Wonderful, Wonderful Copenhagen (Gothenburg, Sweden to Copenhagen, Denmark)

The excitement of Gothenburg became too much for one post, dear reader, so here we are. And yes, we do get to Copenhagen and today's title. I know, an early reveal. Wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen by Danny Kaye from the 1952 musical Hans Christian Andersen. It's time to a rekindle memory or just to be appalled by the music of the '50s. Your call, but listen here. Given the trend to 'revive' musicals I am mystified as to why this one hasn't hit the stage again.

Flowers are beginning to emerge.

Day 3

Monday (time is fluid). The systembolaget would be open today. Super excitement. On the way to find food to start the day Jayne reported our room hadn't been serviced. The response was underwhelming and the woman at the desk began making excuses. "Maybe you sent them away." No. "Maybe you had 'do not disturb' on the door." No. "I'll have it attended to immediately." she said as we left for breakfast in Haga. 

In case you don't know there is a sign: HAGA.

We had deliberately delayed our arrival at Haga to ensure there were more stores open. In reality it is one long street of timber fronted stores. It is like Berry in NSW stretched along one street with little car traffic. There are a number of antique stores, cafés, clothing, souvenir and quirky gift shops.

The Skansen Kronan. Not a great photo.

We selected a different café for breakfast. In an unexpected move that Jayne said would only disappoint, I swapped my double espresso for a double shot Americano. She was right. It was a disappointment. But the pastry that accompanied it was spot on.

Fish Church

Following breakfast, we walked down towards the river and the fish market which has been dubbed the fish church because of the building's resemblance to a church. It has been undergoing renovation and was due to open in 2023, according to the official Gothenburg tourist booklet. As you can see from the photo, like SJ trains, they are running behind schedule.

Pray to the seafood.

The walk along the waterfront was not as scenic as we had hoped and we deviated back along the canal, towards the hotel and what I thought was a church. It had a clock in the steeple we noted from a distance. Clearly not a church. As we got closer we could see crosses on the lower roof line. A church with a clock in the main steeple. That's something we've never seen before.

Christchurch, Gothenburg.

Back to the hotel to change bags and grab the backpack, to find our room was still unclean. Hmmm. It was still early.

Lunch

Wine supply secured, we returned to the market hall in search of Swedish meatballs. The food in the market looked amazing, but the restaurants mostly had bar type tables. Not what we were looking for. The problem we realised, once outside, was that if the restaurant did not feature an English menu we had no idea what Swedish meatballs were called in Swedish. Thankfully Google translator did: Kötbullar.

Fortunately the restaurant across the road served Kötbullar so in we went. The staff were lovely and produced an English menu for us. The starter was free as was the bread, salad, biscuits and brewed coffee. We were amused by one of the wines on offer, a shiraz from Australia called Don't tell Gary. It's McPhersons wines in Victoria. No we didn't drink it; we opted for an Italian red to go with our Swedish meatballs.

Yeah, I had to Google it. It's a sculpture of a girl in a green dress riding a mythical animal.

Everything was going well until ... I placed my knife on the side of my plate and was reaching for my phone when the knife slipped. Not wanting it to fall on the floor, I pushed on it with my free hand. It stopped the slide to the ground, but in doing so, created a force that transferred up the handle to the blade. The blade was covered in thick, luscious, dark gravy. I may as well have picked up a spoon full of gravy and flicked it over myself. And over my shoulder. Fortunately, or unfortunately for the comic aspect of this catastrophe, there was no one sitting behind me. Gravy, spotted from right shoulder to cuff and one lone heart shot. Cruel. And on a clean shirt.

The Final Afternoon

Despite the desecration of my shirt, we went to the shopping mall to purchase a few requisites for tomorrow's travel. We opted for Lidl, another discount German chain similar to Aldi. It's a cheap option but I'm still  not sure about some of the product we purchased.

As we were leaving, the drizzle re-commenced so we went straight back to the hotel. Would our room finally have made the service list? I mean we were promised immediate action this morning and that hadn't happened on our pre-lunch visit.

A children's play area in Haga. We'll discuss later.

We opened the door to find ... the room exactly as we had left it. So, we dropped our bags, grabbed the computer and went to reception. This time we spoke with the concierge. Before he knew our room number, he said someone had been sent to clean it after we complained that morning. I don't think so. Then he asked for our room number so he could send someone there immediately.

