Norway+ coach tour: Gothenburg, Sweden

#21 Sweden: check!
#29 Travel by boat: check!

After a week of traveling through breathtaking mountains, valleys, and waterways in Norway, it was sad to leave this stunning country. Alas, our coach tour headed over the border to Norway's historical cousin, Sweden.

To be honest, we were so accustomed to the wide, natural views of Norwegian countryside that we were a bit turned off by Gothenburg at first. The city is, in a word, industrial. It is the second largest city in Sweden, but only comes in at half a million inhabitants. Still, it was the busiest city we had been in and, compared to the countryside we'd just spent a week driving through, seemed dirtier, more urban, and more crowded than anything we had experienced thus far. Despite this initial prejudice, Gothenburg was a lucky location for the four of us.

Our hotel, interesting enough in itself for a blog mention, was on the upper floors of a train station that has been converted into a shopping center. The First Hotel G was modern and attractive, one of the most comfortable places we stayed on tour. (Be warned, though, the hotel dinner we had ranks as one of our worst meals. Breakfast was average.)

From there we headed to lunch. Manuel had done significant research before we left the States and had found a sausage house that is a must-try here in Gothenburg. Gourmet Korv is a hole in the wall with a grill, some questionable side dishes, a lot of sausage and every kind of mustard you can imagine. The meny (yup, that's the Norwegian/Swedish word for menu) is entirely written in Swedish, but the guy behind the counter was understanding enough to translate it for us and help us order.

From there, it was rather easy to find something for all of us. Alicia wanted to buy something at H&M in its home country: found a skirt that was super cute AND super on sale. Check! I wanted to start my international Harry Potter collection and had been disappointed to find that the Norwegian version has the same cover art as the American ones. Found a Swedish bookshop and check! Swedish Chamber of Secrets is totally awesome! 

Then I passed a building filled with meat, cheese, and bakery market stalls. My personal version of European heaven! We were able to pick up some treats for later at the hotel.

That's cloudberry jam from Norway on the side there. This was international.

Manuel had also found Tre Små Rum, a craft beer bar that he and Joe both enjoyed relaxing in while Alicia and I shopped. Win win win win!

Please excuse the strangely elongated legs due to the wide angle lens!

We read that it's rude not to make eye-contact when toasting, so...

Since Gothenburg is on a waterway, one of the main attractions is the canal tour. As dutiful tourists, we hopped aboard to see what it was all about. Honestly, it felt mostly silly, but there were the unique moments when all of the passengers had to crouch down on the ground since two of the bridges are barely above the water (called "the cheese slicer" and "the hairdresser"). Also, if you're in Gothenburg and going on this river cruise, use Paddan and ask for Olivia. She was delightful.

Also worth a mention is the Kungsparken, or King's Park, which is surrounded by the canal (Gothenburg's "moat") and includes at least one specimen of every different tree species that is native to Sweden.

Next we were off to Copenhagen, Denmark where we would depart on our cruise!