Gothenburg - the Christmas city and home of the volvo

After parting ways with Sheena in Stockholm, I moved on by train to Gothenburg, Sweden! There is apparently a volvo factory nearby, and everybody drove them. Especially all of the taxis. I grew up with the sound that a volvo engine makes, so it was wierd when every car that passed was making that familar chug-a-chug.

After arriving in Gothenburg, I treated myself to sushi.. about the only way I really enjoy fish. Note the tartan chopsticks.



That day, I visited the design museum called Röhsska Muséet. I managed to get in for free by claiming that I was a design student (which is true, just an environmental design student.. not an industrial design or archictecture student... details, details). There was hardly a single soul in the museum. They followed the roots of Swedish design from nearly the beginning to the modern, sleek design of kitchenware that they are famous for. They also had an interesting exhibit on consumerism with discussion about the role of new design and new designers, and design trends. It was very interesting.

The next day was St. Lucia Day, a big holiday in Sweden. I was tired from staying up late the night before talking with my talkative roomate Charlotta from Sweden. I explored:
the downtown,
the location of the original town (narrow streets),
Kungsportsavenyn (an urban design competition from the 1870's and 80's),
a singing christmas tree,
Lisebergs NöjesPark (a themepark.. rides and all... decorated for christmas)
a lightshow
and a St. Lucia concert.


Liseberg's lights

The concert was special. It was performed by a girls choir, led in by a single girl wearing a crown of real candles. The choir was excellent, and I even recognised some of the christmas songs they sang. I thought it was an odd group of people listening to the concert.. I would have thought music of this nature would have attracted many elderly people and people with young children. My fellow concert-listeners were generally, not tourists, my age to middle age, and very interested in the music. hmm


St. Lucia concert in the Oscar Fredriks church, Gothenburg