We didn't eat the breakfast at Radisson Blu Scandinavia in Goteborg two-days in raw because my son didn't get up in time. I still don't know if the charges of breakfast had been included in the payment I had already made. It could be a lost for us.
The first morning in Goteborg, we planned to walk to Liseberg Amusement Park, which is only half an hour to 45 minutes walking distance from Central Station. Stopping by a restaurant called Lipp, we had a very delicious lunch recommended by the lady who might be the manager of the restaurant. I also had a pleasant chat with her about city of Goteborg.
We walked toward the direction to Liseberg but decided not to go there so early because we planned to watch the performance at 7:00pm but we wouldn't be able to stay that late if we walked there that early. Instead, my son wanted to go to Slottsskogen because he learned a zoo in it. It's not very far away, so I decided to walk there as well because I used to walk around Goteborg all by my foot 20 years ago. However, it would be proved a bad idea at the end.
In 1996, I had a very pleasant dinner in an outdoor dining area at a restaurant where Goteborg Arts Museum could be seen remotely. I did want to see it this time. However, when we arrived at the Museum, I was't able to recognize if the only restaurant by the street was the one I referred to. My memory told me there wasn't only one restaurant there back then.
Buying the tickets, I told the lady at the window who asked us where we came from that we were from Seattle. She marked on a piece of paper apparently for the purpose of geographical survey of visitors. There were many pieces of artworks such as Paintings. An administer kindly stopped me filming because it isn't allowed. After I told her I deleted it, she thumbed up. This one my son stood by was not a painting but made by clothes buttons with different colors, it is so creative!
My son wanted me to snap a photo for him in front of a statue outside the Museum before we left for the Park.
In the next one hour and a half, we experienced long walk to Slottsskogen and asked a dozen people for the direction:
First, we got onto a bus to ask the driver if we could take his bus, he told us we needed to take No. 52, though even I walked a lot, I was still pretty familiar with public transportation system in Goteborg back in 90s, I am not able to recall it after so many years anyway. It might make sense that even after much shorter period of time, I can't recall the system in Seattle either. I took bus everyday ten years ago when I was a consultant because most of the clients were in downtown.
Secondly, we asked a senior lady who was very patient and nice to direct us to a tram station where we could take a tram to go to the park.
We didn't take the tram but walked to close to the area where the park is located. When running across a street while green light for pedestrians was on, a balloon hit my right leg. I picked it up to give it back to a mom whose kid dropped the balloon while they were crossing from the other side.
Unfortunately, we headed to a wrong direction again, and thirdly had to ask a gentleman who might be at his 60s sitting on a bench drinking. He directed back to the bus station because the park is 3 kilometers away from there. Anyway, we happened to arrive at Goteborg Universitet, which definitely was on my list to visit. I came to the campus several times 20 years ago and actually applied one of its graduate programs, almost enrolled in 1993 school year. It was one of the options for my son's Study Abroad but it seemed no longer on the list of the Exchange Program. However, I might mean to go there to pay a visit though I didn't intentionally plan to walk there.
Forthly, Asking a young guy who was probably a student, he recommended us to take the tram across the street. Reading the bus/tram information on the board at the stop, I figured several different routes with different numbers.
Fifthly, I asked four girls waiting for the bus which one we should take, they tried to help warmly, after discussing with each other and a senior lady nearby in Swedish, they confirmed it No. 1. While chatting with them, I noticed many people watching us interestingly. Haha, if this were in Paris or even Malmo, we could have been a target for pickpocket given the group of girls' ages. They were one typical Swedish teen who was probably 5'7", very tall at her age; three Arabians girls looked very sharp. All of them were very pretty. I even didn't protect my waist bag because this was in Goteborg. In 2012 in Paris, when we walked back to our hotel near Champs-Elysees from the train station at the river bank of Seine after coming back from Versailles, we decided to take the subway when 2 or 3 kilometers were left. A group of three girls targeted us, though I hadn't seen them in the first place, my sense told me to lead my son to walk toward another door where no one else were about to get on and take off when train came and stopped. They followed us and got onto the train first to stand in front of me while one of my feet was still not in. One girl started talking to me in French to distract, another girl used her jacket to cover to unzip my waist bag, and the third girl stood behind them to get ready to take the wallet. Fortunately, I heard the sound of unzipping even the girl talked loudly. I shouted to them: "What are you doing?" The other girl had to drop my wallet to the floor she already pulled out of my bag. After checking nothing was stolen, I let them go. Actually, they took the train but we got out to wait for another one.
