Scandinavian Awesomeness – Part 10

Wow. Part 10. It doesn’t feel like it’s been that long, but we’ve hit 3 weeks today – 3 weeks ago, we left Brisbane.

Anyway, back to the timeline šŸ˜›

Did a bit of wandering in Malmo, saw some of their amazing buildings (that’s one thing that every country we’ve visited has over Australia – preservation of a very long history…some of the buildings and bridges are hundreds of years old, it’s really beautiful) and then went back to the hotel to grab our bags and check out and head to Gothenburg.

Another short trip, only 2.5 hours this time, so we had to kill time on the way through – stopped at a service station for about 45 minutes to have some food and just wait for a bit until moving on.

Arrived in Gothenburg, managed to park the car LEGALLY outside the hotel and check-in…at which point we handed across the keys to the car and made parking it their problem. Alex was rather happy about that. Also, the lady we dealt with was also called Jessica and was the person I’d dealt with when booking our car parking (a bit late, did it while we were in Stavanger!). She’s exceptionally awesome…must be the name šŸ˜›

Up to the hotel room – best room we’ve stayed in yet. Very roomy and it ticks all the boxes: king size bed, decent TV, nice toiletries, massive SPA bath, good water pressure from the shower (so I can wash my hair!), reasonable mini-bar prices, fluffy bathrobes, huge fluffy bath towels, beautiful view, decent wireless connection (that’s amazingly fast, is how I was able to upload the latest round of photos so quickly!), free water every night and extremely helpful and pleasant staff. Best hotel we’ve stayed at by far. Seriously happy we booked for three nights here!

First night was pretty much settle in, have a spa bath (I want one of these at home, I really do), then find somewhere on Trip Advisor for dinner. We were originally going to go with a place called Sinclair’s Steakhouse, but on the walk there (where it started to rain and get really really windy) we called that off and just walked into the first decent place we saw that had an English menu. It was called S.P.I.C.E and it was beautiful. Really lovely Thai food and a lovely bartender who was content to make me a custom cocktail (a Frosty Fruit!) which she apparently really enjoyed too – have a feeling it might end up on the menu in the next few weeks!

After dinner, decided we wanted a few more drinks, so headed to the bar that was literally across the road from the hotel which had a decent selection of cocktails. I honestly can’t remember everything that was in mine, I just know it was called a Bee-Passion and it was like summer in a glass. Alex had a few ‘Fidel Castro’s’ which is some kind of ginger ale mix, which he really enjoyed. Had a few each then went back to the hotel…while we could still walk šŸ™‚

Woke up reasonably late for us, around 7:30ish. Quick call to my Mum (Ha! We’ve never had a quick call in our lives :P) and then downstairs for a reasonable breakfast. According to Mr Bacon Expert, their bacon isn’t too bad. I had soft boiled eggs smooshed on buttered bread (which was really really good) and juice (I’ve never drunk as much juice in my life as I have on this trip!).

Then t was time to start what we’ll term “The wet and windy loop of wetness and windyness”. Should really have checked the weather report before heading out….

Our loop consisted of the Gothenburg Botanical Gardens, the Universeum, a shop I really wanted to visit while here (Shock) and then back to the hotel.

Headed off to the botanical gardens getting wetter and wetter and soggier and soggier. Not very pleasant. But the gardens were gorgeous and it was really cool to see the greenhouses and how they manage to grow plants that we take for granted over here – speaking of which: Dad! They have a TFT! I took a photo of it šŸ˜€ Was very excited to see it, think the guy who was tending the greenhouse at the time thought I was a bit mad >.>

Had a look at their formal garden and their herb garden – and the SMELL from the herb garden was just amazing! Then headed to the cafe on-site for a drink and a respite from the weather – which was really good timing on our part, as the heavens really did open once we got inside. Had an ice cream (who eats ice cream in 8C weather you ask? WE DO!) while we were waiting – somewhat jealous because their white Magnum’s are FAR superior to ours…they get REAL vanilla bean ice cream inside theirs!

Once the rain had eased off, headed back out and decided that due to the weather being a bit unpredictable we’d head to the Universeum. The weather was definitely unpredictable, as was Google Maps, leading us on possibly the longest and twistiest route it could find. Have to say, at this point I was rather grumpy and cranky at being wet and muddy and cold and blergh. Not very fun šŸ™

Finally made it to the Universeum where I was able to dry off a bit and calm down from my cranky rage of crankiness. Need to make an apology to Alex here for being such a ball of rage (he found it aggravating but also amusing – as we were walking to the Universeum and I was in full “cranky” swing, a bus went past with a sign up of where it was going… “Angered”. He thought it was hysterical…me, not so much).

