Nov 9, 2011

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.