May 23 - First trip into city central Gothenburg

 When we stay in cities in Europe, we like to use local transport - either metro or trams.  We are fairly close to a big bus terminal and the tram which has 3 different lines 1, 7 and 8 that will all get us into the city central.  Our plan is to go to the main tourist office to get a better feel for where all the interesting neighborhoods are - and what tram line we will need to use to get there.   We are also very interested in going to see the south and north islands.  You can't get to them from the same harbor.  You need to take a ferry to the south island as these islands are all small and I think none allow vehicle travel.  The north islands can be driven to - either by your own car or an Uber.  It seems there are bridges between all the largest north islands.  

This statue is across from the tourist center.  I don't know what it is about statues, especially of people on horses that I feel compelled to take photos of them.  Actually I am more interested in the picture behind him.

This looks very much like Indian art in the U.S.

A typical picture of a restaurants outdoor seating.  But here it is too cold and wet to use just yet.

I was intrigued by this statue because I have no idea what the animal is supposed to be.  The little girl seems very happy!

The woman at the tourist center directed us to the food market which is directly across the street from their office.  Even though it is cold and wet - these pansies seem happy.

I am not sure what this building was - but the top two windows looked like eyes to me and I liked the reflections in the bottom row of windows.

Inside the food market.  I was underwhelmed.  It is a typical European food market. That is good as I was afraid all I would fine in Sweden was lots of smoked fish which I detest.

This was a stall selling many different bread products.  The bread has been surprisingly good here.  I am saying that after two days and buying bread from two different grocery stores - so not a big sample!

So my youngest daughter lived in the Netherlands for a long time and now lives in Sweden .  And still I am seeing tulips - but they are not red like the ones she gifted me when she was still in Amsterdam.

I can't resist reflections!

Photos along the path towards the cathedral.

I don't know if that is a forsythia bush or not - but it was very beautiful.

The Cathedral.

Inside the church - Gustavi Domkyrka.

That same bush - or tree, so beautiful.

I wanted to go in - but not buy anything.  Not a good idea.  Cause I would have been tempted.  

If we would walk in this direction - no idea if it is N, S, E, or W - we would end up at the old port.

The museum - it is under renovations.  It is open, but we have been on our feet for quite a while and will wait to explore what is ahead of us which is the older part of Gothenburg.  We will come again to explore it when we are not so tired.  We need to do some shopping and go to the liquor store as they have shorten hours on the weekend and it is Friday.  So now Michael figures out how to catch the 1, 7 or 8 tram back to our Airbnb.  And then hopefully we will remember which line will take us back here to explore the old part of the city another time.

Another church.

We discover another square - actually they are called platsens.  It is very similar to the Netherlands.

They do have food trucks here in Sweden.  A lot of Asian food.

And authentic Mexican Tacos..  I didn't realize until later looking at the photo, that this truck is sitting on a trailer.!

There are canals here just like in Amsterdam.  You can take a canal tour - I would like to do that before we leave here.

I tried to take a photo of the Nordstan store window, but people kept walking into the photo.  I finally took this photo.  The guy who photo bombed me was quite upset - he thought I was trying take a photo of him. Meanwhile I was annoyed he stepped into my photo.  He stopped  when he came up to me and said, "Why were you taking a picture of me?"  I said, "I was trying to take a photo of the store - you walked into my photo"  "Show me the photo!  he says.  So I did.  He says that's me!  I said yes it is you - you walked into my photo.  He gave me a high five and walked off.  It was a very weird interaction.  But - hey, now I have a story!  And yes, I know he was giving me the middle finger!

So many kabab places in Gothenburg.  There is one very close to us.  I am sure we will try it.  We have never been disappointed no matter what country we are in. But to be honest - the best were in Turkey.

Some building close to central station.

This is what I noticed - "Hear no evil, See no evil, Speak no evil".

Central station - here we could take the 1, 7, or 8 back to Frolunda.  We took the 1 tram line which was not the same path as the 7 we took to city central.  But eventually the path was the same.  A successful day - we found our way there - complete with a tram police scan of our phone purchased tram tickets - and back home again.  Back at the Frodlunda a station we went to the mall to get a few more items at the Kemkop and then found the state liquor store.  You can buy beer with very low alcohol level at grocery store. But anything with a higher alcohol level must be purchased at a state store.  The prices are higher, and the bottles are smaller, but you can get most things at the state stores.  We found a place for lunch that had a meal of the day.  It was basically a choice of a hamburger and fries or a fish gratin with the salad bar.  We wanted to play it safe - as we were hungry and got the burgers.  Then we carried everything home.  Michael napped, I downloaded photos and started working on them.  

End of a good day.  Successful use of the tram system, some tourist activity, and got back home.  Photos taken and we are back in the grove!