Hmm
Where to start.
I almost want this to be a continuation of the countdown blog, as I have certainly reached ground zero this morning, but then im still in Sweden with a few more bits about there, so its a toss up.
First off, Swedes make the best drivers, as they are very road conscious, dont seem to speed, rarely use their horns and almost always make frequent stops in their journeys to let pedestrians cross whenever they safely can. Its a real nice change to see them caring about their fellow traveller.
I have also mastered the are of map reading, and i hereby will pass on the secret to you all - being noone, as noone is reading this, ha ha.
Keep the map folded small into sections where you are travelling, keep it out in your hand and refer to it constantly - glancing at it every corner or intersection.
You might this that this will take longer, but its the very opposite. Because you are on a small section of the map AND because you just glanced at it a few minutes ago, you wil have no trouble at all in knowing right where you are, from which direction you came in and which heading or intersection you need to take next.
And this become so second nature, that just a quick glance is all it takes, like that of getting the time from your wrist watch. You dont need to stop, you dont need to try and find where on a huge A3 map, you are zeroed right in on your position right away and its almost impossible to get lost using this technique.
The nighttime in Gothenburg didnt get any better. The nearest thai restaurant closed at 8pm.
Well this computer is about to restart and hard boot - so i guess I have to go now, sigh .... so much to say and so little time.
Tuesday 25 July 2006
Monday 24 July 2006
Gothenburg Day 3
This is the second of the reports from Sweden, and its much like the first.
Lots of bits of rock, a very short city ( I walked the entire height and back in just over an hour ) and almost nothing to get excited about.
It is not an understatement to say that gothenburg is a city of little value to a single guy in his early 30's.
I will not be coming back unless forced to by some legal reason or other.
Did I forget to mention the McDonalds, it is easy to do that. Tasteless BigMac where it was impossible to tell where the soft bun finished and the soft undercooked burger began.
The fries were nothing to mention about either and as for the strawberry milkshake, well just forget it.
The one thing they almost had on their side was a choice of hot apple or strawberry pies, but this was cancelled out by their terrible flavour and colour of the strawberry pie. A yucky yellow inner of an almost strawberry cream made it unfinishable - but a fitting tribute to this scandinavian town.
There are no good viking museums in this town, some of them close sunday and some close monday, so its not possible to see them all in one day over the weekend.
The nightlife ... well Friday was full of the mcdonalds footbaling crowd, I didnt go out saturday night, but sunday was a complete no show. If Monday night does not support something amazing then this town may as well be removed off the map as far as i am concerned.
The more i see of this place, the more i dislike it. Much like other places I have been, it might be a nicer place to visit with friends / lovers, but for a single guy & forget it.
I also fooled myself again by going to watch Fast & Furious - Toyko Drift. It was the only other film I was even half interested in watching, and I forgot that these days almost every film with foreign actors is done in the foreign language. Most of the film was in english, and fully watchable but the one very important scene with the head bad guy and his yakuza uncle was total nonsensicle - until you see the repercussions a few minutes later.
In the hotel I watched "V for Vendetta" - and I found it a hugely watchable film. Despite the fact that I kept missing the very first few minutes, it was a film I managed to watch most of about three times and I am sure that the book must be even more powerful still.
Briefly bumped into Emma again in the main town centre, which just goes to show how incredibly small it really is, and she had turned her phone off for the trip. So much for "Get in touch if you want to meet up" - gee, sometimes I can really HATE women !
Saturday 22 July 2006
Gothenburg Days 1 and 2
Sweden and Gothenburg is a strange place.
We landed in an airfield, that more resembled a field, than an airstrip.
Apparenrtly this particular newly renovated airfield was once an old military complex that has only been open since the year 2000 and in its first year only had 9000 visitors. This year it is projecting to reach up on 550,000 - mostly from Ryanair i expect.
The passport check was two cupboard boxes inside an old hanger, and you could still see that it was mostly chicken wire and wooden boarding than the finished article.
It was not the main Gothenburg airport hangar, as that one they were remodelling, so this one had been hastily installed to continue processing the passengers while the real building was being continued.
Whilst wiating for the bus I met a english lass, from Birmingham, called Emma who I managed to strike up a conversation with.
In fact, it was more than a conversation and after taking the bus back together, we then did a micro tour of central gothenburg while we found her hotel, then stayed for a bit and chatted.
Two cups of tea later ( coffee mate and no sugar ) we were then off to find my hotel, but it was a bit of confusion and we had left the good map behind, so sadly we got a bit lost.
Ironic in a way how it always seems to be Emma's and Nicky's that I end up talking to more than anyone else.... fate or kismet maybe!?!
Once we got back to the start, we said goodbye and I got a quick hug, followed by a few text messages and then nothing.
This was a very annually extra busy period for Gothenburg, as it was playing host to a International Childrens Football Tournament, as well as about to stage a major athletics event.
All over the place children were hanging about in groups, all young, all cocky, all nations and all converging around the mcdonalds, the local music club and the amusement park.
Perhaps it was the heat, but to me it was looked like every prepubescant boys dream - a clean and tidy city, where they could do pretty much whatever they wanted right past the midnight hour and most of all wherever you looked there they were ... they local girls ( 14 to 17 ) all with overly large breasts being shown off in too low cut tops, too short skirts and plenty blonde and blue eyed.
If i had visited here 15 years ago I dont think I would have come back a virgin, I doubt any teenager does, but at my age this sort of thing just isnt happening.
It's not that I dont have the inclination to have a bit of carnal fun while abroad, but all their ages are far too young for anything phyical, and besides, I'd have to look at myself in the mirror every day afterwards if I let myself carried away.
And what would a pretty teenager want with a guy the other side of 30 anyway? ... erm, forget that, I dont want to know, I really dont !!!
