May 20, 2020 – Gothenburg and why is there a statue of a pig
This was a very, very long journey but finally we made it to Gothenburg. My humans were tired, as they couldn’t sleep on the train.
My humans told me that in Germany and a lot of other countries had to wear masks that cover mouth and nose due to that Corona virus and that they have to keep distance to each other. Here in Gothenburg you couldn’t experience anything like that. On the train nobody had worn a mask. Sweden obviously handled that differently. They also told me that we left to Germany so quickly because they reopened the borders and it was possible to travel to Germany and not have to go into quarantine for 2 weeks.
My master went to look for a place where they could store the luggage so that we could walk around and visit Gothenburg. Quickly he found the place and while he was in the elevator with the luggage my mistress, Forrest and I took the stairs. The stairs were built with a very shiny material. It was then that my mistress realized that Forrest had never walked stairs before in his life and that one was shiny and if you are not used to walk stairs it’s scary. Forrest managed it very good; he walked slowly by my side and watched what I was doing. Good job Forrest!
After the luggage was in stored away safely we walked toward the marina. My mistress saw an old sailing ship and wanted to get closer to have a look at it. Forrest has never been to a big city like Gothenburg. Cars, bicycles, people and more everywhere. He was simply overwhelmed by all the smells. No wonder he pulled on the leash and went from left to right and left again. It was no fun for my humans to have Forrest on the leash but they understood why he behaved the way he did.
At the marina it turned out that this sailing ship my mistress saw from the distance was a restaurant on the ship. There wasn’t much to see and the humans headed back to the city. We saw a pink statue of a pig and sat down next to it for a while because Forrest and I were thirsty.
So why is there a pink pig statue in Gothenburg? My mistress tried to find out more but there is nothing about it on the Internet. The statue is Lilla Bommen, a district of Gothenburg. If anyone knows what this statue stands for please let me know, I’m curious.
Gothenburg was founded in 1621 by King Gustavus Adolphus and was a primarily Dutch trading colony. The name Gothenburg though is older. It was used for the previous city founded in 1603 and it burned down in 1611.
The planets of the streets and canals of the city of Gothenburg is similar to that of Jakarta which was build around the same time by the Dutch. Today Gothenburg is the second-largest city of Sweden.
We walked through the city for a while, my humans had a burger and after that they called a taxi that would bring us to the ferry harbor.
Turned out we arrived at the harbor too early and we had to wait another 2 hours before the check in would open. Time for another some food and a nap!
When we took the ferry to/from Trelleborg a shuttle bus took us to the ferry and we had to climb stairs and walk into the ferry over the ramp where the cars board the ferry. Here in Gothenburg there was a bridge we could walk without any stairs, very comfortable and easy. A good thing for my humans as they had to carry the luggage.
My humans booked a cabin on board of the ferry and there were two dogs beds - one for Forrest and one for me.
We were allowed to board early, almost 2 hours prior to departure. Our cabin wasn’t far from the dog release area and it was a cabin with a window where we could look outside.
First thing my humans did was taking a shower. On the farm in Lapland they had no running water for more than a month and they only could take a shower when the owners took them to a friends house, which wasn’t very often as the friend lived about 65 km/40 miles apart. Of course my humans took care of their hygiene and washed themselves daily but they said it does make a difference if you shower or just wash yourself. After the humans felt clean again they paid a visit to the restaurant on board and grabbed something to eat.
Talking about shower, I don’t like to be cleaned with water. My mistress is very gentle when she washes me once in a while but still, it’s too wet. I prefer to bath in the snow, my fur gets clean and is very soft after taking a snow bath.
When we took the ferry from Rostock to Trelleborg and vice versa the journey took only about 6-7 hours and with boarding and de-boarding we did not have much time in the cabin to sleep. On this ferry from Gothenburg to Kiel the journey took 15 hours, enough time for a long sleep in the night and some relaxing time. Well, theoretically this would have been the case. Forrest had to go to the bathroom a couple of times that night. The positive thing about that is that my mistress was able to watch the sunrise, which according to her was very beautiful. Don’t ask me – I was asleep when that happened.
In Germany my humans had booked an AirBnB apartment not too far away from Kiel. They wanted to make sure that in case the rules change and they had to quarantine we would have a place to stay.
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