Gothenburg

Every song or story needs a pause, a slowing down of the tempo in order to build up again. Gothenburg is that place for me. And it’s perfect that I have arrived in time for the weekend when everyone is ready to relax. Gothenburg is the second largest city in Sweden, and while its attractions are not vastly different to Stockholm, what it does offer is a slice of real Swedish life that you won’t find in the capital. Being the weekend (and mostly sunny!) everyone was out walking with their family and their dog, enjoying fika (coffee catch ups) with friends, having a barbecue in the park, or finding a quiet place to soak up some sunlight. The city centre is compact and within 30 minutes I was walking through a gate from the botanic gardens into a nature reserve, through the forest, around stunning lakes, and finding my own patch of sunshine. So relaxing. And as the temperature has dropped to -1 overnight and during the day the cold is biting unless you are in the sun, I soaked up as much as possible. I’ve also added a neck/face warmer to my bag, and to my eternal surprise I have started wearing a headband. Not one of those bite into your head plastic alice-bands, and not a cool one like my friend Lissy makes, but a knitted practical fleecy one to keep my ears warm. Sigh.

A wee gem I found today is the Boulebar, situated on the canal behind the fish market. It is modeled on the parks around Marseille in France, where you can grab a meal or glass of something and play a game of boules (petanque) with friends on one of the indoor gravel courts, and is run by 3 friends who spent time backpacking in France and became smitten with the game, and they now have a chain of Boulebars around Sweden. So much fun! And they had crème brulee which is basically sunshine in a bowl 🙂 🙂