Sweden: Trollhattan South

Funny, how sleep becomes unpredictable with jet lag. We were very tired from the journey and went to sleep promptly though it was only afternoon back home (6 hours earlier). Then of course we woke up in the middle of the night when it was time to go to bed back home.

Just got back to sleep when out our 5th floor dormer window "Clang, clang, clang, clang..." I climbed up on a chair, opened the window and peered out into the dark. A deep thrumming, and bright lights moving through a night fog greet me. A bit dazed, it takes a moment to realize that a freighter is passing the tilt bridge next to the hotel. Like a moving building. The Gota turns out to be a busy waterway. We experienced many similar passages - day and night - during our stay, from bulk carriers headed to the alloy plant to construction tugs. Very cool.

The view out our window in the morning was sublime. Fall color still on the trees freshened by the recent rain, the blue sky reflected in the wide river and gutter. Sunday, a good day to explore. Ann had a lot of prep for her lecture on Monday, so I headed out. Up river or down? I saw on the map a large park along the river to the south, so I crossed the canal bridge and hung a left downstream.

Trollhattan has a long history of manufacturing. It remains the home to Saab, Volvo aerospace, and many other industries, including a major historic hydro power station at the falls in Trollhattan. The hydro station is still there and was running full tilt when I happened by - there was no water in the falls at all and the outlets of all the turbines were swirling. Below the hydro plant is a suspension pedestrian bridge carrying hikers to the other bank. Or you can continue onward to the locks. Another day.

I crossed the bridge and headed further down stream, through open woods, a glade, along a stream, a boardwalk, to a ridge. Across the river I could see the locks. The sun, already low, was continuing to drift down, so I turned around so I could be back for dinner with Ann. Passing the bridge without crossing,  I found a staircase leading up the bluff face. It was a bit disconcerting to see a huge indentation in the step grating, obviously from a falling rock. At the top a trail wound ever higher until I could see an overlook cantilevering over the face.

A couple was already at the end looking down the river valley. And here's something interesting about the Swedes. There were a few others waiting to go out for a look. There was plenty of room on the platform, but rather than crowd out as you might see in the US, they were giving each other space and waiting their turn. I wonder if this is a part of the Swedish character?

Once my turn came up, the views up and down river were spectacular. Downriver, the sunset above the gorge, highlighting the suspension bridge I'd crossed earlier far below. Upriver, the city of Trollhattan spread in the distance. It was very cool. I was able to walk along the face of the bluff for a ways on the path watching the valley below before dropping down to a road and bridge crossing the river and bringing me to the falls again and the inlet canal for the hydro plant.

As I walked through the park back to the hotel along the thin spit of land that separates the river from the navigation canal, I stopped at a beautiful red stone church lit by the sunset. The church was given to the people of Trollhattan by the company that built the hydro project a century ago as a thank you for putting up with the disruption of plant construction. Nice gift.

I got back in time to meet Ann and her Swedish colleague, Roland, for Indian food downtown a few blocks from our hotel. It was quite good. So now Thai, Indian, when do we get Swedish food? Well the included breakfasts at the hotel were decidedly Swedish. Make your own musli, dozens of types of yogurt and curdled milk, strong coffee, crepe-like pancakes, lots of fruit, cheese and bread. Even a pot of pickled fish, though I didn't see any Swedes eating it. They were wonderful breakfasts. And the conference organizer, Walter, took us to a very fancy Swedish restaurant in an old mansion on the hillside across the river the next day that specialized in local and Swedish dishes ingredients with a modern interpretation. Great stroemming, super salads, views across the city - thanks guys!

Sweden: Philadelphia to Trollhattan

Philadelphia receding into the distance, at 5 pm we embarked on the next leg of our adventure - an overnight flight to Sweden. After we hopped a subway a block from our hotel in Philadelphia and were deposited directly at the airport (who says you can't find good public transit in the US),  we spend a short night flying against the sun, arriving at Frankfurt at dawn. We'd see a lot of Frankfurt airport this trip. Caught some sleep on airport benches, then boarded the connecting flight to Gothenburg. We were in Sweden!

It already felt like home as we glided in over forests and lakes. We landed outside Gothenburg, but what we really needed to do was get to Trollhattan where Ann was speaking at the Swedish university system's IT conference. A gray, rainy bus ride from the airport to central Gothenburg station, a short dalliance with the wrong ticket kiosk, and tickets in hand we boarded an intercity train headed for Oslo, - first stop,  Trollhattan.

I love riding trains. Partly because trains were part of my childhood - my father has always enjoyed trains and took the family on numerous train adventures. And because on a train you see things up close. Things as they are, not as the tourist bureaus show them, nor from 10,000 or 30,000 feet up. You can get such a feel for a city or a country from its trains.

This train looked pretty fast, but got off to a slow start as it worked through the switches and sidings of industrial Gothenburg. But it was smooooth. Already I was liking Sweden. A sense of order and a passion for quality infrastructure were evident. Even scrap yards looked neat and clean. I was expecting Switzerland later in our trip by reputation to win the Neatness Cup in a blowout, but now it looked to be a horse race. The train picked up pace outside the city limits - now we're talking. Not a bullet train, but easily a match for the best of Amtrack in the East. Neat, clean, quite and efficient.

We traced the Gota Alv river through broad, rich farmland framed by low, rocky, tree covered hills. Passing small towns and tree farms. An hour later we pulled into the Trollhattan station. We were traveling light for our two week European stay - one computer bag and one suitcase each. We dropped them off the overhead, detrained, and started our 8 block walk to the Scandic Hotel. The rain had stopped and the clouds were lifting as we crossed the central plaza. Hungry, we stopped in at a surprisingly good Thai restaurant (3 in 1 block!), then entered our historic hotel, and fell in bed, ready for a night of happy jet lagged dreams.