When I asked the girls if I could pay on No.1 because bus fares are not allowed to be paid on bus any more. Other two young Arabian women standing close told us we could. All of these ladies got onto a tram which wasn't #1 and one of those two young women pointed to a meter in the middle of the tram to show me where I could pay and wished us good luck.
We got onto No. 1 when it came and I tried to pay for the fares twice by swiping different cards but it didn't accept them, which are non-Euro cards. I didn't have enough coins either. Ok, I don't think Goteborg fellow citizens would be too picky on me for unpaid fares.
Finally, I checked with a young man at which stop we should get off and he happened to get off the same stop. Following him, we arrived at Slottsskogen, which is very beautiful.
Walking around the park, we appreciated the small lake, green trees:
A Swede with his two lovely sons told my son the animals scatted through the park, then we saw the penguins.
Passing through a short trail, we found a dog playground in which one guy and two gals were training their dogs. While I was filming remotely, the guy waved to us gently. We walked close to the fence, the two ladies allowed my son to enter the ground to play with the dogs. Pet lovers have the same passion no matter where we come from.
Next to the playground, it is a soccer filed on which several kids were practicing. At the background even further, I could see it a residential area. Living around must be very fun.
Following the trail, we arrived at a kids' playground. My son was wondering why there were so many kids and parents in an early weekday afternoon. First, he forgot himself being on summer break; Secondly, Swedes have a long dark winter season, so they enjoy outdoor sunshine and warmness during the summer as much as they can.
We would have encountered the same issue if we had taken the tram again, so I decided to take taxi because we had seen several parking outside to wait for passengers before we entered the park. After checking the fare with the driver, we got into the back seat. The driver was at his 50s and talked about NHL with me on the way back to our hotel. When he learned we came from Seattle, he mentioned Vancouver's hockey team. He said the reason he followed NHL is that several Swedish players are playing there. I don't follow hockey because we don't have a team in Seattle and I personally don't play it. However, I love talking sports. He also mentioned in 1995, World Championship in Athletics being held at Ullevi. He might not be a soccer fan because he didn't mention Eurocup 92. Or, he might not live here then. He might be an immigrant from Baltic States as far as I could guess. It's a very nice chat, sports fans have the same passion no matter where we live too.
Taking a rest in our hotel room, we walked out to have dinner. First of all, I really wanted to go to Gamla Ullevi, which is only 5 minutes walking. Unfortunately the store was closed, so I couldn't buy a shirt there. As I learned in later years, the current field was built on demolished old one but it is still the same in my mind. I watched my first Allsvenskan match here.
Looking around the square in front of Central Station, we eventually located a restaurant named Salt & Sill. At the entrance, a fisherman-look man was standing behind the seafood stand. A gal walked out to talk to him in Swedish, it sounded he had to close the day but there were still many pieces being left there. We helped him out by ordering a huge plate of mixed seafood. At the beginning, my son was so frustrated because he didn't like dealing with the shells of the seafoods, but at the end, he had to admit they were so delicious and he didn't need to eat something else. Though I didn't go to the seafood restaurant I had a great experience in 90s as I referred, I did have a great seafood dinner on this trip.
While eating, I heard two top songs on recent weekly charts being played as background music in the restaurant, first came Wait for Love on Swedish chart; second was See You Again on US chart. Walking back to our hotel, we were damn full.
After taking a nap, I got up to finish my diary for 7/8. While writing, I heard someone was singing, which sounded like a concert being performed in front of Central Station. However, now, I realize that might be the background music in the restaurant of Clarion Hotel. We didn't have chance to go to Liseberg to appreciate the concert because we were exhausted after walking too much today but I definitely will do it in my next trip to Goteborg.
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