The time difference finally caught up with us, most of the group, including me, fought hard to catch some Z’s but we didn’t hit the hay until about 4:30 am (9:30 pm Chicago time) with a wakeup call at about 9:30 am (2:30 am Chicago time), we knew we would have to power through the tiredness. With the itinerary setting out a trip to the islands, we headed over to breakfast and filled up for the day. Unfortunately the only restaurant on the island is closed for renovations, so we were able to pack a picnic to have when we got out there. After breakfast and picnic prep, we jumped onto the tram and started on our way to the harbor to depart. The public transit workers were doing maintenance on one part of the tram line, so we had to jump off the tram and catch a city bus the rest of the way. With 21 people in the Carthage group alone space on the bus started to run out quickly. By the time we got to the Skärgårdsbåtar I am confident we were over the 100 person capacity on the bus.
Once we finally arrived, it was a quick transition to the boat. It is very convenient that the public transportation pass that we have works for admission to the boat. It was about a 25 minute boat ride across the what I would call a bay. Not entirely sure that is what the locals refer to it as. The boat ride was filled with great views and made for some pretty amazing photos!
When we landed on Brännö we unloaded and had a team meeting on what the plan was going to be for the rest of the day. We decided to all walk out to a spot known by professor JJ as Susie’s Cove. Susie is JJ’s wife, she comes along on every trip to help out with logistics and supervision. It was about a 30 minute walk to get to the other end of the island where the cove is located.
Here is a picture of the end of the path, but we didn’t stop there. There is a small path on the right side of the photo that leads to a small connection to another area. It is for sure a hidden treasure in a pot of gold!
We had a picnic lunch on the farthest part of the cove that overlooks another bay with scattered Islands.
We had a group dinner at Karlson’s Garage and Bar which is about 4 blocks away from our hostel. Believe it or not, it is one of the only places in Gothenburg that serves Swedish Meatballs. You know what they say, “When in Sweden, get the Swedish Meatballs”. To make the meal more Swedish than it already is, I added a Pale Ale that was brewed in Gothenburg. The name of it was Electric Nurse Pale Ale. The entire meal was very good, the meatballs had good flavor of the beer and gravy, the potato’s were perfect firmness and the beer was hoppy but in my personal opinion I Thought it paired very well with the main dish. JJ has been going to Karlson’s for the last few years when he brings a trip to Gothenburg and has built a relationship with the owner. So it was no surprise that we were recognized when we came in. The owner wanted to make sure we had a true taste of Sweden, so he sent us over a round of a traditional shot that is taken in Swedish Pub’s. It tasted very strong of black licorice which is one of the most popular sweets in Gothenburg. Personally I would not order another one, but it was very nice of the owner to extend that to us!
After dinner we went back to the Hostel to relax and prepare for our first company visit tomorrow.
Takeaways
- The Archipelagos are absolutely stunning
- Picnics with friends are always the move
- Swedish Meatballs in Sweden just hits different
Reconnecting with my Origins 