Goteborg

For some reason, Goteborg is usually called Gothenburg in English. Maybe because, like me, no one knows how to type the O's with the special umlauts and stuff that Swedish uses so frequently.

Whatever you call it, I liked this town from the moment I got off the train. It took me almost 5 hours to get here, including delays for "technical difficulties with the tracks," on a route that looked disappointingly like the Amtrak ride from Seattle to Portland. In fact, aside from several windmill sightings, I could have been travelling the length of Western Washington, rather than from Norway to Sweden.

Goteborg is a port city, college town, and pretty much the whole city is within walking distance of my hotel. I kind of wish I had more time to spend here than the 17 hours or so in my schedule. I feel like I could spend a couple of days just hanging out, it just seems like a cool little place. But on the other hand, maybe it's good that I only get the one night, since there are a few oddities.

First off, I have seen an inordinate number of guys who look like they should have been on Jersey Shore, which is slightly perplexing. Also disconcerting is the total lack of crosswalk lights, with traffic and pedestrians having a free-for-all in the streets. In a few spots, a pair of yellow lights blink just before you get hit by a streetcar, but that seems to be it.

I think the biggest obstacle to me spending any time here, though, is that no one seems to speak English. The hotel guy did, of course, but when I went to dinner, the girl didn't seem to understand a word I said. I got beer, and it took a ridiculous amount of gesturing to finally understand that she wanted to see my identification; I guess it's important to verify that I'm over the apparently high age that Sweden has designated for drinking alcohol.

It's kind of unfortunate that I'm getting into areas where fewer and fewer people speak English, at the same time that I'm getting more and more desperate for people to talk to. So far I've either stayed in for some reason, or everyone I've been out with has kept to themselves. And not spoken English. In the States, I'd just find some excuse to bombard them with my company, but here, it's too much of an awkward situation when you're not sure you even speak the same language. In fact, the only people willing to engage at all are random guys on the street. They're all very eager to get my attention -- at least one has tried in every location I've visited, so far. Sadly for them, the holla tactic doesn't work in the States, and I'm definitely not responding in Europe.

I'm also at that point in traveling where I want nothing more than a home-cooked meal. While bacon-flavored potato chips are great and all, I just want food that's not made in a restaurant or factory. If some dude on the street says, "Hey baby, I speak English! Come with me and my mom will cook you dinner," I'm screwed.