Gothenburg

On my first night in Gothenburg I headed out to meet up with a couple of local journalists, Martin and Peter. They were friends of a friend who had offered to meet for a chat over a couple of beers. Several hours and many beers later we were still arguing on their apartment roof, soundtracked by Bob Dylan's complete discography and watching the sun rise over the harbour. Another unexpectly great travel moment.

Every hostel i've visited in Scandinavia has been excellent - The Slottsskogens YHA was no exception - however it was full of 'interesting' characters. One young Australian, just out of high-school, spent his evenings wandering the streets wearing a flourescent yellow Legionaires hat asking every Swedish girls he saw for directions to where ever they were going. Then there were the two young Americans, 3 weeks into their first overseas trip who were already ready to murder each other. I can sympathize, having reached the same point with both of them in only 2 days.

I overheard one of them, a proud student of European history, unsuccessfully trying to convince a group of Germans that their country's current economic strength is proof that the sanctions after WW2 were insufficient. Noticing that the Germans were starting become agitated he smoothly changed the topic, asking if Germany had its own soccer league or if everyone just followed the English Premier League. I wonder if he's still alive. The second American's choice of subject matter was less annoying, but he made up for it by always talking at least twice as loudly as anyone else in the room. I made the mistake of letting them both follow me on a visit to the nearby Archipelago. One of them refused to buy a tram ticket and had to jump off the tram to avoid an inspector so overpowered the second and dumped his body in the ocean - if anyone starts asking questions I'll just blame the Germans. I ended up spending the rest of the afternoon exploring some pretty but unspectacular islands with an interesting German who's acute sense of direction saved us from walking around in circles more than a couple of times.

Gothenburg itself is a very liveable city, with interesting bars, a huge park (complete with penguins) and friendly locals. I spent most evenings out drinking with Martin or Peter and although I rarely made it up before noon, I did managed one slightly hungover shopping adventure and bought a pair of expensive jeans. Before the shop assistant would hand them over he explained very seriously that they were made from a special kind of denim and made me promise that I wouldn't wash them for at least 3 months. I told him that suited me perfectly and asked if they also made underwear from the same material. The worried look he gave me indicated that they probably don't.