Gothenburg

Monday, 14 June

Today is our last day in Gothenburg and we boarded a tram to go to Haga an old part of town with some of the few remaining timber houses and we walked around the cobble stoned streets before climbing Skansberget hill to Skansen Kronan, a fort built in 1687 which commanded a view of all around old Gothenburg and would provide an early warning of any approaching enemy.

From the hill we could see Oscar Fredrik Church built in the Gothic style in 1893 so we walked to it and we were able to visit and view the lovely stained glass windows and Triptych behind the altar also the Rose Window and organ in the west end of the Church.

Back on the tram we headed back towards the city centre and alighted at the Gustavi Cathedral which is more in keeping with the plain style of Lutheran Churches. The midday Eucharist had just commenced and although we didn’t understand the words the format of the service was very familiar. As it was lunch time we returned to the hostel to eat and we are more impressed with the frequent tram service and at each stop there is an electronic timetable which displays the number of minutes before the arrival for the next two trams or buses of each line which use the stop. At some stops there may be four different tram routes and two buses passing through; this makes it very easy to travel around town.

After lunch another tram ride to the Gothenburg Botanical Gardens which was commenced in 1910 and has a total area of 175 hectares, the largest part is a nature reserve and arboretum and the garden proper covers 40 hectares and contains 12,000 different species. At the top of the garden there is a rocky outcrop and this has been used to good effect with a waterfall cascading down and 5,000 species of plants in amongst the rocks. If you are prepared to scramble up the rocks they provide a good view over Gothenburg.

More formal parts of the gardens include a kitchen garden, an herb garden; an area planted with perennial plants, a very large rhododendron valley with thousands of plants, unfortunately many are past their best display. Another area has a Japanese glade with the usual water and rock arrangements associated with Japanese gardens. All these areas are connected with woodlands and wildflowers and other plants growing under the trees.

These gardens would be one of the best that we have visited anywhere in the world.

Back on the tram to the hostel to prepare for our early morning flight tomorrow to Edinburgh.