The Sweden Trip
Friday evening was spent at Erika’s flat simply chilling out and catching up on all our biz over a Thai takeway. I was shattered having got the bus to Dublin airport at 6am and Erika had done a full shift (she’s an A&E nurse) so it was absolute bliss to head to bed shortly after 10pm and not regain consciousness until well after 10 the following morning!

Once we’d had a very leisurely breakfast consisting of delicious local breads, cheeses, jams and hams – yum! – we caught a bus to Höno, an island right beside Öckero where Erika used to live. This involved a short ferry ride which is free because it's considered as part of the state road to the island! Höno and Öckero are the 2 biggest islands in a group of 10 which form part of the Gothenburg archipelago. The islands aren’t exactly big but about 4,800 people live on Höno alone!


We found a nice spot to go for a wee dip in the sea (complete with wee ladder into the sea on the left and bench to dry out on):
The house belongs to a Christian organisation which works with recovering alcoholics. It was about 19˚ but kind of windy so it felt a little cooler and we were kind of thinking we were a bit mad, but actually the water was relatively warm so it was a refreshing dip. However the jellyfish convention which seemed to be happening round the corner was more disconcerting so it was just a 10 minute dip! After drying off and munching on our picnic we went for a wee wander on the island. It is just so pretty, the kind of place I think I’d like to retire to! We climbed up to the top of a water-tower and got wonderful panoramic views.
Höno harbour and the bridge which connects it to the neighbouring island of Föto (literally means foot!) View towards Gothenburg harbour
Part of the Fish museum on Höno

Lighthouse on Höno

In the evening we headed into the city-centre to see what the Kulturkalaset (cultural festival) had to offer and met up with a few of Erika’s friends there. Live music was being played in various venues all over the city. One of the acts we listened to was Anna Ternheim, one of Sweden’s up and coming artists. She started off her set playing a few acoustic numbers – just her and her guitar – she’s got a beautiful voice. Then her band came on and they turned up the heat a little. A lot of it I would describe as ‘alternative’ and some of it was just plain jarring, so after a while we actually got a bit tired of it, though they’re definitely a really talented bunch.

On Sunday we had another glorious lie-in then headed off on the bikes to Keillers Park, where at the top of the hill you get some great views over the city.






We cycled along the river a bit further to see the Götheborg, a full-scale replica of a ship which sank in the harbour in 1745. It’s got a really interesting story behind it. Basically the ship sailed from Gothenburg to China and to bring tea, porcelain, silk and spices back to Sweden. But it ran aground in the harbour on its return from a trip in 1745. No-one knows for sure why but they think it was likely an insurance fraud – the East India Company owning the ship actually profited as a result of the ship sinking. Anyway the wreck was discovered in 1984 by divers and a number of years later a few people decided it would be kind of cool to build a sailing ship to reflect the art of shipbuilding in the 18th century and then sail it to China. And that’s exactly what they did! Erika and I had a good look round the ship and staff who sailed part or all of the voyage were available to chat about life on deck. They have my respect, I wouldn’t have fancied sharing my personal space with 80 other people nor climbing the rigging to sort out the sails!

Erika having a patriotic moment on board the Götheborg

Sunday evening was another relaxed session as Erika was working a nightshift. We’d hoped to go to a Vineyard service but didn’t make it because Erika needed a nap before work and I didn’t fancy walking in on my own with my 2 words of Swedish! But I had a nice evening flicking through Swedish TV channels (they love British dramas it seems and nothing is dubbed which is great for foreigners like me – no wonder the Swedish speak such good English!) and reading.

And then all of a sudden it was Monday morning and I was heading for home getting herded along by Ryanair. It was a great wee weekend away, I got the cobwebs blown away and it was great to hang out with Erika. Definitely want to repeat this trip!