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.