Saturday 30 August 2008
Sleepless in Göteborg
One last oddity to note before bed. You remember I mentioned the frequent 7-11s? Well, it is bizarre having a hot sit-in meal in a small corner 7-11, I can tell you! I tried to remember the name for what I had, but I´ve forgotten already. It was like a cross between a calzone and a panini--chicken, pesto and mozzarella on pizza-ish bread folded over and grilled. It was quite yummy and (mums as the Swedish say) came with sparkling water--I chose the tasty strawberry-lime since I might as well enjoy it while I can. But I admit to continuing curiosity about the cactus water. I noticed they had cactus-licorice candies (like mints only not mint) too.
More Göteborg
Wow, am I tired. Yet I find myself sad that this trip is winding down.
Last night I was invited around to a home cooked meal. My hostess said she wasn´t sure how traditionally Swedish the fare was, but it was what she cooked. It was certainly nothing I´d had before so I´m inclined to think it quite Swedish. It was also incredibly tasty. We had fish in a tangy yet brothy yet cheesy sauce, with potatoes and a salad (again quite tangy with greens and sprouts). All very yummy, especially the fish. Göteborg is a port town after all, so the fish should not come as a surprise.
By the way, I am enjoying making easy use of the "ö" key on the local keyboard, although the awkwardness of apostrophes and "@" signs still wear at me--at least I know how to make them now! (For reference, you press Alt Gr + 2 for @).
Today I did more wandering. The very first day I was here I noticed a small octagon-shaped fortress -looking building at the crown of a hill. I was far too tired to even walk the extra half-block to the base of the hill to read the sign about it. I would have been disappointed had I done so at that point; the sign was in Swedish (though I was able to pick out a few things, not least the dates, but the phrase "defensive battery" is cognate enough in Swedish to be recognizable. Today I decided to explore it. My legs barely wanted to move and my feet hate my guts, but it´s my last day in Göteborg, so if I was going to satisfy my curiosity about the odd structure, it had to be today. So up I went...or tried to anyway. My hostel is on the opposite side of the hill from where I first saw it. The distinctive stone building with it´s golden crown on top is a good landmark, visible from all sides. So I just walked over to the hill and saw two paths leading up. I picked one and began ascending...the path was old and overgrown, the steps--sometimes wooden sometimes stone--were rickety or crumbling, and it opened onto a glass-strewn clearing with a metal drum cut in half lengthways probably for a firepit. Further exploration showed a smaller even more overgrown path leading off into the trees and bushes...I retraced my steps part way and joined with the other path I had seen...that one got me higher before ending at a rockface. I could see the fort just above me. I had no idea how to reach it. This time I went all the way down the hill and walked around it till I reached the original sign (thus discovering it was in Swedish). I pondered the wider paved but steep path switchbacking up through the overgrowth...I was very tired by now and this was just the start of the day. One more try, I thought. Well this time it worked; I got right to the top and found the fort, Skansen Kronan. First built in the late 17th century, the present octagon (or square with cut-off corners) fort was built in the 18th century. There were even old canons showing where the defensive battery I had successfully translated would have been. There was also an English version of the sign below. It is apparently now a military museum but I was not fortunate enough to have stumbled onto during one of the four hours per week it is open! (Through some irony, I believe it was open when I first saw it. But no matter. I sat in the shade on the grassy hard won summit and read for a while.
This was, to some extent, to form the pattern of my day: pick a place on the map that looked like it might be interesting, walk there and whenever I found myself tiring, plonk down on one of the blessedly frequent park benches and read for a while. Quite enjoyable. So, I have pretty much done with exploring and I did not go to a single museum. (I went to what I thought would be a museum but disappointingly turned out to be a sports arena instead. There wasn´t even a park, forcing me to backtrack. Most vexing. ;) But no matter. I am beginning to think that the measure of a city is its green spaces, and in that department Göteborg rates highly. It also gets high marks for cobbled streets, lovely architecture (one or two breathtakingly beautiful ones; if only my camera were working, but I´m not sure a picture would capture it well anyway). They do very nice brickwork--that doesn´t really do justice to it. And of course the bike lanes and ease of walking paths continues to impress me. I also successfully negotiated the trams yesterday, though the payment method is not convenient to outsiders, they are indeed quite frequent and well connected.
