Gothenburg, Sweden, Country 10, Stop 25

That's not salt, that is SUGAR!! Water glass for scale.

August 25

We have just spent the past few days in Denmark, where people are hit or miss with wearing masks inside. Today we get on the train to Sweden and no one is wearing masks. We seamlessly pass the border into Sweden via train. After all the previous hoops and obstacles, we find ourselves looking around at each other in amazement at how easy it is to get into Sweden. No matter. New country to add to the list! As we are on the train, there are several announcements about not being able to drink your own alcohol on the train. We find this odd, until we find out later that alcohol is *very* regulated in Sweden. It's all government controlled and they are pretty serious about it. Sweden is the first place that Mia gets carded and one bartender tells us that she will only serve Mia beer--no mixed drinks.

We check into the Clarion Hotel Odin in Gothenburg. We picked this hotel because it was a good value for the money, is close to the train station, and looks clean and safe. In addition, we like that the Clarion includes not only breakfast, but dinner and fika (more on fika later in the blog) every day too. Such a deal! Upon arrival we also find out that there's a very nice gym in the same building and hotel guests can use it. Score!

***Jack-- I was very please when we entered the hotel, they had free fika! They were brownies.***

***Dmitri--Fun fact as we train in to Sweden. We pass an IKEA because #sweden, and it occurs to me that the IKEA logo is the blue and yellow of the Swedish flag. TIL! I guess everyone knew this but me?

Gothenburg is our first Swedish city, and it’s a classic “second city,” overshadowed by the capital, Stockholm, but with its own charms. It’s full of canals and parks and is walkable, with long blocks of shops and restaurants. We’re staying a block or so from the train station in a pretty central area. Again, bikes everywhere, if not as much as Copenhagen. In many ways, Sweden is quite similar to Denmark, but bigger and a little colder. And apparently, the Danes have been invading and killing the Swedes for centuries. Awkward.

Anyway, we do another bike tour, this time lead by a leader on an old-fashioned big wheel model. He confesses it’s a great way to pick up girls, and we can all see why. As we cruise around, everyone giggles, smiles and takes photos. We ride past glassed-in restaurants and even everyone inside points and watches him. Crusty old people crack a smile.

He’s also got a speaker on the back of Cindy’s bike, so our tour has a soundtrack, mostly marked by old US jazz. “Take Five,” Etta James, etc. We are the super-hipster convoy.

We learn about the city’s history, which truth be told, we don’t care as much about as the present.

Another interesting fact we learned is that Swedes have an alcohol problem. Their suicide rates are super high, which the authorities and social scientists have generally attributed to long dark winters and too much alcohol. Aside from S.A.D. lamps, which I totally endorse from our days living in Michigan, they can really only tackle hooch. Their current solution is to limit large sales to government-owned shops, which regulate how much you can buy. So there are literally government liquor stores. I don’t really get this since they also serve it in restaurants, but I guess they’re going after the high-volume drinkers.

Also, a lot of Swedes live alone. This would seem to me to be a huge part of the mix. You gotta have people to have social capital, ties, support, etc.

We’re staying at a hotel that serves breakfast and dinner as part of the regular hotel rate. It’s not an opt-in. It’s standard. So, we’re there for 5 nights, and it’s five nights we don’t have to figure out food at all. It’s so nice! And the food is pretty good. Scandinavia is a meat and potatoes country by default, but they’ve added loads of veg and vegan options, so the mix can be healthy. Well, except for the fika. That’s not healthy at all. I suppose we can say mentally healthy? The hotel also has a self-service laundry, which we’ve never seen. You just reserve a slot and it’s all there for you.***

***Jack-- I was very happy to see our dinner options, potatoes are one of my favorite foods so naturally I was happy when I saw them at the buffet.***

August 26

After breakfast at the hotel, I catch up on older blogs from past stops. We have lunch and walk around and get some fresh air. Later this evening, we have a bike tour scheduled. But first, fika. What is fika, you ask? Well, it's just about the best thing EVER. Fika is a bit difficult to explain, but I’ll take a stab at it. Fika is a coffee break in Sweden, but it’s more than just that. Fika can describe the actual sweets you eat during the break, fika can be used as a verb. Fika is cultural as well, and books have been written on the subject. It’s a part of daily life. It’s meeting up with friends and being sociable. It’s a mentality. It is also a part of work culture and both Volvo and Ikea plants stop for fika. At our hotel, fika is offered in the lobby daily from 3-5 pm. As a lover of cake and sweets and coffee and tea, let me just say that I have happily thrown myself wholeheartedly into the idea of fika. Today for fika Dmitri and I have prinsesstarta (princess) cake and also a chocolate coconut ball and a small raspberry tartlet. It's all YUM.

