The Green Southside
Gothenberg – 22nd May
Gothenburg (English/German) or Göteborg (Swedish) is Sweden’s second biggest city and has a busy Port. We caught the bus from our accommodation into the main centre of Gothenburg and from high up in the bus it didn’t have instant appeal. The centre city is based around 17th century canals however to accommodate the population and the port industry the centre of town has a large transport corridor running through it; cars, boats, buses and train movements seem to be the priority. All the activities we wanted to do were over the main river, away from the high rise buildings, shopping malls and transport hubs.
Our first stop was lunch at Feskekorka, the fish church, which was a fish market established in 1874 in a building resembling a church. It used to have stalls selling fresh and cooked fish, however since 2021 the operator has turned it primarily into a restaurant with a few stalls that sell fresh fish and one stall selling pre-packaged lunches.
We went for the salmon salad pack and the shrimp cocktail sandwich, unfortunately the only place to eat it was outside in the 27 degree heat and dusty wind gusts, obviously indoor dinners are their focus.
Next stop before it shut at 2.00pm was the Hagakyrkan – Haga church and park, which provides lunch time music in the church. Today was a lady playing the piano, in return for her efforts you can electronically transfer a donation via SWISH. Sadly everybody was over in the shopping areas of Gothenburg and the Kiwis don’t have SWISH capability.
The south side of Gothenburg central is full of green spaces, botanical gardens, and parks and reserves with historic buildings such as churches, castles, fortress remains and statues. I chose about 4 to visit on foot, unfortunately Gothenburg was bigger than I imagined so we only did three of them. At the Tradgardsforeningen (The Garden Society) we visited the palm house, the not yet in flower rose gardens (2,500 varieties) and the flowering shrub section.
The last stop for us today was Skansen Kronan, which was once a fortress up on a hill with 5 metre thick walls, now it’s a wedding and conference venue.
It has panoramic views of Gothenburg, a few history boards, several steep paths, some cannons lying around, and acres of nettle.
Today’s ABBA tribute is ‘Bumblebee’ (2021) for all the little creatures that live in the gardens in the big city of Gothenburg. As the big city expands and modernises, who knows how much of the green spaces will be kept. The photo is the yellow sticky cards in the gardens that catch all the nasty pests and sometimes a good one.
It’s quite absurd, this summer morning
To think we could be trapped
Inside a world where all is changing
Too fast for bumblebees to adapt
On the topic of climate change and trying to save the humble bumblebee, Greta Thunberg comes from Sweden. For all her moaning she supposedly lives in one of the cleanest countries where only 1% of their waste goes to landfill. They compost or recycle 50% of their waste and 49% is incinerated for energy, not enough energy though to service the country so they import waste from Norway and the UK.
Whoever thought rubbish would be a sought after commodity. New Zealand take note – mincemeat comes in a biodegradable plastic bag, no cling film, no plastic tray.