Gothenburg to Stockholm

Gothenburg has been a good stop on the early stages of this travel. Although the weather has been relatively poor I have enjoyed it very much! It's a nice city with a bohemian vibe to it, this maybe due to the fact that is a university city, many of which seem to be art and design related. The back streets are full of little cafes and boutique shops that unfortunately can only offer me window shopping opportunities. It's the sort of city that appeals to me though, good looking well dressed people mingling in the hubbub of the different scenes, meeting in record shops to have poetry readings. Not that I attended a poetry meeting, and for all I know it would have been in Swedish, but the concept excites me! 

We had a look around Sjofartmuseet, which despite its name is not as comical as it sounds. It is Gothenburg's maritime museum, which I had suggested as an option if the weather was poor after accidentally finding it on google maps at the top of the road we were staying on. Surprisingly it was a fascinating place, and made me realise how much the port has influenced the growth of Gothenburg and it's society and culture! There was a simulator allowing you to experience driving a boat in and around Gothenburgs port unfortunately it didn't take us long to run it aground and set off the emergency alarms. However, the second attempt was more successful once we realised we were initially on the hardest level and sailings a Stena Line ferry in extreme weather conditions!

(This reminded me of my dogs at home!)

We have done plenty of walking already, once we eventually come home at this rate will need a walking holiday to detox! On one our walks I got myself excited standing outside the stadium of IFK Goteborg, and asked a steward if I could walk onto the side of the pitch for a photo which he was kind enough to allow! Smith and Kailey didn't share my enthusiasm but generously humoured me. 

The journey to Stockholm started late yesterday morning, our train leaving Gothenburg at 12pm. It was about a 5 hour train ride but was surprisingly pleasant, despite being told twice that we were sitting in someone's seat. Luckily a nice Swedish lady took pity on us resolving the situation both times by saying that they could sit with her, due most likely to my disheveled appearance sporting particularly long facial hair, which isn't usually my thing! I'm in two minds to continue to let it grow for a bit, that's the whole point of traveling to do something different or adverse from your normal practices at home,  I think its also because I didn't realise I had the potential to grow a beard so this is a first for me!

Enough about my beard!

Much like the trip from Oslo to Gothenburg, the scenery on the train was great, I assume due to the fact that we were crossing through the middle if Sweden there was not so much of a diverse range of landscapes or lakes and rivers, but I still found the scenery interesting! Once arriving in Stockholm we decided the Hostel which we are staying at for 2 days before moving to another for the last 4 days of our Swedish leg was within walking distance! It didn't take too long to get there and it feels like we are living in luxury due to the fact that it was the only hostel available this Friday and Saturday so we are paying for a 6 person private room!

Maybe this new found luxury had gone to our heads as we decided to go out and have a meal. We found a nice Italian Restaurant and went crazy having a starter and a main!!! It's made me realise how much of a snob I am when it comes to food and how only after a week away I'm missing quality food! I think though as we go on, if we can treat ourselves every now and then it will be beneficial to morale, well in my case anyway! I had a delicious lasagne after we had shared a large bowl of salad and some ciabatta bread.

Stockholm seems like a very bustling city and definitely the busiest of the places we have been to so far, I'm looking forward to exploring the place that they call the Venice of northern Europe. Apparently situated on or over 12 islands. Today we are going to meet up with another Swedish friend of mine called Patrik who I met several years ago on holiday, Patrik and his girlfriend have kindly offered to show us about Stockholm which will be nice!