Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat sea on the west coast of Sweden.
There it is!
According to Wikipedia: “The city was named Göteborg in the city’s charter in 1621 and simultaneously given the German and English name Gothenburg. Both the Swedish and German/English names were in use before 1621 and had already been used for the previous city founded in 1604 that burned down in 1611. Gothenburg is one of few Swedish cities to still have an official and widely used exonym. In 2009, the city council launched a new logotype for Gothenburg. Since the name “Göteborg” contains the Swedish letter “ö”, they planned to make the name more “international” by turning the “ö” sideways. As of 2015, the name is spelled “Go:teborg” on a large number of signs in the city.”
However, the Swedish Wikipedia entry makes no mention of such things…
Lipstick in the Small Boom.
You are probably wondering why we would come to such a nondescript location in the land of fjords and aurora borealis—besides sights such as the Lilla Bommen, named after the surrounding location of Lilla Bommen, commonly referred to as Läppstiftet.
Proud to be Polis.
Naturally, we are here to participate in West Pride, Sweden’s second largest pride festival. We will cover that in a future article.
Peel me a grape.
And we are staying at the Dorsia Hotel, which is so fabulous that, it, too will have an article written about it.
A typical street in Göteborg.
But first, let’s take a look at Göteborg.
As with many European cities, there are large open areas with no assigned use and buildings are large and somewhat oppressive (to my eye). I imagine that, particularly in northern Europe, the winter weather forces people to be indoors, so having large buildings to accommodate everyone is a priority.
Hey, wait a minute! That’s my company’s name!!
Summer in Sweden.
The days here in summer are long (almost 19 hours), so plants grow. And grow.
Notice the busses and trolleys? While we watch for about ten minutes, there is an endless stream of them. They are lined up, and stop briefly to let people off and on; they proceed to wherever they are going, and another bus or trolley pulls up and does the same, over and over. I don’t know how cost effective that is, but it sure gets people where they need to be.
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
As you know, Göteborg is the largest harbor in the Nordic countries, so naturally they have a statue representing Poseidon, the protectors of seafarers. It is placed in Götaplatsen at the southern end of Avenyn, Göteborg’s main boulevard, quite some distance from the sea, for some reason. Anyway, he is naked and is holding a small shark that spits water and a bowl with a seagull on it.
Even more fountains.
Although this fountain looks pathetic, children will play in its waters. We have no idea what happens in winter. Maybe it’s a small skating rink? We’ll never know.
Where are all the people?
Standing on Drottningtorgsbron provides a classic image of the cleanliness and order found in much of Scandinavia. It kind of reminds me of Duloc, which was also a perfect place.
All a-board!
A Swedish proverb: “Give a man a paddle board, and he will just store it in his shed. Teach a man to paddle board, and he can do cool stuff.”
Is it art? Is it advertising? Is it an inside joke?
Outside a normal building is a screened cabinet displaying mostly building materials: straw, wood, bricks, tiles. Some of the tiles are broken. There are pinecones. And that’s all we know about this.
Göteborg advertising.
This structure seems to be used for nothing but advertisements. Apparently, when you have something to advertise, you just glue it on top of someone else’s advertisement.
Apparently, people in Sweden eat a lot of ice cream.
We see these signs in many places in Göteborg. I think they are selling ice cream.
Ah, now I get it.
My wife thinks they are selling something else. I guess you see what you want to see.
Shopping
At least it’s not crowded.
A quaint cobblestone street leads us to one of Göteborg’s shopping districts. Let’s take a look, shall we?
I don’t think that word means what you think it means.
This certainly was a disappointment… However, Nudie Jeans Co states “Every pair of Nudie Jeans comes with a promise of free repairs. No matter when or where you got them.” So that’s kinda cool.
I’ll bet Robin named this company.
Holy Greens sells salads. And that’s all. They also state, “Med vår app kan du enkelt och smidigt beställa och betala dina sallader direkt i mobilen,” if that’s important to you.
Nice slogan, but how could they possibly know that?
Barry’s has a gym here. If you look at their website, you can see that they only allow you to become a member if you are pretty.
Are those fish for sale?
First Hotels has a fish tank, but not for dinner. Also, that girl does not have long red hair. Sorry.
Balls.
Large green balls with flowers hang above us. Are the flowers real? If so, do they replace them daily, or is each stem inserted into a small container of water? We don’t know, and we don’t know who to ask.
There is an idea I can get behind.
I am fortunate enough to have paper with me but, sadly, the store is closed.
Sweets for the sweet.
Some people believe that God is Love. Wrong.
This is where it all began.
We really, really want to buy something from Ikea in Sweden, but the only stores we can find are offices, not retail outlets.
Fashion
Someone once said, “And just like fashion it’s a passion for the with it and hip,” so let’s see what the Göteborgers have a passion for.
Maybe there’s only one clothing store in Göteborg.
I take this photograph because of the furry slippers, and only later realize they are all wearing matching outfits.
I know where she buys her dresses.
I take this photograph also for the unusual footwear, and later notice that she’s modeling the dresses that the store is selling.
This means something, right?
The Moe Howard haircut, the tuffs of hair sticking up, and the blue and white drawing on the model’s face, the colors matching the dress, is sending a message about something to someone.
I’m so confused.