The robot was cleaning the hallways - maybe we should have sent it to our room.

We adjourned to the bar and blogged. No drinks. they didn't deserve our money. After an hour, we went to the room to find it had been cursorily cleaned. The bed looked like it had been made by a teenager. The floor hadn't been vacuumed but we had clean glasses (we hope).

That night we switched on the TV and came across an English program called Shetland. Two episodes in. We're addicted.  It's like the Australian show Dead Loch without the humour. I'll be chasing that when we get home.

Leaving Gothenburg

At check out the next day, the woman on reception did the usual, "How was your stay?" So, Jayne told her. The result of the non-housekeeping was she removed the charge for the bottle of wine we had one evening. Cool. Still won't be going back to Radisson Blu anytime soon.

Across the cobbled pavers into the station. Bags stowed. Seats facing the direction of travel. The train left on time. Everything was looking good. Our connecting train that we were picking up at Malmö was 20 minutes late leaving Stockholm, but by the time it reached Malmö it was only 5 minutes behind schedule.

Copenhagen or København

We arrived close enough to the scheduled time. The difficulty was, as always, getting form the station to the accommodation. It was supposed to be a 30 minute walk. The part walk/part train journey was still a 750m walk and involved navigating a train system of which we had absolutely no knowledge.

It was a nice day. The sun was shining, something we hadn't seen for a while. We decided to trust Declan and typed the address into the phone. I must say, we were a little bit disappointed that Mary hadn't sent someone to meet us at the station, given we are almost family, (we've been to Tasmania and we have also walked past the Slipp Inn at Darling Harbour, as opposed to the Ship Inn at the Quay).

Anyway after dragging the bags about 400 metres we decided we were headed in the wrong direction and returned to our point of origin and started over. What followed was a fun filled 30 minutes or so of dragging our bags across Denmark's quaintly paved footpaths. They are all partly solid, the other section is cobbled. Not really designed for wheelie bags, but so cool for tourists.

As a result of Declan's penchant for zigzagging through streets, we saw much of the Latin quarter before we reached our accommodation. It was Tuesday afternoon but the streets were very crowded. Jayne was navigating so the fact we walked past the Pandora shop was, I'm absolutely certain, coincidental.

And then ...

Accommodation discovered. Eventually. It's never as easy as it is supposed to be. Sadly it was on the second floor, up three flights of stairs. Equally sadly, there were four different digital locks to negotiate before we could get in. That's more security than we have at home. There was, of course, a trick to mastering the digital locks but we got there, thankfully still in daylight.

The apartment is everything we need and is extremely well situated. Bags unpacked, we went in search of a supermarket and some wine. As it turned out, they were one and the same since Denmark, for some reason, has not subscribed to the rest of Scandinavia's prohibitive approach to the sale of alcohol. Our shopping done, we turned our attention to dinner. Given how well located we are, how difficult could that be?

This is our place. Well, the entry.

Not so simple if you don't know where things are. We wandered for a while and stumbled across the Pandora store again.  Time was on our side. In we went, Danish charm, a crown in honour of our Mary, Queen of Denmark purchased, dinner then moved to top priority.

It was no easy task, dear reader, but you have suffered enough for one blog so I shall end this forthwith. We found a tiny Italian restaurant in a cellar. Great food and wine and, as we settled in for our meal, the people kept coming and coming. Some were turned away. Others were more defiant and stood and waited in the tiny area near the entry stairs.

We didn't linger over dinner and relinquished our table to those so desperate as to stand and wait.

Until next time. 

Why won't they leave us alone? (Stockholm to Gothenburg, Sweden)

And so, dear reader, it was with fear and trepidation we departed Stockholm and dragged our bags towards Central Station. We had selected a smoother route, one that limited the cobblestones and small pavers. We made the station in good time and loitered near the platform from which our train would be departing. Seating was at a premium and if you got up to stretch your legs it was likely your spot would be taken before you had walked a few metres. Thankfully I like to roam around so, once Jayne was seated with our bags, I went in search of the mysterious platform 9. No luck. It remains a mystery.

Our train arrived on time, but it required cleaning for the next leg of the journey. We were, therefore, 20 minutes late leaving. While that was not a concern for us - we couldn't get into the hotel until 3pm anyway, there were plenty of people with connecting trains at Gothenburg that would be inconvenienced.

