Gothenburg

Sunday, 13 June

We caught a tram and walked to the ferry terminal to travel across the harbour to visit the “Gothenburg” a sailing ship which is a replica of the East Indies Company ship that sank in 1794, only to find it has sailed to Stockholm to take part in the festivities to celebrate the wedding of the Crown Princess next Saturday. We decided to stay on the ferry and travelled up to the centre of town and walked around for a while before deciding to return to the hostel for lunch as the weather had changed and we decided it was too cold to eat in a park.

As in Stockholm we purchased a travel card which in Gothenburg gives us unlimited travel for 72 hours from the time of purchase, on the trams, buses and ferries, at a cost of around $21. A single ticket that allows travel for 90 minutes costs just over $4 so we thought that the three day ticket represented good value.

The more we travel the more we realize what a poor transport system Melbourne has, Stockholm with two million people has several train lines, three underground lines with two of them branching to seven different terminals, more than twenty bus routes and also ferries and even on Sundays you don’t have to wait more than fifteen minutes for a bus and ten minutes on the underground. Gothenburg with only half a million people has thirteen tram routes and many more bus routes and the frequency is as good as in Stockholm. Both cities also have an excellent card system for paying fares and the trams, we haven’t ridden on a bus in Gothenburg, allow you to pay with coins or a credit card in a machine and in both cities you can also pay a fare by dialling a number on your mobile phone and you receive an SMS ticket. This system is also available in Helsinki.

After lunch we travelled back in the city to visit the City Museum, which has displays from pre-history through the Viking era and on through the 17^th to the 20^th Centuries, including information on the imports brought in by the East Indies Company, in whose building the museum is now located. Entry to the museum was $6.50 and the ticket provides entry to four museums in the city until the end of 2010, the only problem is that all museums are closed tomorrow, Monday, and we leave on Tuesday morning.

Now to plan tomorrow with most exhibitions and museums closed, perhaps we can walk around the oldest part of town and some parks if the weather isn’t too cold.