West Side Story at the GoteborgsOperan

This year is the 50th anniversary of West Side Story (the film)!

When I came to the ticket office, I asked for something not too expensive even though musicals are less expensive than “opera” or “dance” categories. I chose a seat on the 3rd balcony, on the side and in the back. Not the best seat indeed.

The balconies are weirdly set up. Very rounded and seats do not start from the stage (but a couple of meters away).

Still, it was fine. And the view from the top allowed me to see all the shadows, much more than from the ground in fact.

The conductor was not clapped. He just arrived and the show started. A little bit surprising.

The musical was all in Swedish, and even though I knew what was going on, I did not recall everything.

The musical was upgraded with some really nice dance parts.

After the intermission, I changed from the very side to a seat more in the middle. Maybe I have changed of seat category too. Here is the view after the change.

After the intermission, no bell, no clap for the conductor. Everyone was back in their seats at the correct time, lights turned off again and the music started instantly.

– The cast at the end

– The opera by night (blurry but also the only one I have got …)

Here is the trailer.

Definitely worth it!

First day in Göteborg

Find the place I was going to stay very easily. Did the check-in quickly, asked to be upgraded too. There was a basket with a paper about Swedish cookies. Sadly …

Once I had dropped all my stuff in the room, and as I did not have any Swedish kronas, I headed to the Göteborg tourist information office. Asked for what to do there in two days: they handed me a map with 10 important places to see. Did the visit starting by #10, going to #1 at the end.

The main part of Göteborg is on an island and most of the important places to see where there, but also on the part behind it, closer to the Göta älv.

There is a lot of activity in Göteborg, much much more than there is in Aalborg. Ok, there are more people in Sweden and Göteborg is the 2nd city in the country (Aalborg is the 4th). Every time I was there, there was people around.

Public transportation is mostly made by trams, with very important streets dedicated to the trams!

Saw the first City Hall (now they have moved to a bigger building, on a nice place), along some old buildings. These are now shops or just closed.

There are some really old buildings, and then… a brand new building. Sometimes it looks nice, sometimes the building is just horrible.

Went to the Opera to book for West Side Story. Arrived just after the opening of the ticket office. Queued for about 20 minutes. I was number 21.

Had lunch in the center, in the covered market. Time to have some nice, fresh salmon!

There were potatoes too but they are not shown on the picture … 

After lunch, headed to the Universeum. The Universeum is a really nice place about both science and nature and with experiments.

They have a really huge greenhouse where animals are free to move around. There were monkeys but did not have the chance to encounter them. Also, birds, fishes …

Saw someone getting bitten by a salmon as he had his fingers in the water … !

There was also an exhibit about the forensic scientist. Had the chance to get inside a Swedish Volvo police car.

On the way back to the Opera, walked in front something that appeared to be a bar or a club. It was 6pm, nearly dark, and people were already queuing. Quite a long queue for 6pm!

The biggest street of Göteborg is the Kungsportsavenyn, usually called & written Avenyn. Lots of bars there. At the end of the avenue, there is the Göteborg Konstmuseum (Göteborg Museum of Art).

Near the Opera is the Wheel of Göteborg.

Going to Göteborg

I am in Denmark, right? But I’m also in Scandinavia!

Took my friday off and left to Göteborg, Sweden, for the weekend. I took the boat from Fredrikshavn (1.30 hour from Aalborg whether by train or bus). The first boat was leaving at 7.15 am and it implied taking the first train … but not the first bus, sadly, as the bus service starts only about one hour later. So, left home around 4.15 am and walked to the station.

Arrived in time for the train. Bought a ticket the day before to be sure to have it in case I would have been a bit short. The trains are very small, only two carriages (apparently, it is the same when going to Copenhagen) so you are sure to be controlled. Annnnnd … the train ticket to Fredrikshavn is the same kind as a bus ticket, meaning you buy it before getting in and it lasts for the two next hours. Tried to explain to the ticket collector that I did not know about that, etc. Had to pay for a new ticket … but did not get the fine. Ticket is DKK 99 and the fine is … DKK 750! So I do not really know if the guy was a dick or just nice to us.

Arrived in time at Fredrikshavn but it was hard - by night - to find where the boat terminal was. The terminal is far away on the docks and there is a very long footbridge to reach it. Picked up my ticket at the desk and boarded just after that. The boat was rather empty.

Had a coffee for DKK 20 with free refills included.

Slept most of the time and woke up for the arrival in Göteborg where the boat has to go into the Göta älv mouth to reach Göteborg harbour.

Sadly, the weather was very foggy and I did not see that much. Still, the archipels (which are on both side of the Göta älv mouth) were really nice to see in the fog. I spent the last 30 minutes of the trip on the “sun”deck.

When the boat arrived, the first thing I did was to go to the place I was staying at and drop my luggage.

One nice point about the boat was the free wifi. Convenient to check the weather, load the map, and upload some pictures.