June 7, 2012
Miraculously, we both slept until the alarm went off today, so I think we are on our way to recovering from the jetlag! J had his presentation first thing this morning so he was up quickly. After answering a few e-mails, he was off to the university. I had a leisurely morning– I finished the last ten pages of Middlemarch, had a long shower and a relaxing breakfast.
Just after nine, I walked to the Central Station and hopped on a train on my way to Marstrand, an island in the northern archipelago– about 40 km north of Göteborg. I transferred to a bus in Ytterby, where a whole class of teenagers boarded with their teacher. They were also headed to Marstrand, so when we got to the ferry terminal, we all boarded the ferry together. The ferry is a passenger ferry only (according to guidebooks), but in reality, a few work vehicles and vans must be allowed on the island, because two vehicles were on the ferry and I saw quite a few such vehicles on the main drag of the island.
The crossing is only two or three times the width of the Fraser River, so the whole ferry ride is only about three minutes long.
Thankfully, when we got to the island, I was able to lose the noisy bunch of students and set out on my own. The main drag of the street is all cobblestone, much like Göteborg, but it is all harbour, so there are boats moored on either side of the crossing.
There are a few restaurants, shops and cafés and the buildings across the harbour are perched haphazardly on rocks, which is reminiscent of Newfoundland.
Eventually the street trailed off into a hiking trail in the woods, so I took that path.
It took me all the way out to the tip of the island facing the Atlantic, and through a famously tall and narrow passage that must have been less than two feet across.
It rained on and off during the hike, but it wasn’t cold. The trail sort of petered out on the rocks and it may have restarted somewhere further, but at that point I’d been hiking for about 45 minutes, so I turned around and headed back to town.
After wandering the narrow, steep cobblestone streets, I found a very, very steep road leading to the Carlsten Fortress, the major historic site on the island.
As I was heading up the road, I thought that this must be the reason that so many student groups seemed to be visiting the island. When I got to the fortress, my suspicions were confirmed! The grounds of the impressive stone structure were crawling with students of all ages, and there was a lot of Swedish yelling all around me. A few little ones tried to speak with me, but when I told them I only spoke English, they didn’t know what to say! The tour of the inside of the fortress was 75 SEK and I only had 115 SEK left for lunch and a few postcards, so I saved my money and took pictures of the outside of the fortress. If my husband, the military history buff, had been there, we certainly would have taken the tour. As it was, I was content to take some pictures and walk the grounds.
Before my hike, I noticed a cute local café where several people were sitting outside having their morning coffee. After my exploration of the centuries-old fortress, I returned to that café, enticed mostly by the smell of baking from a few hours earlier. I got a delicious brie-filled bunwich (making it five meals of bunwiches in a row..) and a blueberry pastry, which was also tasty. I read my book while I ate and dried out from the rain. After picking up a few postcards, I headed back on the ferry and then took the bus (packed with the same noisy school group in addition to another slightly younger, slightly quieter school group) all the way back to Göteborg.
I came back to the hotel where J was waiting in pre-afternoon nap mode, watching Asterix and Obelix in Swedish. Shortly after my arrival and an exchange about his presentation (which went well) and my trip, he fell asleep. As I mentioned, I really do stir up excitement in my husband! Following his short nap, we went out for a walk. We stopped for another one of my favourite chai lattes, and shared a chocolate muffin. Then we spent some time shopping in a large department store, which had everything from fabric to household goods, luggage, clothing and stationery. I found a pretty coil notebook for myself, and some capri tights for a good price.
We stopped at the hotel for a quick change of clothes and to drop off our purchases before we walked to one of the main city squares to meet with other conference attendees for a wine reception being held by the city. There were a couple of delicious salads, plus rolls, wine and beer, so we treated it like dinner (and thankfully breaking my bunwich streak).
The reception was held in a stunningly beautiful old building that was completely ornate. The floors had intricate wood designs and the two-storey doors featured inlaid wooden panels. Two and three-tiered chandeliers hung from the ornate ceiling by velvet ropes. The walls and columns seemed to be made entirely of marble and the ceilings were likely 14-15 feet high. 
I tried to chide J into networking with his colleagues, but he wasn’t feeling very outgoing, so we stopped for ice cream at McDonald’s and walked towards the hotel. It was warm and calm outside, so the water of the canal was calm and we got a few beautiful pictures before turning in for the night.
stupid crafts 