Winter Break (Pt. 1): First stop Gothenburg, Sweden!
- Tori Van Staveren
- Mar 27, 2018
- 7 min read
How did my winter break start?
On Thursday, February 15 I headed to the local airport, Aéroport Saint-Exupéry where I caught my first flight of the trip from Lyon to a Brussels layover. In order to get cheaper flights across Europe I had to get tickets that had short layovers, so making the most of it I made sure to get some Belgium beer in the Brussels airport to pass the time. Than from Brussels I took my next flight to Gothenburg airport, where I would be spending the next three days!
What was I doing in Gothenburg, Sweden?
Well first, if you don't know where Gothenburg is, it's located on the West side of Sweden (just giving you an idea). Now why was I so far up north in Europe? Well my really good friend Matt has been living in Sweden for the last 3 years and it was about time that I went and visited after so many years away! Now Matt's family and mine have been friends since we were just little toddlers and have stayed friends over all these years! Unfortunately, as life get's busier and people move to different cities, I hadn't seen Matt since before I got accepted to Queen's! So it was long overdue to visit him, get three years of catching up and also get a chance to visit the beautiful country of Sweden!
What kind of stuff did we do in Sweden?
Well, having a friend who knows the area and all the cool places to visit, it was a really fun and relaxing week exploring Sweden. Specifically, Matt lives in a city called Kungälv, which is located only 20 minutes outside of the city! First night, we ordered some amazing thai food and just had a chill night talking about all the things we've missed in the last three years and I even got to meet the family who lives above Matt's apartment. Now if all Swedish people are like the Matt's host family, than the Swedish people are definitely some of the nicest people I've ever met! With a family of four, it was great to meet them all, hear some stories about the country, Matt's time in Sweden and I EVEN GOT TO HOLD A BUNNY!! I love bunnies, so I definitely was in heaven when they handed me their cute little white bunny to hold! I literally was in heaven!
Than we also went to an old abandoned fort that sits on a bit of a hill, over the town. Called the Bohus Fortress, it was great to see the history that has stayed in this small town, especially since the fortress was built in 1308 and is still standing today for visitors to come and visit. Unfortunately, as it was winter time, the fortress was not open for us to go and explore the inside, but we did walk around which provided a great view all the way around! It was also interesting to learn from Matt that over time people have been taking stones from the fortress to build their houses, so many of the older homes in the town have parts of the fort in their structure! Through that was so cool!
After, walking into town we had found a great, little café, where we stopped for some coffees and I got to try a traditional Swedish dessert called a Semla. It's a puff pastry, that has an almond paste in the middle, topped with lots of whip cream, and than with a little pastry top is sprinkled with icing sugar! Although it's not something I could probably eat all the time, I really enjoyed eating something very Swedish an liked the sweet taste!
To top off a great day in Kungälv, Matt and I got dressed up for a really fancy dinner at this nice place in town called Gustus Gastrobar. It was almost like the Keg where the lights are dim and the food is all fancy, but it was a lot smaller, more local feeling and social! It was cool that people were getting up and talking to each other, and it had just a great, warm environment! It was fun that for dinner we let our waitress pick most of the stuff we were eating. We ordered a bottle of red wine she recommended, than after I asked for something more Swedish and so she helped pick out a pork roast with gnocchi and grilled veggies! To top off this incredible meal we got a dark chocolate brownie dessert that had all these incredibly savory toppings, which finished off an already perfect meal! I was so appreciative of Matt for this fantastic treat, which definitely beat the pasta I regularly make for myself!
Second day in Sweden, Matt took me into the city of Gothenburg, where we explored the city and saw the beautiful sights there! When going onto the bus that would take us into the city, we ran into the grandparents of Matt's Swedish "second family"! It was really great meeting some of the people he's been closest to while away from Canada and it was really cool hearing how high of opinion they had of him, though I wasn't too surprised! Once off the bus, it was nice enough of them to invite us to a marketplace in the city, where they treated us to coffee and this super tasty chocolate/coconut balls called Chokladbollar. The chocolate treats kind of reminded me of the Newfie version Snowballs, for my Canadian friends who might know what I'm talking about, haha.
After that, we walked around the city looking in a few shops, seeing a couple stadiums, city parks, boat yard and there were even a couple small canals like the ones you'd expect in Amsterdam! After a day of walking around the city, we headed back to Kungälv where Matt had to coach his junior boys hockey game. It was really cool to see my friend in action, as growing up he's always been such a big hockey guy, so getting a job pursuing his passions for hockey through coaching was awesome! In the end the boys kicked butt and won against the opposing team! Ending the night with a great dinner and a chill movie night was another finish to a great day in Sweden!
Third day in Sweden was a nice relaxing day, which is always a nice break from all the business! Around noon, I got the chance to go back to the local arena and watch Matt and his team play a second game, this time with Matt's older team. Although Matt's first team was really fun to watch, it didn't compared to the second team who had much more speed, power and experience than the first! The whole game I was on the edge of my seat watching the guys flying around the ice playing their potential final game against their rival team. It was a close game the whole way through and despite all my cheering, the team unfortunately lost, which meant the end to their season. Despite the disappointing loss, we still turned the day around and had a great second day in Gothenburg. This time around we made a one stop at Gothia Towers for a late lunch with an incredible view over the whole city!
Going to Sweden I knew that I wanted to try some of the local food that I wouldn't be able to get anywhere else. For ideas of what to eat, Matt asked me if I really liked shrimp. Saying yes, he told me I had to get a räksmörgås. Now if you have never heard of this sandwich than let me tell you why Matt asked me if I REALLY liked shrimp. On a simple piece of rye bread, the sandwich is first layered with sliced hard-boiled eggs, layered with a thick layer of mayo, than covered with a MOUNTAIN of shrimp and topped with caviar! I am not joking when I way that it was the most shrimp I had ever seen on one plate at once! It was humongous! Thankfully I had brought my appetite and enjoyed every second of that sandwich, paired with a delicious passion fruit lemonade. With great company, an incredible view and the world's most juxtaposed sandwich (shrimp being small, but it was a huge sandwich) I couldn't ask for anything better. However, if that wasn't anything to end a perfect day, Matt later that night cooked us steaks, these delicious creamy potatoes and salad! Although my dad's the only cook in my life, I would have to say that Matt was giving him a run for his money with all the amazing food he was feeding me those couple days! Great end to a great couple days!
Day four brought the end of my trip in Sweden and it was back at the airport for me. Next destination... AMSTERDAM!
My final thoughts about my trip to Sweden:
I couldn't have asked for a better time visiting one of my oldest friends and what a great visit it was after not seeing each other for 3 years! There are not many people in your life that you can just pick up with after not seeing them for a while, but you know you are very lucky when you do find those friends! I got so absolutely spoiled while I was there and couldn't have asked for anything better! Hopefully it won't be 3 years until I see Matt again, but at least I know I'll always have such a great friend in my life!
So if you're looking to go somewhere where the people are just as nice as Canadians (haha), great food, beautiful destinations and overall relaxed atmosphere than I would definitely recommend Sweden! Thank you guys for reading, please remember to click that heart icon to let me know you liked the blog, and leave a comment on Facebook to let me know what you think!
-Tori
P.s., Thank you again Matt for an incredible trip and everything you did for me! Hopefully we'll see you again soon!
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