The high speed trains are fabulous and I still can't understand why Australia has not gone down this path. The thing of note on the journey was the guy across the aisle with his headphones on singing to himself. Funny. And annoying.

Gothenburg or Göteborg is another university town and is Sweden's second largest city. We are here for three days because I wanted to break up the journey from Stockholm to Copenhagen. Given the speed of the trains it probably wasn't necessary. In an ironic twist, we will need to change trains on the way to Copenhagen and the connecting train commenced its journey in Stockholm.

Interesting architecture everywhere.

We are staying in a hotel, the Radisson Blu Scandinavia. It is a popular chain over here and is also directly opposite central station. Despite Declan, our GPS, wanting to walk us down one side of the canal to turn and retrace our steps, I cleverly noted the hotel sign emblazoned in 3 metre high blue neon and headed directly there. I had decided to upgrade to a suite, given our baggage. Good decision.

Systembolaget

There is a lot to like about Sweden. Bottle shop or Systembolaget opening hours is not on the list. We dropped our bags, unpacked a few things, checked the map, grabbed the backpack and headed for the bottle shop. Should you ever travel this way, dear reader, and are in search of take home alcohol, the term to Google is 'liquor store'. Cheers America.

An insect hotel near the bottle shop.

Anyway the systembolaget was less than 10 minutes walk from the hotel through the Inner City past numerous shops, cafés and restaurants. The weather was predicted to be fine and we wandered our new locale, taking in the sights as we went. Sadly, there were KFC and McDonalds amongst the more interesting eateries.

As we passed the local market, noted for a later visit, it began to rain. Not heavily. Just enough to be annoying and ensure you would be uncomfortable. Not to worry, our destination was nearby and we could shelter there making our wine choices.

Good try. Fail. The bottle shop had closed at 3pm, as it was Saturday, and wouldn't reopen until Monday morning. I am uncertain if this is some puritanical religious bent tied to decades past or a clever ploy to get the locals out to eat and drink on weekends. If the latter, it worked for us.

Dinner 

A restaurant had already been selected prior to leaving the hotel so we navigated our way there. It was Italian of course. I have never seen so many Italian restaurants, with the possible exception of Italy. The rain had stopped, we arrived at the restaurant and were shown to our table by a delightful young woman who chatted to us about Gothenburg and things we could do. Especially as Sunday is a day when many places are closed.

The restaurant was one of those order at the table places that popped up everywhere during COVID in Australia. In Sweden they are going completely cashless and most places accept card only. Wouldn't that cause Bob Katter and Barnaby Joyce to have an apoplexy? Be worth it for that alone.

So we decided a long lunch drifting into dinner was required. We began with olives and wine and the order went through without a problem. We sat and chatted and watched people coming and going. Later I ordered our mains and the system would not accept my card. Curious. It worked an hour ago. Over to the counter to speak to the people. It wouldn't work manually either.

They didn't take Amex so we were limited in what we could do. Jayne came over and attempted to pay with her card. Also rejected. About 8 times just to reinforce the point. Back at the table I tried again using Apple Pay. Success! Who knows why or how. Dinner was on its way.

And when it finally arrived, disappointment. My pizza was OK. Uncut, but OK. What is with that? Jayne's carbonara was swimming in egg wash. Disgusting.

Day 2

When you're travelling overseas, dear reader, there are many ways to start a day badly. One is to open your email and discover your VISA card has been suspended due to suspicious activity. For perspective, we have been away for a month and although it's not my main card, it gets used where Amex is not accepted. It has, therefore, been used in England and Norway, but apparently Sweden is a totally sus country and it was is now locked.

The only solution? Phone Australia. Do not respond to the email. Phone. The sim card I purchased is data only and I've tried making calls over the net but it doesn't work. Thankfully Jayne's phone did and I called HSBC in Sydney, well it was a Sydney number. After the usual 10 minutes on hold, I got to discuss the issue with someone in the fraud team. 

It's a school. Not Hogwarts.

She asked me if I authorised a purchase for $181AUD and provided the trading name. Really? Trading names are not generally the name of the establishment where you spent the money. I told her I bought dinner at an Italian restaurant in Sweden and named the two amounts spent in SEK. "Oh," she said, "You're in Sweden." This woman's progeny will never work on rockets.

