Dreaming of Freedom

The weather is lovely again and on Sunday Keyvan and I went to the Botanical Gardens. They are absolutely fabulous. I’m not an expert on the different species growing there but the place is really pretty, it smells good and there is plenty of grass for people to sit down and enjoy the space. They are also the most interactive gardens I’ve been too, I think you get that sense from the variety of little paths and stepping stones to walk on; tunnels to walk through and little hills to climb up. At the far end of the garden there is a mini valley with steep rocky sides, a short climb allows you to enjoy a view of Gothenburg. For the budget conscious it’s good to know you can wander round the gardens for free because the entrance fee of 20 kroner is voluntary. A trip inside the hot houses will however cost you 20 kroner. It was pretty busy on Sunday as it was so sunny but I guess that the hoards as well as the queues in the cafe are significantly less during the week.

I’ve also finally finished my first short story. It’s still in a considerable rough state and I’m pretty sure it’s not good but I still feel as if I achieved something!

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I walked up to and around some of Slottsskogen yesterday evening. I came across the birdhouse or Fågelhuset to discover a variety of birds as well as some Humboldt penguins which are pretty much an endangered species. I wandered up the hill to find the rest of the zoo. It’s completely free and you can see a variety of animals including moose and deer. Despite the fact it’s always interesting to see animals I can’t really shake the feeling that it’s unjustified and cruel to keep animals in captivity. It seems that others share this view too and there is actually a campaign to close the zoo down.

Apart from my wholesome walk to see unwholesome practices I spent a good part of my day working on the Norwich page on my website. It’s looking a little better now.

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It’s been so cold here that I’ve spent at least a couple of days wearing jumpers and shivering. We had lunch with Swedish friends on Sunday and over the moose and potatoes they told us about Swedish weather and how there was snow in the middle of Sweden. Apparently the changeable nature of it is to be expected. If it’s this cold in summer I can’t even imagine what winter would be like.

Staying in the Swedish vibe I went to the Maritime Museum and Aquarium today. It’s a great place to take kids as there are lots of models of ships, a fun pirate ship area to play in and tables to eat a picnic on. There is also an aquarium with lots of fishes, coral and sea horses. It feels cruel to look at them in their glass cages but fascinating nonetheless.

Rachel emailed about her time in South America checking out the biofuels situation there. It’s an informative read if you have time.

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We have found a lovely flat to move into next month. It’s got a fairly good view of the lipstick building and is in a idyllic residential area. Each L shape of flats surrounds a little area covered with flowers and hosting a miniature playground for children. As it would appear is usual for blocks of flats here, each resident has a key to a laundry room where washing machines and driers are laid on for the residents free of use. It’s a one bedroom apartment and the bedroom and sitting room look out over the city of Gothenburg. The kitchen faces the other way but is also particularly nice as it leads on to a balcony overlooking the said flowers. Enough extolling the virtues - we’re off to sign the papers later. Blocket has been the website that facilitated all this flat hunting.

Although we have been busy flat hunting we have still found time to sit in the candle lit cafe in Konstmuseum and eat the delicious homemade food there.

We have also been indulging in a spot of tec stuff as Keyvan has kindly updated my wordpress so this site is now up to date. I’ve also started creating a whole new gallery to replace my rather grim old one. It’s only got a few pictures on it so far. He has been busy as always working on his code and I have even started on the promised novel.

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It’s been a busy few days. We’ve been mooching around Gothenburg city centre, flat hunting and cycling out to the coast. We’ve even remembered to take Keyvan’s camera out a couple of times and here is one of my favourite pictures of a tram on Avenyn.

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Those of you who take an active interest in such things will have noticed that I’ve been learning some CSS in order to make my website look a little better. Under K’s kind tuition I feel I have made some headway and although the website isn’t radically different it’s a little improved.

There has been more glorious weather in Gothenburg and we’ve just been out flat viewing. If you’re looking for places in Sweden then Blocket is the website to go to it’s the equivalent of gumtree and you can find everything for sale or rent on there. The flat was near Liseberg the big theme park here - we’re saving our trip there for another day so we sat outside on a little white bench underneath a very old tree and breathed in the scent of the hyacinth which was very nice.

On the way back I stopped off in Götaplatsen to go to Konstmuseum although as it’s undergoing renovation there isn’t much to see. I nipped next door to Konsthall only to find out that I’d been in the other day by waling through from Konstmuseum.

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We’ve spent the last two days cycling into the centre in the lovely sunshine. Yesterday we went on a voyage of discovery to the library. There are a surprising number of books in English, that browsing along the shelves you come across. This all seems perfectly normal because in Sweden everyone speaks English. You can use the internet for free for up to one hour even if you don’t have a library card - all you need to do is ask at the information desk and provide identification. You can borrow books only if you have a library card and you can only get one of those if you have the all pervasive personal number - you need to be a registered resident to get one but you can’t really do anything without it.

The library is at the top of the Avenue (big main street in the centre) and right at the top in Götaplatsen (big square) looking imposing and very 1920s is the big Göteborg Museum of Art. We popped in to look at their free exhibitions and discovered for a mere 40 Swedish Kroner (about £3.35) you can have unlimited access to 5 museums in Gothenburg for the rest of the year. The museums are: Göteborg Museum of Art, Göteborg City Museum, the Maritime Museum and Aquarium, the Röhsska Museum and the Natural History Museum.

Today I tried out my pass and went to the Natural History Museum. The museum is a fine example of its kind and if you like stuffed animals you’ll appreciate the place. I was lured by the numerous chairs, the cafe and the free toilets. The museum had a large selection of stuffed creatures in glass and wood cases and would be a great place to take children. It reminded me of the Natural History Museum in London before it was jazzed up, although it’s much smaller. The museum is set in the green of Slottsskogen so afterwards I wandered around admiring the little lake and waterfall in the fabulous sunshine.

