Gothenburg

... and two weeks later I finally decide to write about Gothenburg, Sweden's second-largest city behind, of course, Stockholm. Gothenburg is largely lost in the shadow of Stockholm and nearby Oslo and Copenhagen, and while I have only visited one of those for comparison's sake, I can't really understand why it's so unknown. First of all, Gothenburg's Swedish pronunciation (Göteborg = YUH - teh - bor - ee) is WAY cooler than the pronunciation of any of the other cities. Second, it has everything that a European capital would have to offer... without the capital price tag.

My favorite part of Gothenburg was by far the coastline. The harbor is actually Sweden's busiest and provided for some awesome scenery. The port is ancient and its use likely dates back to the Viking era. While the Vikings are often (rightfully) stereotyped for sea conquer and pillage, most were simple fishermen and farmers. Their isolation in Scandinavia forced them to connect with the rest of the world via shipping. As a side note, the building on the right side of the picture below is dubbed the "lipstick" building and was about the ugliest thing I've seen to date in Europe. Touche on the harbor, Gothenburg, but that building... REALLY?

A 24-hour pass for the public transportation got us access to the islands along the coastline, which were beautiful. While we were walking around on the streets we found places to walk a little off the beaten path and take some pictures of the harbor and westward scenery. There were not too many tourist attractions or businesses on the islands, they were predominantly residential. It was nice to not have the mob of people around, though.

My Fodor's Travel guide (thanks, Christine!) notes that from 1995 to 2005, 8 of the 10 "Swedish Chef of the Year) winners were from Gothenburg. From my experience, the food in Gothenburg was excellent, and the city blew Copenhagen out of the water in that department. Cafe's and restaurants were everywhere, and I got to sample some of the local fare at a fresh fish market, which was originally a church (shown below). It was hands-down the best seafood salad sandwich... ever.

Speaking of churches, this city was downright loaded with them (seems to be a European trend). The church shown below is the Haga Church and was the only church that we were able to enter. There was a music performance just beginning inside when we entered.

The most famous (but certainly not the most beautiful) church was probably Gothenburg Cathedral. However, there was this large, brick church that had to be the best I've seen yet, in Scandinavia anyway. Unfortunately, it was closed and thus I could not take a look at the inside.

Another highlight of the Gothenburg expedition was definitely the museums. We visited two during the trip, Stadsmusset (City Museum) and Röhsska Museet (Museum of Arts and Crafts). While the latter was interesting, the City Museum is definitely Gothenburg's gem and a must-see if you're going to visit. The building was a warehouse and auction room for the Swedish East India Company in the mid-18th century and the museum itself focuses on Gothenburg's and Scandinavia's trading and nautical history. It actually hold's Sweden's only preserved Viking ship. Pictures were not allowed in any of the museums, so I can't show anyone the ship's remains. For a little more on the Vikings, the word "Viking" was coined from "vik-," I can't remember if the word was Latin or otherwise, which means "anchoring in the harbor." While Amerigo Vespucci and Christopher Columbus get all of the glory in the United States for discovering the Americas, it was actually Leif Ericson, a Viking, who first sailed the St. Lawrence River, about 500 years before Columbus landed on the Caribbean islands. No permanent Norse establishment was created there, mainly because beforehand the Viking explorers attempted to bring their people to Greenland (great idea, right?), and nobody would listen to the explorers after the botched settlements there.

There was also a fortress atop a hill near the city's center, from which we were able to take panoramic pictures of Gothenburg.

As a final note about Gothenburg, after visiting London I really appreciated the complete lack of large tour groups (at least when I was there). My next post will be about London and I can tell you that the large tour groups in London took away from the experience a little bit. They crowded the streets and were incredibly loud and annoying while passing by. Gr.