11th – 12th September
From Östgötaland to Västgötaland – another Swedish train experience
We left Ulvåsa in good time, so Anders drove us the scenic route by the canal to Motala station. The Göta canal is 190km long, and is part of a 390km waterway, connecting Gothenburg on the west coast to Söderköping on the Baltic Sea, south of Stockholm. Boats travelling its length however no longer stop in Motala.
When the canal was drained here recently for repairs, many rusty bikes were apparently uncovered. Anders wondered whether participants in the famous Vätternrundan Cycle Race, 315km around the second largest lake in Sweden, had ditched them out of frustration!
We would be changing trains at Hallsberg. As our local train from Motala arrived there nearly half an hour early in the pouring rain, we were in time for an earlier train to Gothenburg than the one we had booked. Reflecting on our Swedish (and German) railway experience so far, and not espying any welcoming travel facilities, we hopped onto this train, which was itself running late.
To our chagrin, we were booted off at the next station 15 minutes up the line! Our tickets weren’t valid on that train!
Laxå, where we alighted, is a tiny station with three platforms, a level-crossing and no facilities (except toilets, where only the disabled toilet was free!). Since we had almost an hour to wait, Lynne went up the main street of Laxå in search of coffee. She availed herself of the only place selling coffee, which was the florist!
Despite only having three platforms (or maybe because there were), there was confusion as to which platform our train would depart from. It was originally to leave from platform 1. We were then sent to platform 2, across the level-crossing, on which another train travelling in the opposite direction duly arrived, as expected, only 2 minutes before our train was due to depart! We were then sent back to platform 1, across the track to wait for our train in the pouring rain, arriving (of course) 15 minutes late!
Our onward journey to Gothenburg was otherwise uneventful. On arriving, we settled in at a coffee shop in the Nordstan shopping centre, outside the station, while Peter went out and explored the best route to our accommodation for the night, a stationary tall ship, in the harbour.
There is a huge building site between the station and the harbour, for Västlänken, a mammoth railway tunnel project with new stations through and under the city. Peter needed to navigate a path, before we set off with our luggage to find our berth for the night.
Barken Viking is a magnificent four masted, steel hulled barque, built in 1906 – the biggest sailing ship ever to have been built in Scandinavia. After a long career at sea, she is now retired to provide hotel lodging.
Our cabin was spacious, but rather tired with a grand wicker chair with a large hole in the seat! However, we were delighted to find we could access the wifi in our cabin, with no acrobatics required to do so. This enabled us to have a video call with Kirsten as she opened birthday presents we had left for her in London.
We decided to venture out to explore the route to the ‘German quay’, where we would board the Stena Germanica, our following day overnight ferry. We also wanted to determine whether there were any left-luggage facilities, which there were not. We were pleased to navigate the tram, especially being able to pay by the new contactless facility onboard.
We found however that the walking route from the tram to the car ferry check-in rather hazardous for pedestrians – we then discovered that the foot passenger check-in was elsewhere, with a walkway and bridge across the busy roads, from a different tram stop. Much easier, but no indication or sign where to walk.
Happy Birthday Kirsten
Dinner was at the elegant Fiskekrogen restaurant, where we discovered that our server had also run the Stockholm half-marathon on Saturday. We rose a glass for Kirsten’s birthday. Allergy tables were reversed, as Lynne enjoyed lobster, to which Peter is allergic.
Ohhh… lobster… Fishballs – delicious
A morning of memories
We left our luggage on the ship, and took two hours venturing up memory lane for Peter, visiting where he lived at the end of tram number 5, on the outskirts of the city, by the forest edge.
From age 13, he lived at the final stop of tram 5, in Länsmansgården. Solstrålegatan 34, was then brand new, and the spacious flat commanded a magnificent view over Gothenburg from the 8th floor.
It’s Number 5 Where is the blue plaque? Communal forest Fresh and clean Memory lane
We strolled through the neighbourhood and through Sjumilaskolan, one of the schools he attended for three years. It hadn’t changed much at all, delightful in the sunshine. If anything, the whole area was nicer than remembered. The building Peter lived in has new balconies on one side of the building, and the grounds had lovely, newly mowed grass.
End of the line Sjumilaskolan Spårvagn hem
On the way there, we passed the big road crossing where Peter announced he nearly died in a motorbike accident when he was 17. A bit of a “sliding-doors moment’” for Lynne as Peter had never admitted before just how serious the accident could have been….
The luggage we had left on Barken Viking was fortunately still intact when we returned by tram to the ship. We dallied a while before we set off, to update blogs, pictures, WhatsApps and email, while we still had internet.
Walking up Östra Hamngatan, we revisited Saluhallen, the ornate Market Hall, where we enjoyed a lunch in 2022 with Chris, after having run a half marathon in Gothenburg. It was remarkable, after cool clouds and drizzle, sitting outdoors in the last autumnal vestiges of sun, fending off insistent and dozy wasps.
From there it was straightforward to hop on a tram to the German Quay for the Stena Germanica sailing overnight to Kiel. As a parting, we indulged in a very Swedish meal – we naturally went for the sumptuous buffet – ett svenskt Smörgåsbord!
What a beautiful ship.
Keen to get a chance to visit here too, looks great