Cycling into the centre takes about 20 minutes or so from where we are staying and it’s a nice cycle ride because of the cycle tracks. It’s as if bikes are actually considered a form of transport here; they have their own miniature roads and little traffic lights. It’s a refreshing change to England if you’re a cyclist. The mixture of pedestrians, bikes, cars, trams and buses makes for a good scene. It’s definitely the future, although none of the concepts are new.

Although it’s a short cycle ride, both days we have found ourselves waylaid the the old area of Haga, where small cafes lure you in with fine selections of coffee and cakes. This green city with its cafes and good transport is definitely the place for me.

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K and I walked into the centre of Gothenburg today. The weather was gorgeous and so the whole place looked lovely. We walked through Slottsskogen and saw pink flamingoes characteristically balancing on one leg. Slottsskogen is a lovely park that we’re going to have to take some time to explore. Today lots of people were out in it and really using it as a public space. One group had set up a rope between two trees and were using it to practice tightrope walking, others had their long boards out and there were plenty of children running about amid the cyclists wheels and walkers feet.

We walked all the way into the centre and stopped at a little cafe in Haga - the old part of the town - to share a plate of lunch. It was about 70 kroner (about £5.80) for a toasted sandwich, salad and coffee and that seems about standard for lunchtime prices in the city. There are a multitude of places to eat including lots of buffets. If shared the prices aren’t too bad for the budget conscious traveller. We found a Netto (cheapish supermarket) to buy some dinner and breakfast from. K couldn’t resist the call of meatballs for the former and yogurt to pour over muesli for the latter. Strangely enough the idea of meat mushed into a ball doesn’t get me weak at the knees but after K spent a whole evening yesterday constructing my bike I think I might cook them for him just to show willing! Food is not cheap in Sweden and seems a little more expensive that England so tomorrow we’re going to try and find Willy’s which is supposed to be the cheapest supermarket in Gothenburg.

It’s about 20.30 here and it’s just become dark. We’re about to go outside in a bit to test our new bikes if we get them ready in time. K has spend many happy hours putting them together and is just putting the finishing touches to them now. The nicest thing about flat packed bikes is they come with a little bottle of paint for touch up jobs and some rudimentary tools. K is so organized that he actually bought his bike tools with him anyway.

Apart from wandering into Gothenburg I’ve had a basic lesson in how to make spreadsheet today - accountancy jobs here I come.

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After a Swedish breakfast of tiny strips of bacon and eggs (seems very English doesn’t it), Keyvan’s ever kindly friends drove us to our new flat. We’re going be staying here for a month and so far it seems very nice. It’s in a residential area not far from Slottsskogen (the huge park in Gothenburg) and the flat is lovely and very spacious. We dumped our very cool suitcases on wheels (the fascination hasn’t gone yet!) and went out to buy some bikes, so we can save on public transport costs and get healthy and fit. Though public transport is very good in the city in terms of being on time and there are both buses and trams to chose from. They’re not as new and clean as you might expect but they do their job of transporting people. Last night we bused it into the city because there were big celebrations. 30th April is a big celebration for the start of spring. We saw the carnival like procession - all the first year students from Charmers University make floats where they do their take on issues in society. Needless to say there were lots of men dressed as women and babies (any excuse). There was a good smattering of politics and several floats had gone for the theme of Guantanamo Bay, terrorism, corruption and suppressed protest.

Today is also special of course because it’s the 1st of May and a big workers celebration and we saw lines of demonstrators holding single red roses as trammed it into town. The leader of the Social Democrats was in town so I guess it was a big occasion. As it was a bank holiday shops closed early/didn’t open at all, so we didn’t have time to join the demonstration as we had to rush to the out of town bike shop which K had located as a cheap source of the efficient transport machine. We bought our bikes flat packed as there was a 2 week waiting list for assembly and K felt confident about his knowledge gained from his bike course. He is remarkably useful when it comes to bikes or computers. In fact he’s busy putting the bikes together so I’d better go and make him a cup of tea in a supportive like role. There are of course no kettles so we’re using a saucepan.

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It’s so nice to be back in Norwich. It’s unbelievably peaceful and calm and the pace of life is so gentle and slow. The pavements are relatively uncrowded and I haven’t had to squash myself onto any form of public transport because I can cycle everywhere in the city. I wouldn’t leave but I hear that Gothenburg is nice this time of year!

Tonight I’m going to spend with Will, Ella and probably Rich for an early dinner and then tomorrow I’m off to Sweden. It’s against my environmental ideals but yes I am flying there. Primarily because it’s so complicated, expensive and time consuming to go any other way. Hopefully on the way back we’ll figure out a nice meandering and greener route to get back and do a bit of Europe sightseeing on the way. There is a convenient train from Norwich to Stansted and some lovely people to pick me up from Gothenburg airport so the rest of the journey is all set.

We’re going to spend the next month staying in Gothenburg and checking out the city. Keyvan is out there already and tells me it’s lovely. I hear the beaches around the area are beautiful and I’m looking forward to seeing how Swedish society is run. I don’t expect it to be widely different from Norway and Denmark but because I’ve never been before it’s quite exciting to be on a voyage of discovery.

We’ve both got ourselves new mobiles with skype inbuilt so we can contact everyone and everyone can reach us for free while we’re out there. Of course you’ll get regular blog updates because I hear that Sweden is endowed with high speed, reliable internet that I will make sure I have access to.

Right I’m off to do the million and one things I have to do before I leave - not least of which is the haircut - it’s all coming off so if you don’t recognize me it’s because I’ve divested myself of all the fluff and curls and am going for a simple man cut!!

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