Monday, May 12, 2014

Gothenburg, Sweden

My first visit to Sweden and Scandinavia was to the city of Gothenburg, locally spelled Göteborg.   It's easy to find your way around the city, maps are everywhere.
 Since the mid-90's I have wanted to visit Gothenburg,  in my previous job, I worked with engineers and managers from this area.  I was lucky to be able to find my previous co-workers and meet them for dinner.
 I was also lucky in that my full day in Gothenburg, the rain stop and the sky cleared.  The day I landed in the city was rain, kind of like Seattle, next day was sun and a few clouds.
 The first place I visited in the city center was the botanical garden of Trädgårdsföreningen.
 The garden is small, not quite large enough to isolate it from the car sounds of the surrounding city.
 The green house reminds me of the green house on Belle Isle in the city of Detroit.
 The interior of the green house keeps it tropical.
 A block along the main street, just to the left or right of this intersection was bars and restaurants like Hard Rock.
 All over the city is art and statues, this is a Sweden's Second City view on gun control...
 The Gothenburg Art Museum allows photos of the collection, below is an old painting of locals enjoying the afternoon.
 World's safest limo.
 Just outside the city center is the Skansen Kronan, one of Gothenburg's original fortifications.  
 I really wanted to visit the interior of this structure but by the time I arrived here at 4:30 it was closing and not letting people in.  In the past the city was circled by fortifications but most have been removed for economic expansion.  Luckily this one was not in the way of anything.
Very imposing structure.
 The Skansen Kronan is atop a steep hill, this is the view from that hill.  It's worth the effort.
 At the base of Skansen Kronan is the neighborhood of Haga.
 Haga is a historical district, it's a really nice place to visit and relax.
 It's not very difficult to find 'main street'.
 This building was an old factory converted into apartments.
 Very quiet streets.
 At the base of Haga is a plaza, this is the fountain in the middle of the plaza.
 Art or Laundry?
 No matter where you are, who you are, what time it is, you can always be a pimp if you are rolling around in a car like this.  This guy drove past where I was sitting like nothing special was going on.
 This is Gothenburg Centalstation, you can take a train from here to Stockholm.
 Gothenburg is also very well known for it's tram system, here is tram 10 just hanging out in central plaza.
 The Clarion Hotel Post is not where I stayed but this was the original post office of Gothenburg.  The statue on the three post in front of the hotel is see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil,  a copy from Nikko, Japan.
 NFC Fried Chicken, N must stand for Nordic.

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