After dinner, we meet up with Nils for a bike tour of the city.

The best thing about this tour is the joy Nils brings to the people on the streets of Gothenburg as we ride around. He puts a speaker in the back basket of my bike and plays happy tunes as we make our way around the city. People are delighted to see him cruising around on his big bike. It's a great deal of fun and we even learn a few things about the city and Sweden. We do, however, learn that the leading cause of death in men ages 18-35 in Sweden is suicide, which is a pretty startling statistic. While Sweden is lovely in the summer, I do not think I could live here in the winter.

Aug 27

Another day to take care of business and catch up on things. I work on blogs, Dmitri works on work and travel plans and the kids go to the gym. We don't leave the hotel until almost 5 pm. As we walk around I realize that I am very impacted by the sun, or lack thereof. Although I have gotten plenty of sleep, I feel quite fatigued and keep yawning.

Another thing that we find is the lack of mask wearing here. We last wore masks with any frequency in Portugal. Very few people in Denmark wore them and practically no one wears them in Sweden. It takes some getting used to! I know things will change but it's almost like in certain pockets of the world, things are back to normal.

These trees look like they could be found in Fangorn. Yes, I know, ANOTHER LOTR reference. What can I tell you?

Aug 28

Another grey day in Sweden. It’s a little brighter today even though the sun is hiding behind clouds. It’s supposed to rain later today so we will get out and about a bit earlier today. Just before we leave the hotel I realize that I have lost my prescription sunglasses. Ugh. I look everywhere, Dmitri looks everywhere, we ask at the front desk of the hotel, we call the uber driver from the previous day. Nothing. It’s a drag, but Mia points out that it’s been pretty grey in Sweden so I probably won’t need them anyway. And by the end of the day we have found a place at our next stop that can do glasses in one day and I have an email from my OD’s office with a copy of my prescription. (Spoiler alert: I was not able to get new sunglasses out in the world. It takes upwards of 10 days and we aren't in any place long enough. I sucked it up and had the kind folks at Pacific Eye Care reorder my same glasses. The very kind Karen went to pick them up for me and is babysitting them until we can work out mailing them or until I can pick them up in person.)

We head out to the Haga area of town, which is very cute, lots of cafes and boutiques, and people out walking.

When we arrive, we get this ginormous kanelbulle--cinnamon bun--and it is the size of a dinner plate. Truly.

We split it amongst the four of us. Later in the day when we pass by, there is a line out the door. Clearly this is a popular place. We walk the pedestrian street and browse shops. Mia is lucky with some finds at a thrift store.

It sprinkles a bit on us but it’s not terrible and we don’t mind. Mia is also in need of a new pair of shoes and we find a pair at Haglof’s, an outdoor apparel and gear store. She loves them and we find out that they are 30% off. Score!

***Mia- I ditched my old beat-up white Nikes at our next hostel once I got my new Haglof's. I left them in the communal laundry room, so hopefully somebody there can adopt them and put them to use!***

Back at the hotel we take advantage of the nice gym that is located in the same building as our hotel. Workouts for all! And we certainly need the exercise after all the fika in Gothenburg.

***Jack-- Haga had tons of fun stores and shops to walk into and browse, from souvenirs to clothing to giant cinnamon rolls, Haga had it all!***

August 29

Today is our last full day in Gothenburg and what do you know? It’s low 70s and sunny. I am actually too warm as we walk to lunch! Today is another gym day for us and also a practical day of laundry and repacking and taking care of work (Dmitri) and catching up on blogs/vlogs and emails and such. Tomorrow we head to Stockholm!

Also, Dmitri and I went out for fika and accidentally got this:

Ooops!

Hahahahahahaha. Yayyyy fika!

What do you supposed this sign is trying to warn us to do/not to do?