I left my heart in Gothenburg

So I’ve been travelling again. This time it was a week long trip with work to Gothenburg! It’s on the middle of the west coast of the country, and is our second largest after Stockholm. It was my first time there, and let me tell you… I’m in love. <3 Gothenburg May 2015

View over the amusement park Liseberg. That tower thingy is AtmosFear, the tallest free fall attractions in Europe. They put you in a basket, lift you up to the top, and then drop you.
I didn’t go on that monster, just looking on from the ground was more than enough, but I did ride one of the roller coasters.

Imaginary Karin - Gothenburg Gothia Towers pool

The hotel next to Liseberg had a glass elevator on the outside of the building. And also an outdoor pool. Also on the outside of the building.
It seems beyond creepy to be swimming in a glass jar 16 stories up in the air… We’ve already decided that next time we’re in town we’re going for a swim in that pool, as a dare. :P

Imaginary Karin - Gothenburg May 2015

Imaginary Karin - Gothenburg May 2015 HMS Småland

Down by the harbour lies an old barque from 1909. It’s sailing days are over and it now serves as a floating hotel. It’s very pretty, and huge!

There’s also the Swedish war ship HMS Småland from 1952. She was nowhere near as big as the HMS Belfast that I visited in London, but it’s still an impressive ship.
Just like Belfast, Småland has been retired and turned into a museum. We were allowed to explore it from top to bottom, all the way from the captain’s quarters to the machine room. Even if you’re not into military history, it’s still pretty cool to see how the ship worked and how people lived on it.
And it’s quite the workout too… climbing all those steps and ladders and whatnot is not for the lazy.

Imaginary Karin - Gothenburg 2015

Imaginary Karin - Gothenburg seals
Imaginary Karin - Gothenburg penguins

Imaginary Karin - Gothenburg deer

One of the most beautiful areas has to be Slottskogen, a large park close to the city centre. The landscape is hilly, just as the rest of Gothenburg, with massive leafy trees and lots of little ponds and rivers.

The park is home to many farm animals (they have a petting zoo for the children… and for certain adults who doesn’t have children but still want to pet baby goats) and even some deer. On the top of the highest hill they have a moose pen, but moose are common where I live so we didn’t bother going up there. We see enough of them on the roads here. :P

A bit more interesting were the harbor seals and the Humboldt penguins. The seals were super cute! They looked so soft and round, I imagine petting one of them would be like petting a hairy balloon.
Lucky for me, the penguins were all gathered inside their house so I got to see them real close. Now I know they look just as adorkable and awkward irl as they do on TV. ^_^

Imaginary Karin - Gothenburg

Apparently you can’t come here without seeing at least one concert, so Friday night we went to see Blind Guardian playing. The band was amazing and the audience was engaged and energetic, it was magical! Unfortunately I was too excited to remember to take pictures though…

Gothenburg is a great place to be if you like alternative music. The genre of melodic death metal was largely developed there, and people still talk about the “Gothenburg sound”. A whole lot of metal music in general is coming from Gothenburg.

After the concert we popped into one of the many rock n’ roll themed bars to round off the evening. That alone seems amazing, that there isn’t just one but multiple places to go if you want to listen to metal! :D

Imaginary Karin - Gothenburg May 2015

Stockholm is perhaps more beautiful in general, with the castle and Old Town and the water right in the middle of town, but Gothenburg is a lot more… charming. I think that’s the word. Charming, and artsy, and a bit weird.

The cold winds coming in from the sea, the trams rattling along their tracks, quirky little shops in winding alleys, beautiful old houses clinging to the rocky hills, and hundreds of voices chanting “Valhalla” in a darkened room…

We’re going there again in late September, and I can hardly wait! Next to London, I think this is my new favourite city in the world.

Comments

  1. 5 June 2015

    I love Gothenburg, such a beautiful city. I’ve been there a few times myself and always discover something new. I remember being excited by trams on my first visit (LOL) of all things. We don’t have a lot of them in the UK.

    I also spent a lot of time in Science Fiction Bokhandeln… May have bought a lot of Buffy and Angel merchandise from there. ;-)

    It was snowy the times I went. Sadly, it’s the only Swedish city I’ve had the chance to visit so far.

    • Karin
      7 June 2015

      Haha, I was a bit overexcited about the trams too. Especially the really old ones where you had to pull a string to tell the driver to stop ^_^

      Science Fiction Bokhandeln is a must! It’s my favourite store, but my poor wallet hates it…

  2. 6 June 2015

    It looks like an amazing place your be. The harbour pictures remind me of the Halifax harbour where I grew up. Makes me a little homesick haha.

  3. 7 June 2015

    Wow that pool looks so scary! Good luck if you try it next time!

    The penguins look super cute!

  4. 7 June 2015

    I like roller coasters but not free fall rides. I wouldn’t go on the AtmosFear either! Gothenburg looks like a lovely city though :) The harbor and Slottskogen are beautiful. I love looking at animals and would totally go to the petting zoo, haha.

    I feel kind of dumb because I love In Flames and Dark Tranquility and knew they were Swedish, but I didn’t realize they were from Gothenburg. Very cool that the melodic death metal genre was largely developed there! I would love to see a concert there.

    That sounds like a great trip!

  5. 11 June 2015

    I would totally going swimming in that pool, that would be so cool!

    Gothenberg looks and sounds amazing – I love to travel, both in person and vicariously and I loved hearing all about your trip :)

  6. 14 June 2015

    Wow, that looks so amazing! What a place to visit.

    OMG, that pool. It would be a good dare though haha.

  7. 17 July 2015

    EEK! The penguins! They’re so adorable!

    That pool on the hotel next door…. I’m not too afraid of heights, but I think more so I find it hard to trust whoever build it so high up. Does that make sense? I don’t have faith in the building materials to hold me up haha.

Due to its old age, comments are closed on this post. But you can contact me directly if you want to.