There is so much more I could say. How weird it is that there are Seven-Elevens everywhere, but few other US chains. The tastiness of strawberry-lime which they seem fond of. The fact they sell cactus (kaktus) flavored water (in the 7-11s of course!). The way the university is scattered all over town. How some of the architecture looks like it would be right at home in the US but which I´ve never seen in the UK (influence of Swedish immigrants perhaps?). The disgust and bemusement at Hollywood depictions of Swedes (blond with braids? I´ve never known anyone named "Inga", etc.). But now I am tired, and the end of my book beckons. I shall be left with only non-fiction for my flight home, but I don´t really care.
Last night I was invited around to a home cooked meal. My hostess said she wasn´t sure how traditionally Swedish the fare was, but it was what she cooked. It was certainly nothing I´d had before so I´m inclined to think it quite Swedish. It was also incredibly tasty. We had fish in a tangy yet brothy yet cheesy sauce, with potatoes and a salad (again quite tangy with greens and sprouts). All very yummy, especially the fish. Göteborg is a port town after all, so the fish should not come as a surprise.
By the way, I am enjoying making easy use of the "ö" key on the local keyboard, although the awkwardness of apostrophes and "@" signs still wear at me--at least I know how to make them now! (For reference, you press Alt Gr + 2 for @).
Today I did more wandering. The very first day I was here I noticed a small octagon-shaped fortress -looking building at the crown of a hill. I was far too tired to even walk the extra half-block to the base of the hill to read the sign about it. I would have been disappointed had I done so at that point; the sign was in Swedish (though I was able to pick out a few things, not least the dates, but the phrase "defensive battery" is cognate enough in Swedish to be recognizable. Today I decided to explore it. My legs barely wanted to move and my feet hate my guts, but it´s my last day in Göteborg, so if I was going to satisfy my curiosity about the odd structure, it had to be today. So up I went...or tried to anyway. My hostel is on the opposite side of the hill from where I first saw it. The distinctive stone building with it´s golden crown on top is a good landmark, visible from all sides. So I just walked over to the hill and saw two paths leading up. I picked one and began ascending...the path was old and overgrown, the steps--sometimes wooden sometimes stone--were rickety or crumbling, and it opened onto a glass-strewn clearing with a metal drum cut in half lengthways probably for a firepit. Further exploration showed a smaller even more overgrown path leading off into the trees and bushes...I retraced my steps part way and joined with the other path I had seen...that one got me higher before ending at a rockface. I could see the fort just above me. I had no idea how to reach it. This time I went all the way down the hill and walked around it till I reached the original sign (thus discovering it was in Swedish). I pondered the wider paved but steep path switchbacking up through the overgrowth...I was very tired by now and this was just the start of the day. One more try, I thought. Well this time it worked; I got right to the top and found the fort, Skansen Kronan. First built in the late 17th century, the present octagon (or square with cut-off corners) fort was built in the 18th century. There were even old canons showing where the defensive battery I had successfully translated would have been. There was also an English version of the sign below. It is apparently now a military museum but I was not fortunate enough to have stumbled onto during one of the four hours per week it is open! (Through some irony, I believe it was open when I first saw it. But no matter. I sat in the shade on the grassy hard won summit and read for a while.
