Saturday: a day of shopping

I took way too many pictures to be able to post them all here. To start getting towards the city center, I got to pass through their University grounds:




Then, I arrive at the Paddan boat tour. Look! I see the boat hasn't left yet, so this must be a good sign, right?


Wrong! The sign on the window:


I guess it's been raining too much these days, so the boats cannot get under the bridges! What's up with that?

Well, gotta see something, so I keep walking along the canal, knowing I'll end up at the shopping center eventually.



Then, inside the mall there was an interesting character. He'd freeze from time to time, then as people walk by end up startling them as he came to life.


As you know, it wouldn't take much for me to say "Enough shopping"!
Time to head back, taking more pictures along the way.



It took me over 4 hours to make the circuit through town, pretty much didn't stop walking the whole time. I didn't dare try to figure out the bus system, as I'd probably get myself taken someplace out of town!
I drew my route on the map below. Appears it was at least a 5 mile jaunt.

and a couple days later...

Took a picture from the conference room, looking out to the sea. And down to the parking lot.


One of the guys told me "oh, yeah, the hotel with the huge mural". Well I didn't see it (which is possible from the highway) because I'm too busy trying to get the right exit! Anyway, quite the size when standing across the street!


While I was in stop-and-go rush hour traffic, I saw this:


When I returned to the hotel Friday, I saw fair skies (after it rained most of the day) so I made a panoramic from the top of the parking structure:

I also switched rooms, just so I could get a different view. Now what you see above is what I can see from my room.

I ended up taking this photo at a McDonald's, as you can see: Shrek is here too! (sorry about the blur, otherwise you'd be able to make out the small print under each character)


Oh, yeah, I learned the smallest cars on the street here are made by Mercedes and are the "Smart" model. Learn more by clicking into this Wikipedia link. It seems these cars might find their way the the States early next year!


Well, I was given some ideas on what to do for the weekend, so I have the Liseberg Amusement Park (right outside my window!) and Paddan boat tours to chose from so far. Oh, yeah, I was told to check out Nordstan for shopping. What I got out of the Nordstan link is they have 8 city blocks as the shopping center, with 2700 parking spaces in the parking structures. The first couple pages of the link include some pictures of the mall area.

Tour of the town

One of the guys here took me out dinner and to show me the layout of the town. Some of the many photos I took can be found here, starting with awesome architecture:


A statue who's name roughly translated is "copper mare". Then Michael had to laugh and point out that it is a stallion!


One of the older buildings (1750), now converted to a museum:


A really cool church building:


A replica of "East Indiaman Götheborg", a ship sunk in 1745. This one was built over the course of 8 years, starting in 1995. It then sailed to China, retracing the path of the original ship. Read more about it (like I did).

Going to work

The drive to work is away from the city center, so most of the traffic is in the opposite direction -- best place for it!

If you ignore the "km/h", this would be an impressive photo!


The place I'm visiting sits on top of a huge hill. Quite the hike, actually.
It is rather pretty area, makes me think of Harbor springs, with the expensive summer homes and green trees. Nearby dinning is about 1/2 mile walk to a golf course restaurant.

Monday night - Pizza!

Got to try the Swedish version of Pizza (with Ham, Onion & Beef)

Pictures from my walk

The hotel I'm staying at:


There is a rather large festival park within a half mile walk:



And some of the cars on the streets:

Travel to Sweden

I’ve made it to Gothenburg, and found my hotel!
That was a trick.  Of course I got lost – took the
wrong exit!  Got all scrambled around, kinda
backtracked by getting off then back on the highway.
Went back an exit, got off and (hope you are sitting
down!) asked for directions!  Can you believe it?  I
went into a Shell gas station and actually asked where
I was.  I had a map from National, and I had figured
out where the hotel was on there, so I just needed to
know where I was to finish getting there. 
Funny thing was, after I asked for help from the
attendant, a girl asked for me to help her father hook
a trailer onto his car.  They couldn't figure out how
to lift up the jack.  Of course the questions were spewing
in Swedish, but as soon as I said "English please" she
switched gears without skipping a beat.  Luckily jacks
work in Europe the same as they do in the states so I
could actually help.

Then (instead of crashing, because I’m running on less
than an an hour or sleep) I went for a walk.  Quite a
long walk, because I went back out to the highway and
see the actual exit number I was supposed to take.
According to the Google map, I went over 3 km round
trip.  And found a huge festival/park.  They have
roller coasters, a demon drop and I could hear some
kind of live music.

Now that I have my bearings, I might be able to leave
here and get back here.  I just need to find the
office on the other end in the morning.

So, I think now I'm going to go downstairs and find
something to eat for dinner in the restaurant.  I
don't want to drive again today!