Going to spend two weeks in Sweden soon and so I’m starting to buy less food and not opening stuff that we can do without. Like... ground coffee! It’s going to be green tea every day until we’re in Sweden. I feel like this is a bad way to start our relationship, Sweden. I’m resenting this already. Bancha Kumamoto for breakfast it is.
@kensanata Cant you just seal up the bag and put it in the freezer while you're here?
What are you going to do in Sweden?
@ohyran Hm, I keep the coffee in the fridge which is at about 4°C, and the bag is closed with a clip (?). Doesn't the freezer change the coffee taste, too? Might be a good alternative, though. Better for Sweden, too, haha.
We're doing a 15 day road trip in the south of Sweden.
@kensanata Yeah but... not THAT much (days without coffee = not ok, green tea is not a substitute :) )
Also sounds nice (the road trip) plus the weather is awesome right now and with a little luck that will keep up for a while.
If you want suggestions - I got many (but hate when people blurt out "oh then you HAVE to go X Y Z!" uninvited so I'm holding off on them)
@ohyran I am interested in suggestions! We have all the nights booked already, so there's little flexibility with regards to the route, but if there's anything along the way you would suggest, I'd love to hear it. We're spending two nights each in Uppsala, Lidköping, Göteborg, Malmö, Kalmar, Linköping and some extra nights in Stockholm.
@kensanata well I grew up in Stockholm but moved to Gothenburg 18 years ago.
In Stockholm ignore the area around the central station. Go to Fjällgatan and Sista Styverns Trappor for the best view of Stockholm you have ever seen in your life. Also dark AF "sista styverns trappor" was the stairs leading to the execution hill and the noose and "sista styvern" = "last stiff one" = the last shot of vodka, and "stiff necks"
@kensanata old town is awesome, Västerlånggatan in Old Town is a massive tourist trap. Allow yourself to get lost instead.
In Old Town you have the smallest saddest rune stone (it was harvested in the 1500eds by builders who just wanted a flat stone, then found again in the 19th century and is still stuck to a wall at knee level) - it talks about a couple who lost their first child.
(making runestones was both magical and basically illegal at that time so it was quite an act of grief)
@kensanata if the weather allows, take a stroll around Djurgården.
Check out the translated works of one of our national skalds - Carl Michael Bellman - who was a musician in the 1700eds who song about not only nobility and finery, but popular subjects and human suffering. At his time Stockholm was a dangerous fucking city and rather horrible and his songs have lived on since and been covered over and over (here by another national skald)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gbCkidlqEU
@kensanata Now Gothenburg....
So Gothenburg and Stockholm are very different. Stockholm is beautiful but rather harsh and snobby. Gothenburg is... well it's not pretty :) but it's nice. Amazingly nice. Both cities are tricky to visit since you have to find the nice places in counter with the tourist info which actively tries to guide people to complete rubbish places (See "Västerlånggatan" above).
@kensanata In Gothenburg. If someone says "Visit Feskekyrka" or similar spelling as a first suggestion - they don't know what they are talking about at all. It is the tourist trap of all tourist traps. Zero history, zero value.
Gothenburg have the best archipelago ever. You take a tram and then a boat. It costs ONE tram ticket - no hidden costs. People live out there.
If you check the time table you can find out if its a cafe boat, meaning 40 min on boat drinking (slightly overpriced) coffee
@kensanata I have tons of these... will try to stick to Gothenburg and Stockholm for brevity
@ohyran I'll read up later, gotta go for now! Thanks again!
@kensanata I'll post about five more.
(if you guys want a cup of coffee while your in Gothenburg ping me btw)
@kensanata The archipelago is odd though until recently foreigners wheren't allowed to visit (which is why the boat station looks like a passport control) AND only a few years ago you couldn't buy alcohol out there since many who lived there was part of one of the more austere lutheran sects (no drinking, swearing or dancing etc)
Now its mostly rich people though but the island council shack still stands on Vrångö (my dad lived there once and had to prove he'd been a fisherman before moving)
@kensanata One thing to remember - rent a bike if you can and the weather permits. The bike paths here are good and leads you to odd places.
Its a harbour town and it shows though so expect rough edges.
Take the boat across the river instead of a tram that way you can visit Röda Sten and the area under the bridge https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=19/57.68965/11.90431 and Norra Älvstranden (North Riverbank) just a boat trip away.
Röda Sten the art exhibition have a nice restaurant with good if odd evening sun
@kensanata Also near Röda Sten is the Ångbåtsbrygga - go there during sunset, bring your own wine. You have to sneak BEHIND the fancy restaurant Sjömagasinet and can then walk straight out into the harbour, during sunset this place is magic (it can have a few drunks during sunlight hours though)
https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=19/57.69204/11.90816
@kensanata this is ångbåtsbryggan
@kensanata moving on to wine and beers - as perhaps you know our alcohol laws are pretty strict. The beer you buy in stores are Folköl (people-beer) which is low alcohol beer - other things you need to buy at the state dispensery, Systembolaget. Nothing is chilled (so put it in the fridge at hotel) and the open hours are few but the selection is often brilliant.
So plan a bit a head if you want to have wine https://www.omsystembolaget.se/english/
@kensanata btw when you are visiting there is a good chance Sweden will be empty as many have vacations while you're here. Some places will be closed and there will be less people around.
There are a ton of more places: Slottskogen with its free zoo, The Poseidon Statue with its weird revenge/penis story, Majorna (where I live) with its mellow vibe, to AALL the places you can go to swim in the ocean.
But I can't spam more :)
- rent bikes
- download OSM
- bring your own beer
- bring swim trunks
@kensanata oh oh finally... Gothenburg is brilliant. There is a reason I moved from my hometown Stockholm - a place I easily call the most beautiful city on the planet - to this place.
It has spirit. Rough, dirty, mismanaged politically, but a cultural life that is thriving yet hidden and a sense of belonging that can't be beaten.
Stockholm is easy to show to tourists - Gothenburg is almost impossible to do justice.
Stockholm is about views, Gothenburg is about experiences.
@ohyran thank you VERY MUCH for that toot storm! I am totally looking forward to Gothenburg, now. And I’ll ping you for coffee for sure. 👍🏽
@ohyran Sounds perfect! I've been forwarding all these toots to my wife for integration into our itinerary. Thanks!