Okay, the mannequin has legs and arms that appear to be male, and a face that appears to be female. The pants seem like men’s, the sweater could be men’s or women’s, and the hat seems like a woman’s hat. I got nothin’, people.
What’s up, brow?
Apparently, a gorilla is going to help you with your eye brows. Well, it’s got the word “skãm” in the description, so, buyer beware.
A barbershop for dead people.
Most barbershops show pictures of people looking good after a haircut. In Göteborg, they have different ideas.
And what’s going on here?
There is something interesting happening here. This Jack Nicholson-looking guy is having a deep conversation with a woman who is hidden behind a drive-carefully sign. Is he repentant, is he sad, or is he just looking at her legs? I’m voting for legs.
Trädgårdsföreningen
Trädgårdsföreningen, as you can tell from the name, is the Garden Association of Göteborg. According to their website, “Trädgårdsföreningen i Göteborg är en av Europas bäst bevarade 1800-talsparker. Under sommaren är Rosariet fyllt av flera tusen färggranna, doftande rosor. I Palmhuset, det eleganta växthuset från 1878, hittar du palmer och andra tropiska växter. Böljande former och planteringar tar dig med till trädgårdskulturens guldålder.”
And it just so happens to be across the canal from where we are staying.
Yes, the sign lights-up at night.
The park is open every day, and is free. However, no bikes, booze, bowsers, or scooters. This applies to the whole area, which is a hela big space.
A bench made for one.
Everything here is manicured. The benches are made for one person, or for two people who want to sit very close together. We are impressed that they grow palm trees here.
But…where are the babies?
A cupola rains flower petals on anyone foolish enough to venture under it. Childless strollers are scattered about, unattended. In the distance is a playground, devoid of players. A dove coos softly, then takes flight.
We found Stonehenge!
There are many paths through the woodlands, rose gardens, other gardens, and carpet beddings. You can see the map here. There are just not very many people…
Posing by the fountain.
I realize there are not many photographs of me in this article, so I’m including this one. It is gratuitous, yes.
It’s like they are peeing.
This is not your typical fountain. Rather, the water shoots out from too far away and tries to land in a basin with minimal spillage and splashing. Yeah, welcome to a man’s world.
Pretty fountains all in a row.
This is not your typical fountain. Rather, the water shoots out frothily from a hard pipe…okay, you can see where I’m going with this.
A poor man’s fountain.
We’re not sure about this fountain. It’s like they ran out of ideas.
Now that’s a fountain.
Okay, we’ve established that they know what a fountain is. Notice the succulent plant. Pretty impressive that it grows here in Sweden, eh?
Beware the fountain.
Why can’t we get close to this fountain? What horrors is it hiding?
Notice the building in the background. It’s the Palmhouse, where “you will be bewitched by natural beauty from all corners of the world.” We went there, but it was so stuffed with plants that we felt claustrophobic, despite the glass walls and roof. However, I expect that it’s the place to be during the cold, cruel winter months.
A sad pond. Or is it?
This pond seems unnaturally black to us, and too calm. Is it bottomless? Perhaps the water is acidic. If we approach too closely, will we be drowned by naiads?
Okay, enough with the water.
Be vewy, vewy quiet.
There is an abundance of wildlife here in the park, including this European hare. During the spring mating frenzy, hares sometimes strike one another with their paws (“boxing”). This is usually not competition between males, but a female hitting a male, either to show she is not yet ready to mate or to test his determination.
Another mating frenzy?
The ancient sport of boxing is practiced in the park. And, yes, we all agree that she is ready to mate.
You quack me up.
There are many birds here, including a lot of mallards. They, too, are in Sweden to breed before returning south.
A rock with warts.
What is this? Why is it here? So many strange things in this world.
Mirror, mirror, on the path…
There is a walking or jogging path (although we see no joggers) with a few fun-house mirrors scattered about. Why? We speculate that, perhaps they were normal mirrors until warped by the weather.
Ha ha.
This is my favorite. Move along now…
Okay, that’s just nasty.
As in America, cigarette smoking is designated by the government as deadly, as having a high medical cost, and is permitted. “Hey, kid, eat these bits of lead. Yes, it will kill you horribly but, until you die, everyone will think you are cool.”
Yeah, you’d think that a more civilized country with a modern health care system would be different. You would be wrong.
A tribute to wood?
There are statues for us to enjoy. This one seems to be a tree growing in a manner that trees don’t grow. Well, in college I learned that incomprehensible art is usually “man’s inhumanity to man”. So this is probably a depiction of the trials of navigating the social pathways required by society, yet having limited human abilities. Yeah, that’s it.
Given that this statue depicts a legless woman, I’d call it man’s inhumanity to woman.
Fika
Hey! Fika you!
The word “fika” translates to “coffee”. But, according to that fount of all knowledge, the Internet, it also means “drinking coffee, munching sweet treats and chatting”, “making time for friends and colleagues to share a cup of coffee (or tea) and a little something to eat”, “a social institution”, “a social affair”, “can take place with your family, colleagues, strangers or on your own”, “a state of mind”, “the key to happiness at work”, and lots of other stuff.
The lighting is perfect, don’t you agree?
Although we must say adjö, the story doesn’t end here. We will soon return with more adventures in Göteborg, Sweden!