The Universeum was definitely worth the walk though – it was a museum, zoo, aquarium and science centre all in one. It was just amazing. So pleased we did go. You start at the very top floor (mountain peaks and lakes) and work your way all the way down through rainforests and jungles, seas, streams, lakes, underground etc. Was just awesome. Some of the animals were very cool – and we FINALLY (well, ALEX finally) got to see a poison dart frog. Actually, MANY poison dart frogs. Very cool.

They had a mini tube, similar to what we have in Underwater World, with sharks and fish. Could only make out one rather large tiger shark and a few small black tipped reef sharks.

The monkey enclosure was the coolest – you walked in and there’s no cages…just monkeys swinging about and jumping over your head! Wanted to get some photos of them, but they were just too damn quick! They also had some very cool spiders – massive tarantulas. I’d love to keep one, but would be worried about the cats trying to eat it >.>

Quick stop in their gift shop to pick up the obligatory “we were here” post card, as well as the best tourist present idea ever – an UMBRELLA! I now have a bright green Universeum umbrella, that I’m hoping will fit in Alex’s luggage.

Then time to trek to my shop – only a short walk and we made it without getting wet this time (Yay! Umbrella!) and then a quick wander around in the shop – they had some amazing shoes (that I wasn’t allowed to buy :P) and some gorgeous coats (again, that I wasn’t allowed to buy :P). Disappointing selection of t-shirts – was hoping to find some bands I like, but no luck. Did end up walking away with a new dog collar choker (actually, bought two considering how cheap they were) and two dog-collar bracelet cuffs, as well as purple and black striped stockings. Was rather pleased with my purchases. Have also noted down a brand of clothes that I’m rather interested to check out on a few Australia stores (Cupcake Cult looks brilliant :P).

Back to the hotel and time for another spa-bath, which my legs and feet really needed (as my FitBit tells me we did 25K steps and 19km of walking!), then a shower and wash of the hair – because I really enjoy staining everyone’s lovely white towels purple! They had a hair dryer, so spent a few minutes (and it really only was a few minutes) drying off my hair so I wasn’t going to freeze with the wind when we went out for food.

We then headed out for food – we really wanted to try this place called Restaurant 2112, but when we go there it was a minimum 40 minute wait for food (yes, minimum) with nowhere to sit to wait. While I appreciate a good hamburger, there isn’t a burger on earth that is worth waiting nearly an hour for, even if it does come from the kitchen of a restaurant that’s owned by one of the guys from In Flames.

Bailed on that, and I was starting to get pretty hangry, so headed back to the bar across the road to try their food rather than just their drinks. Turned out to be a good move! Both had an amazing meal and a drink each (the cocktails we had the night before) then decided to call it – would be good to have an early night for once.

Back in the hotel, watched a bit of YouTube and Twitch then off to sleep! Up relatively late the next morning, around 8am. Quick shower, then head down for breakfast a bit late – around 10am. Feels weird eating breakfast that late O.o

No plans for today as the major things we’d wanted to see we did yesterday, so spent the morning wandering around the shops taking a look – didn’t buy anything, but made for some interesting people watching! Popped into a few shops just to take a look – a sci-fi/fantasy shop, similar to Otherworld in Norway; a few souvenir shops, all selling the same relatively tacky stuff (guys, we really are trying to find some of you some nice presents, but it’s damn hard!); a few chocolate shops, just because they looked and smelt awesome and I’m also DESPERATE to find somewhere that sells musks – I swear musk must be an Australian thing, because I haven’t found it anywhere, not even in the English Shop!

Dropped into the bakery across the road from the hotel for a few small treats (also, the bakery name is cool – Jerkstrands :P) and got my first piece of Princess Cake here in Gothenburg! Wanted to go up to our room, but we were still waiting on housekeeping, so chilled out in the lobby for a bit while we were waiting. While sitting there (in REALLY comfy chairs) a random marching band goes past – they’ve now gone past about 4 times, very random but very awesome at the same time…though I do feel sorry for the women in the band because their outfits look a little chilly!

Now up in the room and going to have a relaxing afternoon in, due to somewhat miserable weather and just wanting a break to do our own thing. Will head out later tonight for food and maybe a few drinks before leaving Gothenburg tomorrow morning and heading to our final stop, Stockholm *sniffle*

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