The next day I got my chance to go to a local cinema, ended up watching the davince code, confident now that every hollywood blockbuster is shown in their original language with added subtitles.
However on this occasion I outsmarted myself, as i had forgot that much of it was in either Latin or French, and of course those kinds of things would only make sense to the locals who had the whole film being translated into Swedish anyway
So for me, I only got half three quarters of the dialogue, though of course I had half read the book while in the Dominican Republic so I knew enough and the story was well enough written anyway that the rest was not a problem.
Day two and Emma had now not replied to any text I have sent this day, regardless that last night she had said if we wanted to meet up that I should text her. I would have called, but I already know that at 70p.p.m. she had already said that she was not going to answer her phone whilst on holiday.
Funny, cos Liz phoned me while I was in Emma's hotel room jsut after I landed, and it goes to show how much she listens to me, as I made it perfectly clear on at least three occasions that I was going on holiday again.
I hope that nancy remembered to feed the fish, as I had left in a hurry and had to trust that she would get my note and key and do it for me.
The rest of day two was getting an authentic Swedish massage, which was a little more firm that I expected, or rather a lot more firm, but afterwards I felt not only relaxed but very very tired - probably why I fell asleep after I got back again. though it was just a normal massage and no hint of any extras being offered or even tempted.
The place must overcharge a lot for most of the time it was empty, but then I remember lots of people telling me that things in Sweden are overpriced, so I guess maybe the locals expect it and are used to it.
The locals must also be very proud that it is build on a mountainos region, cos everywhere you can see evidence that instead of clearing away the rocks that they have just built round, over it or better yet, incorporated it into their designs. Very sweet in places.
Last few minutes of the day was spent wiling away in my room, a little dazed from massage, and slightly dissapointed that I could not get a reply out of Emma.
We landed in an airfield, that more resembled a field, than an airstrip.
Apparenrtly this particular newly renovated airfield was once an old military complex that has only been open since the year 2000 and in its first year only had 9000 visitors. This year it is projecting to reach up on 550,000 - mostly from Ryanair i expect.
The passport check was two cupboard boxes inside an old hanger, and you could still see that it was mostly chicken wire and wooden boarding than the finished article.
It was not the main Gothenburg airport hangar, as that one they were remodelling, so this one had been hastily installed to continue processing the passengers while the real building was being continued.
Whilst wiating for the bus I met a english lass, from Birmingham, called Emma who I managed to strike up a conversation with.
In fact, it was more than a conversation and after taking the bus back together, we then did a micro tour of central gothenburg while we found her hotel, then stayed for a bit and chatted.
Two cups of tea later ( coffee mate and no sugar ) we were then off to find my hotel, but it was a bit of confusion and we had left the good map behind, so sadly we got a bit lost.
Ironic in a way how it always seems to be Emma's and Nicky's that I end up talking to more than anyone else.... fate or kismet maybe!?!
Once we got back to the start, we said goodbye and I got a quick hug, followed by a few text messages and then nothing.
This was a very annually extra busy period for Gothenburg, as it was playing host to a International Childrens Football Tournament, as well as about to stage a major athletics event.
All over the place children were hanging about in groups, all young, all cocky, all nations and all converging around the mcdonalds, the local music club and the amusement park.
Perhaps it was the heat, but to me it was looked like every prepubescant boys dream - a clean and tidy city, where they could do pretty much whatever they wanted right past the midnight hour and most of all wherever you looked there they were ... they local girls ( 14 to 17 ) all with overly large breasts being shown off in too low cut tops, too short skirts and plenty blonde and blue eyed.
If i had visited here 15 years ago I dont think I would have come back a virgin, I doubt any teenager does, but at my age this sort of thing just isnt happening.
It's not that I dont have the inclination to have a bit of carnal fun while abroad, but all their ages are far too young for anything phyical, and besides, I'd have to look at myself in the mirror every day afterwards if I let myself carried away.
And what would a pretty teenager want with a guy the other side of 30 anyway? ... erm, forget that, I dont want to know, I really dont !!!
The next day I got my chance to go to a local cinema, ended up watching the davince code, confident now that every hollywood blockbuster is shown in their original language with added subtitles.
However on this occasion I outsmarted myself, as i had forgot that much of it was in either Latin or French, and of course those kinds of things would only make sense to the locals who had the whole film being translated into Swedish anyway
So for me, I only got half three quarters of the dialogue, though of course I had half read the book while in the Dominican Republic so I knew enough and the story was well enough written anyway that the rest was not a problem.
Day two and Emma had now not replied to any text I have sent this day, regardless that last night she had said if we wanted to meet up that I should text her. I would have called, but I already know that at 70p.p.m. she had already said that she was not going to answer her phone whilst on holiday.
Funny, cos Liz phoned me while I was in Emma's hotel room jsut after I landed, and it goes to show how much she listens to me, as I made it perfectly clear on at least three occasions that I was going on holiday again.
I hope that nancy remembered to feed the fish, as I had left in a hurry and had to trust that she would get my note and key and do it for me.
The rest of day two was getting an authentic Swedish massage, which was a little more firm that I expected, or rather a lot more firm, but afterwards I felt not only relaxed but very very tired - probably why I fell asleep after I got back again. though it was just a normal massage and no hint of any extras being offered or even tempted.
The place must overcharge a lot for most of the time it was empty, but then I remember lots of people telling me that things in Sweden are overpriced, so I guess maybe the locals expect it and are used to it.
The locals must also be very proud that it is build on a mountainos region, cos everywhere you can see evidence that instead of clearing away the rocks that they have just built round, over it or better yet, incorporated it into their designs. Very sweet in places.
Last few minutes of the day was spent wiling away in my room, a little dazed from massage, and slightly dissapointed that I could not get a reply out of Emma.
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