The Great Laundry Swindling of 2012 (and other stories)

June 8, 2012

Today we slept till about 8 am.  J was in a hurry to get out and about, but I was in a much more leisurely mood.  I managed to hold off J’s anxiety till about 9 am when we headed down for breakfast.  I tried a few different food combinations today– I always try to take advantage of the free food, so my tray was loaded down!  I was slowly making my way through the mountain of food, but J was toe-tappingingly anxious to go.  He went back for seconds to avoid staring me down as I sipped my hot chocolate, but finished those before me as well.  As I was taking my last swallow, he was off and running, so I gathered my tray and put it away with food still in my mouth!

What was J so excited to get started on?  Well, since we arrived, we’ve been rewearing certain items of clothing in rotation, but the advisability of this rotation system had finally worn out– we needed to do some laundry!  The hotel had advised us that there was a service a few blocks away, so we gathered our dirtiest belongings and put them in a bag.  We toted them there, and after some confusion, they said they could do a load of laundry for us today.  It is pretty expensive (225 SEK – over $30!!), but there are apparently no plain old Laundromats here, because Swedish landlords are required to provide laundry for their tenants!  What a great law, even if it is causing us some inconvenience.

After disposing of our delicates for the day, we walked to a well-known “character” area of town, Haga, which is one of the oldest neighbourhoods in Goteborg.  There were several cafes, second-hand shops, antique shops and clothing boutiques lining the cobblestone streets.  On the top of a very tall hill in Haga is a former fortress which is now used as a restaurant and event hall.  I saw it from the water on our boat tour, and was determined to take a closer look, so we climbed the very long flights of stairs up the steep hill to see it up close.

From the top of the hill, we had spectacular views of the city from almost every direction!  It was a stunning way to see the city, and we were so happy we made the effort.

When we were on the top of the hill, we noticed that the Fyskekyrka (literally, Fish Church, but really a famous seafood market inside a building shaped like a church) was very close by, so we walked down the hill and across the canal to take a look.

The building is pretty, and the inside is very interesting with beautiful light, but the seafood smell is overwhelming (especially for a fish-hater like myself) so our walk-through was pretty quick.  However, it was really neat to see all the different types of seafood and fish available for sale.  There were whole flatfish and crayfish and crabs as well as whole fish looking like they were frozen in time with their eyes and teeth still there.  The shops also sold fish that was already prepared for cooking and there were a few restaurants inside the Fyskekyrka, but it was too close to breakfast to stop for a snack.

We wandered in the sunny weather along the canal back towards our hotel area, and Josh wanted to stop at the grocery store for some items to make a cheap lunch so we could make up for the expensive laundry.  On the way there, a migraine set in, so we hurried through the shopping and made a beeline for the hotel where J laid down for a nap.

J spent most of the day sleeping off the headache, so I caught up on my interneting and after a walk, picked up our laundry, which suddenly cost double the originally quoted price.  So our clothes are clean, but at the cost of a new pair of pants!  I felt like I had no choice but to pay the exorbitant fee, so I handed over my credit card.  When I returned to the hotel with our clothes, my husband was emerging from his migraine-induced sleep.  We spent the next couple hours re-packing our bags in preparation for  the trip to Denmark tomorrow. I didn’t tell him about the laundry cost for a few hours, because I was afraid of triggering a different kind of headache!

Dinner tonight was being hosted by the conference on an historic steamer.

We walked in the pouring rain to the meeting place and then to the waterfront, where we boarded the old ship and picked a table.  J and I seem to have the uncanny ability to disappear or seemingly discourage others from talking to us at every social event, so we ended up at a table alone.  It could have been romantic, but we didn’t eat until about 9 pm and my blood sugar was pretty low by them (read: I was super grouchy!).  We were offered wine before the meal was served, and after accepting, about 10 minutes later, we were asked for 100 SEK for the two glasses!  We hadn’t expected to have to pay, since the meal was already paid for, so we scrounged together a bit of cash and then used credit for the rest.  Lucky we’re leaving Sweden tomorrow!

The menu offerings were fish and vegetarian, so J chose fish and I chose veggie.  I eventually ended up with a vegetarian meal after refusing several women who kept bringing me fish.  J’s meal was a large piece of unknown fish covered in a shrimp-filled cream sauce.  There were potatoes brought to the table in a separate bowl for us to share.  When my meal arrived, it was two huge slabs of quiche, one filled with carrot and asparagus, and the other with cheese.  There were also well-steamed carrots and asparagus (overdone in my opinion, but I’m no connoisseur).  I thought quiche was a rather hilarious vegetarian choice– isn’t it made almost entirely of eggs?!  Luckily I am not really a vegetarian!

The boat ride lasted over three hours.  We sailed out of the Goteborg harbour and through a large rocky archipelago.  Many islands were seemingly uninhabited, but as we got farther out, some housed small communities of summer homes.