Anyway, card restored it was time to search for breakfast. A potential challenge on a Sunday so we headed for Haga, a tourist area.

Haga

It was still early by Swedish standards and even the tourist area was quiet. There were a few cafés open and all were well patronised, as if to prove to the authorities that Sunday trading would be a beneficial move.

Reflective.

Finally we found a table in the third café and joined the queue to order. We tend not to eat much when we travel, a light breakfast and one meal usually suffices. The usual double espressos, a croissant and Jayne had something sweet, I can't remember the name. 

We didn't stay to explore Haga because we were returning the next day. Today we were going to the Museum of Natural History. Why? Because museums are open on Sundays, unlike the rest of Sweden and closed on Mondays.

It looked harmless enough from below.

Museum of Natural History

Admittedly it is a while since I've been to a museum of this sort. It is also billed as a museum of taxidermy. Their big claim to fame? A stuffed blue whale. I kid you not. Now I'm no taxidermist, so I'm not really in a position to criticise, but ... well, you'll see from the pictures.

The walk to museum passed the Skansen Kronan, a 17th century fortress. It is on top a hill of course with a great view. It can wait till the walk home.

The Skansen Kronan.

Walking through the doors of the museum was akin to wandering into a day care centre. It was all light and movement and screaming children and ambivalent parents. It appears museums are very popular on Sunday.

The magpies are really colourful.

The lockers were all taken which meant carrying our bags and coats. We climbed the spiral staircase to the top floor to work our way back down. In short, it is the museum of taxidermy. There were a few skeletons and some hands-on explanatory displays for kids. Otherwise it was stuffed animals.

Even the bear is looking away.

Stuffed birds, mammals, fish, assorted sea creatures, you get the idea. The museum, the oldest in Gothenburg, opened in 1905 and some of the exhibits looked like they were original. Particularly the birds, losing feathers, faded colour and a generally moth-eaten appearance.

The two floors of exhibits generated that wonderful echo sound that little children so enjoy to make. Some so much, they had what looked and sounded like a 'scream off' with other children. Yes, this was fun, dear reader.

An anorexic giraffe looking in a mirror.

And then the whale, the prize exhibit. I photographed it from above as well as from ground level. The lines on the side of the whale turned out be where it was cut open. To reseal it they used screws. It's head had three very large hinges. I assume this is for educational purposes so you can look inside. I thought it was just weird and unattractive and ultimately it didn't look real. Which also brings us to the title of this post, Why won't they leave us alone that timeless 1986 classic from Dot and the Whale. Do yourself a favour.

Hinges and screws.

After passing through the mammal exhibit, replete with a giraffe, elephant, moose, buffalo, bear and Australian marsupials. We exited to take a wander in the adjacent perimeter of the botanic garden.  The gardens would no doubt look far more impressive in the summer and the scale of the space seems akin to our national parks as there is 360 kms of cycling track within its precinct.

Skansen Kronan

Our return journey took us back to the fortress, built in 1687-9, that lies in the heart of the city. It is perched on a hilltop, accessible by a zig-zag pathway. It is steep to access on one side and there is a more meandering path on the other. The view from the top was overrated. It looked across the city towards the storm clouds in the distance. 

Nice day for a walk.

There were many locals out walking their pets and not all of them were dogs. We were amazed to see people walking their cats, not on a leash. It was tempting to stay and watch what was about to unfold because two dogs were waiting around the next bend in the path.

Cat walking. No leash.

We turned for Norstad, the large shopping mall near the hotel in search of the yellow all weather coat I didn't buy in Tromsø. Once again to no avail. We found a Pandora store although Jayne didn't like the specifically Swedish offering so there was no purchase.

Mini golf. No nerds out today.

Back at the hotel our room hadn't been serviced so we adjourned to the bar with the computer to sort out our last leg of unbooked travel, Prague to Vienna. After considerable research looking at the two different train companies and whether it was better to book through Prague or Vienna, I finally made a decision. I booked through the Czechia site because it allowed you to select seats where the Austrian site did not and the private train company couldn't guarantee us seats together. Stressful, but done.

Retiring for the evening we discovered our room had been ignored and had not been serviced. Oh, well, we'll discuss that on the way tomorrow.

Until next time.