka, or the fish church. This is the fresh fish market. It’s called the fish church as it was an architectural experiment to build a structure without pillars and the exterior design make it look like a church. This is the building that is featured at the top of my Home page. While it smelled awful inside, it was very cool to see all the fresh seafood that can be purchased. After a quick detour to pet a dog, we got back on the bus. Across the street from the fish church is where you can see the only remaining part of the wall that surrounded the city when it was still a fortress.
“Maybe they believe in cod instead of God”
our lovely tour guide
The Gothenburg art museum and concert hall was the next stop on the tour. This location is right on Avenyn, the shopping district. There is a permanent Hasselblad exhibit and a statue of Mr. Hasselblad with a moon footprint. There was also a large bronze statue of the Greek god Poseidon. When we got back on the bus, we realized we had lost Suzie, who had gone to shop in the museum gift store.
Our next stop was in a square with a statue of King Gustavus II. We then stopped at the German Church, also called Christinae Church. It had some lovely stained-glass windows, a large pipe organ in the choir loft, and a sarcophagus of a military general. The church has been destroyed by fires multiple times, but the section behind the alter where the sarcophagus is located remained untouched. We then walked down another side street to see a military artillery building that was actually built in the 1600’s and is now only open to the public from November to December for a market to preserve the building.
We then drove up to the Masthugg Church. This is located high on a hill and has been used as a sea navigation point. The church itself wasn’t open, but the views were spectacular. Getting a bird’s-eye view of the city and surrounding islands was a great way to get a better idea of the city layout and snap some lovely rainy-day photos.
When ended the tour by walking through the Haga district with our tour guide. It’s a quaint district with little shops and cafes. The tour ended at one such café where we had the famous Swedish cinnamon rolls, which are the size of dinner plates! After eating, the team split up for some independent group exploring. My group found a cute antique store with many different jewelry cutlery and a plethora of other items.
We then wandered back through the city to the hostel to work on our blogs, then went out to dinner with a large group to eat dinner. We had planned to eat at a restaurant, but when we arrived were informed that reservations were required, so instead we wandered around a bit until we found a place that was large enough to accommodate 11 people, which turned out to be O’Leary’s. Had a delicious Beyond burger and fries. It was a great meal to end the day with!
I felt pretty good today, no more tired than usual, but jJet lag might’ve shown itself by making me incredibly clumsy. Water, eggs, veggie burger toppings, popcorn, napkins; you name it – I probably dropped it today.
Daily Reflections:
- You can take the American to Sweden, but you can’t take the America out of the traveler. (a.k.a. our loud ugly American was on full display).
- Swedes celebrate cinnamon roll day on October 4th.
- Cobblestone streets are beautiful and come in a variety of patterns.
- The cruel irony of Sweden being so environmentally conscious but there are Hasselblad cameras still sitting on the moon from the first moon landing.
- You can put trash in different bags, but it’s still trash.
Adventures in Sweden 