Tag: Windmills

Malmo to Gothenburg

The latest in my series of posts about my recent holiday in Sweden.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the latest in my series of posts about my recent holiday in Sweden. At the heart of this post is a largely photographic account of a very scenic railway journey.

LEAVING MALMO

I booked a seat on a train to Gothenburg that allowed me plenty of time to pack, check out and get to the station. For the price paid the STF Hostel at Malmo was a great success. My review as requested by booking.com can be seen here.

I was indeed at Malmo Central Station long before I needed to (pictures of this station can be viewed here). The platform I needed to catch my train from was displayed well in advance (no London King’s Cross style nonsense of showing the platform that you need to get to the far end of since your train splits at Cambridge with only the front portion continuing onwards  a bare five minutes before your train will be leaving). Malmo Central has an unusual feature for a main-line railway station in that some of the platforms are underground, reached via lifts or escalators. These platforms feature a film-type display based on views through a train window to relieve the monotony:

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The route from Malmo to Gothenburg travels along the only West facing coastline in Sweden (just north of Gothenburg you reach the start of the long land border with Norway, which continues north and then east until you arrive at the much shorter land border with Finland, which ends at the top of the Gulf of Bothnia, after which it is coastline all the way round to Gothenburg), and is very scenic…

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All of the pictures you see in this section of the post were taken through the window of a train.

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The rain made this one even more of a challenge.

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LOCATING MY HOTEL

The main tourist information office in Gothenburg is located inside a large shopping centre which is accessible directly from the station. They were able to equip me with a map and directions to my hotel, and I set about finding my way there…

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This is at Gothenburg station
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Crossing a canal
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Water transport.

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My room at the City Hotel Avenyn – small, but not shared
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A painting that hangs on the second floor of the hotel, just along the corridor from my room.

Just before I reached the City Hotel Avenyn I noted the City Pub next door it. After paying for my room I still had nearly 1,o00 Kronor left, so I decided to treat myself to a meal at the pub.

I consumed an excellent meal of Swedish meatballs and mashed potato, washed down with a couple of glasses of a good local beer. While I was there, one of the TV screens was showing an Olympic handball match between Sweden and Russia. The Swedes won – it was close for most of the first half, but then Sweden pulled clear and were never seriously threatened thereafter. After that it was time to head back to my room. Unfortunately, there was a lot of noise during the night. Here, courtesy of a screen-grab from booking.com is what I had to say about Gothenburg itself and my accommodation:

Reviews