A few islands had a lone house on them.  As we got out into the open ocean, we could see tankers and freighters making their way through the Atlantic.  As we headed back to Goteborg, the sun was setting and we got some great pictures of the ocean, islands and sky.

J managed to get a little tour down into the engine-room of the ship, which you could tell thrilled him to bits.  That man loves to be on ships! He couldn’t wipe the smile off his face the whole time.

Back in Goteborg, the rain had stopped and we walked back to the hotel.  When we checked in several days ago, they told us that there was free coffee and tea in the lobby, but we never investigated.  Since there was no dessert on the boat, we looked to see what was in the lobby and found some pastries and hot chocolate!  We took some of each and went to our room, where we soon fell asleep.

 

Nationaldagen at Tjolöholm

June 6, 2012

Another early morning.  I managed to sleep till 5:15, and then lazed in bed for another 30 or 40 minutes before getting up.  We were both dressed and ready for breakfast by the time our 7:20 alarm went off!  Today is “Nationaldagen” in Sweden, which is their national holiday, so the schools are closed.  We noticed this difference immediately when we entered the breakfast room this morning.  Yesterday, the room was severely silent and my husband and I felt uncomfortable even carrying on a whispered conversation.  This morning, kids wearing green bunny ears (Apparently these are the Liseberg theme park (in Goteborg) equivalent of Mickey Mouse ears?) were running wild and there were no chairs left!  We brought our trays to our room and ate in here.

J was headed to the conference again, so he left shortly after eight.  I planned to visit Tjolöholms Slott, a huge manor house about 30 km south of Goteborg.  I double-checked my route online before heading out.  When I arrived at the Central station, I explained my route to the ticket agent and she gave me a blue transit card that you swipe when entering a train or bus.  Only a few minutes after boarding my train to Kungsbacka, it took off, and about 20 minutes later I had arrived.  Directly across from the train’s exit was the bus I planned to take!  It couldn’t have been easier.  I asked the driver to make sure I got off at the right stop, and we were soon heading to my stop: “Torpa Smedja”.  This ride took another 20 minutes or so.

When I disembarked from the bus, I was in a thoroughly rural area.

I was surrounded by fields, farmhouses and cows and that is about it. The road to Tjolöholm was easily found, and I just started walking.  Google told me it was about a 3.5 km walk, and I was early, so I took my time.  Thankfully, today was sunnier and warmer than yesterday, and I dressed in layers.  I took lots of pictures on my walk on the narrow country road.  One car stopped and (I think) offered me a ride, but I told them I was happy to walk.

As I neared Tjolöholm, vehicles pulling horse trailers and old-fashioned carriages began to stream past.  They were headed to Tjolöholm for a special event.  Finally, I rounded the corner, and there it was!  It is a breathtaking manor perched on a hill, with the sea directly behind it.

I arrived about an hour before the first tour, so after purchasing my ticket, I took my time exploring and photographing the grounds.

I had some time to read my book on a bench in the woods– it was so relaxing and peaceful!

The tours are only in Swedish at this time of year, with an English pamphlet which gave me some of the information, but I would have loved to understand all that the tour guide was sharing.  We saw most of the “public” areas of the house, including a spectacular grand hall, billiards room, music room, library and the children’s nursery.  We also saw three bathrooms with sunken tubs (that looked more like modern day hot tubs in public pools than bathtubs) and comical, frightening looking shower contraptions that sprayed from the sides and below (!).  Among the impressive guest rooms was a “royal” room intended for the King of Sweden, but he never visited because the man who commissioned the house died before it was completed.  However, Prince Philip stayed there in 1983, which is good enough for me.  The staircases permitted beautiful overlooking views of the 2.5 storey high main hall and the windows provided beautiful views of the forest and the sea.  Sadly, we weren’t allowed to take pictures inside the house, but I did get one or two before I learned about that rule.

After the tour, I bought some postcards, strolled through the little village nearby and had lunch at the cafe.  I chose a bunwich and a raspberry crumb cake (the menu was in Swedish, so I had to pick something that was already made…).  They were both fantastic.  I ate outside and read my book in the sun.  Then I walked the long trek back to the bus stop and made my way back to Goteborg without any difficulty.

When I arrived at the hotel, J was already here, having spent the last part of the afternoon working on his presentation for tomorrow.  He fell asleep shortly after I arrived (I am a very stimulating travel partner, apparently).

After J’s nap, we went out in search of an affordable dinner and landed at a vegetarian cafe for bunwiches and carrot cake.  Both were delicious, but this was my third meal in a row consisting of a bunwich.. If it weren’t for the copious amounts of cheese on each sandwich, I might get bored… but no, cheese is delicious.  mmm.  So far so good.  After dinner I mailed some postcards and then we stopped at a convenience store for a few snacks.  Since we were both pretty tired, we went back to the hotel and had an early night.