Sweet Swedish Days

I flew into Gothenburg, Sweden and was met by my friend Ivanna from the US. Sweden has never been on my top places to visit in my life but since I have a friend currently living here, I couldn't pass up the opportunity. She picked me from the city and we grabbed lunch before heading back to the house which takes about an hour travel. She lives with her husband in a residential, quiet town called Billdal that's outside the city. I had a long morning travel so I was looking forward to just catching up and relaxing for the evening. I had a little bit of time to unpack before we headed to explore the near by area and beaches. The town is very quiet, with not much to do, great for families.

The next morning, we had breakfast at the house and headed into the city. It's about a 20 min walk to the bus stop and a 30 min ride into the city. I always wondered how they make that walk in the Swedish winter. The city is not so big but there's lots to do. We walked down the main streets doing some shopping before sitting down at a coffee shop and getting a huge cinnamon bun to share. Sweden is very

expensive for dollars so I tried to keep my spending to the minimum. We also walked up to a high point that over looks Gothenburg, and it was quite the view. Later, Ivanna's friend, Ales, joined us for the rest of the day. She showed us the huge park in the middle of the city that has a mini zoo with penguins, seals, moose, dear etc. We walked, talked and laughed for hours as we made our way down the city streets until we got hungry and sat down at a Tapas restaurant for dinner. Later, we grabbed drinks at a local bar full of young hipsters to end our night together.

Like any other country, Sweden has two sides to it. The city and country side to it. I wanted to check out the the country side and the beach shore lines since pretty much all of Sweden is surrounded by water. Ivanna thought it would be perfect to go to her in-laws house who live more on the country side. Their house is beautiful, whitely furnished and tucked away behind hidden streets. They even have a beautiful white retreiver who joined us on our walk. We walked along side the beach and explored the area for a few hours. The town is also very quiet, residential and had a rich feel to it. Many people come to this area to wind surf and take their sail boats out. We reached a restaurant that overlooks the bay and had a few drinks to rest from our long walk there. After we left the parents house, Ivanna and I made plans to have a picnic on the beach for the sunset. It was bit chilly out, so we bundled up to walk the 20 min to the beach. The sunset was peaking in and out of the clouds and covering the ocean horizon with so many colors. It was so mesmerizing that I couldn't keep my eyes off of it. Everything about that evening was perfect.

My last day we took it easy around the city, checking out some coffee shops, gardens, green houses, and museums. I love the city vibe in Gothenburg. It feels like such a rich, elegant, classy, sophisticated city. Everyone is so beautiful and nicely dressed, it was like watching a fashion show go on all around me. We didn't go out to eat too much due to the fact that going out to eat is very over priced, so Ivanna made me a classic Swedish dinner for my last night that consisted of pasta and meatballs. It was very basic but very good. I wonder how the Swedish people stay in shape after consuming so much pasta. I really enjoyed my time in Sweden. It was so nice having someone to share my travels with. Thanks to Ivanna for making that happen, and making my experience so much better than it would have been!