Day 5-2. Rest day in Göteborg.
Just across from this bridge we managed to bump into the church of the German speaking community (possibly why the bridge was called the Tyska Bron or German bridge) and had a quick look inside, before wandering aimlessly towards to the harbour proper. In truth we should have locked our bikes up somewhere and wandered round on foot, but then we might not have seen so much of the city.
Back out of the church we headed towards the water-front. There we found cool stuff like large cranes and realised that Göteborg is very much a working port. Across from the cranes in the direction of the bridge that would take us out of Göteborg the following day we found an interesting modern building, similar to a newish cultural centre on the water-front in Amsterdam (OK so another similarity). We were rather lazy and not terribly motivated tourists, so ambled round, taking pictures of the docks and a small maritime museum consisting of a couple of ships.. It was so hot that we couldn't be bothered to go and find a cash machine and go and look at the museum. Finally we stopped to rest in front of the Opera house, eat a snack and think about what to do next. Damae decided to immortalise our (soon to be superceded) touring bikes in pictures. We were just a little bored and having found the bridge we were to cycle across tomorrow morning decided to head back slowly towards the campsite.
We started heading back and on the way I found this building interesting as it was built on 'bedrock' which just happened to be four stories high rather than a couple of metres underground. The last proper tourist act of the day was to stop for coffee and cake in a cafe next to the park in the centre. This turned out to be rather expensive, certainly compared to a Norwegian Konditori. However it was a nice place to while away a half hour or so, sandwiched between the peace of the park and the bustle of modern day life, just watching the world go by. We were quite surprised to see just how much open space there was in the city centre.
Damae's short diary entry for today summed it up rather more succinctly:
"An interesting town. Nice large scale lots of Art, public art, good opera house, concert hall, theatre. Cycle paths, a harbour (big). I could live here. Found "Ecostore" in town and bought eco friendly groceries. We're back (18:00) and we've had a quiet rest day. Time for and eco-dinner."
Back at Delsjöns Camping we made and ate our eco-dinner, and planned for an early start the following day. We made the assumption that it was going to be as blisteringly hot tomorrow as today so decided to try and get moving before nine.
After dinner the showers albeit a bit busy and open plan were fine as regards quantities of hot water. So we made full use of them when the shower block quietened down before turning in. Although the day had been a bit aimless we had enjoyed the space and relaxed feel of the city. Tomorrow, more of the NSCR. Cycling holidays are for cycling, right?