Global Tales from Two Young Travelers

Gothenburg, Sweden

By Emily Reisch and Jon Minor

Gothenburg was our last Swedish city to visit before leaving to travel in Europe. Gothenburg is Sweden’s 2nd largest city. It is a beautiful community with many new and old sites to see, however, our one-day stay only allowed us to sample the city.

It’s spelled Göteborg in Swedish and when pronounced, sounds like yo-tah-bor-ee. A gorgeous harbor and archipelago, and Sweden’s best theme park, make Gothenburg a common holiday spot for many Swedes.

Liseberg is one of Sweden’s tourist meccas. The 80-year old amusement park draws in several hundred thousand visitors every year and the addition of the biggest wooden roller-coaster in the Nordic region is bound to bring more. We felt like kids eating cotton candy and walking through the park looking at screaming faces on the rides.

Displayed around a fountain were handprints and signatures of famous people from all over the world. Swedes are very proud of their stars. Jon sized his hands up with tennis star and sex symbol Björn Borg. Emily filled the prints of Astrid Lindgren, author of the popular Pippi Longstockings books.

We watched a film about pirates on the huge Iwerks screen. It was our first 3-D experience, complete with the goofy glasses. One part convinced our eyes that angry bees were hovering just inches away. Even though we knew they weren’t, we couldn’t help pressing back in our chairs to try to get away from them.

Trädgårdsföreningen, one of the city parks, was a highlight. In addition to the flowerbeds and fountains, Fjärilshuset (the Butterfly House) and Palmhuset (the Palm House) were relaxing attractions.

In Fjärilshuset we were able to walk amongst butterflies from all over the world in their natural habitat. It is a wonderful experience to see them up close and personal.

Palmhuset was like a large greenhouse with several rooms. Each room had its own climate. One was hot and humid like a rainforest while another was arid like the desert. Native vegetation from each of the different climates was grown.

Swedes love the outdoors and really appreciate nature. Trädgårdsföreningen displays how important it is to be able to experience nature, even within metropolitan areas.

Universeum is another example showing the importance of nature in the Swedish society. This interactive museum is more like a playground for your senses. We walked through a rainforest and met the friendly trumpeter birds running around. A guide told us that they were so friendly that South Americans kept them as pets.

Many aquariums showed fish, eels and other animals from the seacoasts and lakes of Sweden. We walked through an underwater glass tunnel and stopped to watch sharks gliding over us.

Gothenburg is a town dependent on the sea. It’s a major ferry center, and there is a huge fish market early on weekday mornings. A statue of Poseidon holding a fish, in the middle of a fountain, sits in front of the art museum. It’s featured on many postcards, as is the harbor.

One thing that irritates us about Sweden is the short weekend hours. Nothing opens until 10 or 11:00, and closes as early as 2:00. During our short stay we tried to see as much as possible, but just didn’t have time to see many things. We’ll be very glad to have stores that stay open late again.

We had fun using our Swedish skills. We’re fluent enough to ask questions, but unfortunately not always quick enough to catch the entire answer.

Our final view of Gothenburg was from a ferry heading to England. We watched from the back of the ship as the outline of Sweden sank into the horizon. We’d just embarked on the second half of our trip – backpacking around Europe. We’ll share many experiences with you.