This was, to some extent, to form the pattern of my day: pick a place on the map that looked like it might be interesting, walk there and whenever I found myself tiring, plonk down on one of the blessedly frequent park benches and read for a while. Quite enjoyable. So, I have pretty much done with exploring and I did not go to a single museum. (I went to what I thought would be a museum but disappointingly turned out to be a sports arena instead. There wasn´t even a park, forcing me to backtrack. Most vexing. ;) But no matter. I am beginning to think that the measure of a city is its green spaces, and in that department Göteborg rates highly. It also gets high marks for cobbled streets, lovely architecture (one or two breathtakingly beautiful ones; if only my camera were working, but I´m not sure a picture would capture it well anyway). They do very nice brickwork--that doesn´t really do justice to it. And of course the bike lanes and ease of walking paths continues to impress me. I also successfully negotiated the trams yesterday, though the payment method is not convenient to outsiders, they are indeed quite frequent and well connected.
There is so much more I could say. How weird it is that there are Seven-Elevens everywhere, but few other US chains. The tastiness of strawberry-lime which they seem fond of. The fact they sell cactus (kaktus) flavored water (in the 7-11s of course!). The way the university is scattered all over town. How some of the architecture looks like it would be right at home in the US but which I´ve never seen in the UK (influence of Swedish immigrants perhaps?). The disgust and bemusement at Hollywood depictions of Swedes (blond with braids? I´ve never known anyone named "Inga", etc.). But now I am tired, and the end of my book beckons. I shall be left with only non-fiction for my flight home, but I don´t really care.
Friday 29 August 2008
Götenborg
So here I am in Götenborg (Gothenburg) in Sweden. I have only a few past experiences of being in countries where English was not the norm, but I have to say this has been one of the most easy and pleasant thus far. Everyone converses in Swedish of course and all the signs are in Swedish only except in the airport and main train station, but there are plenty of people around who know English and they all seem quite friendly.
The first thing I noticed on reaching the city was all the bikes. They have the best system of bike lanes I have ever seen. By far. I think every street of any decent size has a dedicated bike path--either together on one side or down the middle of a green way parkland that splits the left and right hand sides of the cars or to each side of the street paralleling the main traffic. There are also dedicated tram and bus lanes on the big streets and public transit seems regular & frequent, though I have not tried it out yet. I will be doing so in about an hour though!
I have walked all over the place. I think I walked about 12-14km yesterday. I have yet to translate that to miles. Today must have been about 6-8km so far. I have gotten lost repeatedly, but I am learning my way around better and better now.
Breakfast at the hostel (Slottsskogens Vandrarhem in case you were thinking of visiting Sweden) was strange but good. Apparently they find it strange here to have sweet things for breakfast. There was meat and cheese and breads, pate, cereal (but all very "grain" like, no very sweet ones), plain yoghurt, fish, etc. I noticed other people eating cereal in their yoghurt so I tried that (I think it was a muesli type of thing with vanilla yoghurt, the only flavour that was not entirely plain) and it was quite good. And I had sandwich type food as well. It certainly kept me going well!
The highlight of the trip has been meeting up with a couple of young ladies I do online role playing with. It is so fun and funny to finally put faces and voices to people you have conversed online with and read the characters & stories of for months. They are both fellow geeks, fellow voracious readers and great fun. It is a pity it is a busy time of year for them with school starting back up and other stuff going on, but we have all had a great time meeting and hanging out (though serially--they did not have any free time in common!).
Well, I still get a bit more time in Götenborg for which I am glad. My camera is sadly having a nervous breakdown (I took one picture and then it decided the memory was full...) so it seems I will not have much in the way to show, but oh well, I shall just have to concentrate on the memories.
Monday 4 August 2008
Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
More fun madness from the mind of Joss Whedon!!
I thought I had missed this--just a week too late. But then I went to show Ron the site and see how we might get the itunes version, and low and behold, there was a "watch it now" button...and we did. With a headphone in one ear each we watched it in the internet cafe though I think we bothered people anyway what with the hysterical laughter and everything....
I thought I had missed this--just a week too late. But then I went to show Ron the site and see how we might get the itunes version, and low and behold, there was a "watch it now" button...and we did. With a headphone in one ear each we watched it in the internet cafe though I think we bothered people anyway what with the hysterical laughter and everything....
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