Ramble
Quest - Memorable Times in Gothenburg.
Tommy, the guy I hitched a ride from into Sweden, was from Gothenborg and was extremely low-key in describing the place. Most locals are boosters but some are just the opposite. I'm reminded of a family from Western Australia who I hitched a ride from in Tasmania. They made their home town sound like hell! Tommy, on the other hand, just seemed to give a Swedish shrug to my inquiries, as if to say that the town's OK, but nothing special.
It turns out to be special to me though. Not that anything earthshattering happens to me, I just have a lot of fond memories from here. It started out badly too as I waste an entire day trying to find a bed (I'll explain why in the next chapter). I like the place I get though (furthest, yet still close, YHA from the center) even though it is not in the best neighborhood and a homeless drunk tries to sneak into my room one night.
I have a flashback to the very beginning of my trip. Just before leaving Chicago I went to an outdoor photographic exhibit at the new (yet still unfinished) Millennium Park. That same exhibit, "Earth From Above", meets me again in Gothenburg. It really feels like a long trip because I'm pleased to revisit the photographs, which are good yet strangely disproportioned: 5 photos from Iceland, yet none for New Zealand.
I walk through the fine Stadsmuseum, in the old East India office. I take the view from the "Lipstick Building". The completely deserted Art Museum is good. Perfect weather leads me to the large Tradgardsforeningen Park and for a boat ride on the canals, ducking under the "cheese-cutter" bridge. The wildly ambitious Universeum, with its unique building, containing rain forest, aquarium, and science museum, is an interesting failure. Most of the displays are bad but it is well worth visiting just for the building. The Maritime Centre is outstanding. I climb around a large Destroyer, a Uboat sub and lots of other old ships. I'm not a boat freak either but I enjoyed this greatly.
I love the Botanic Gardens here, the best I've seen in awhile. I'm including the woods surrounding the gardens as it may be the best part, full of birds and mossy rocks. After visiting here I decide to make my next stop non-city and outdoors. I'm missing that!
One memory I'll always have from Gothenburg is of the creepy Tropikhuset. The ad I saw for this showed a happy little girl with a snake draped around her. It is clearly intended to be something like a combination indoor breeding zoo and children's attraction. However, the place is so rundown -- broken windows, taped up doors -- that I thought it was closed at first. Even inside it is hard to escape that impression. Stuff is hanging from nets that brush up against your head unexpectedly. Everything looks a bit dodgy and you quickly start to wonder if those flimsy glass partitions can hold back the huge thrashing python or numerous simians energetically banging against it.
The real horror starts in the basement. The whole place is dark but the basement is so devoid of light that you can hardly see. There are puddles of water on the floor. A soundtrack from a display of flying bats blasts a scary thunderstorm. Strange lemur like creatures follow you from inside their cage, constantly pulling at the door to find a way out and at you. I'm trying to look past the dark into some small glass cages containing poisonous snakes and spiders. I lean forward and actually put my head into the cage as the glass is missing! A poisonous Fleur de Lance is supposed to be around here somewhere. I start to watch my step as I walk around. I notice one passageway getting a bit narrow and decidedly verdant. Then I spot a large turtle on the now rocky floor and realize I've managed to walk inside one of the large displays. No question this is the spookiest attraction I've ever visited, even more so because it isn't supposed to be. Guaranteed to give you the willies!