Today was our last full day in Gothenburg. We started our day off at 10:00 am and headed to the Gothenburg curling club. It was an interesting route as it required a tram and a ferry along with a 15 minute walk. It was rainy and cold which we had been warned is what the weather is like all the time. I appreciated that it didn’t rain until now though because walking around with 18 students in full professional gear probably wouldn’t have been fun and would have called for some interesting company visit looks.
Once we arrived to the curling club, we traded in our wet shoes for some curling shoes. The shoes were defiantly not the most stylish but they are designed to grip to the ice. The right shoe is designed to always have grip at the bottom while the left one had a shoe cover that allowed it to have grip.
Once we had our shoes and helmets on we headed on the ice for a quick lesson on curling. No one had any experience with curling so it was a fun time for all of us. The general rules are there are usually 4 people on a team, one throwing the stone, 2 scrubbing it to try to get it to the other side, and one on the other end trying to point on where to aim the stone.
We first practiced how to get around the ice with our shoe cover off. Needless to say, a lot of falling was involved. The idea is that you’re suppose to balance on your left and slide while pushing off on your right. I found it extremely difficult, even more than ice skating. After practicing our skills with getting around, we practiced throwing the stones.
All the other positions you keep the shoe grip on so in my opinion the throwing is the hardest. You have to crouch down and pull all of your weight on the broom and your left side, with your right foot you push off, when you push off you throw the stone. The problem with throwing the stone is that if its too hard it goes off the board and is a dead stone and if you don’t push hard enough the sweepers can’t always get it past the line that keeps it in play. It was interesting trying to get it just right.
After practicing we were all ready to get started. Our team lost one and won one, so overall I think we’re ready for the Olympics (maybe not). After an hour and a half of playing, we called it a day and headed out. We had shopping on our schedule for the rest of the day until it was time for dinner.
Jenna, Jackson, Peyton, Samantha, Robby and I first headed back to our hostel to change shoes and put on dry warm clothes (which I think at this point a lot of us are running out). We first headed to Nordstan as Jenna needed to do some returns and we wanted to grab a quick lunch. We all decided on having McDonalds since it was quick and easy enough for everyone to find something to have. I always find it interesting trying American fast food in other countries. I don’t think the taste is apparently different but it does taste a bit different.
After lunch, we headed to H&M for Jenna’s return. After that we headed to Haga as none of us really needed anything from the mall. I find that a lot of these malls have very similar if no the same stores back home. With limited room in my suitcase I decided I didn’t necessarily want anything. We headed to a boutique in Haga.
I picked out a scarf for my dad and a few other small souvenirs for my best friends and my mom. After picking some small things out we decided it was time to head back to the hostel and prepare for dinner. Before getting back we stopped at a small cafe near our hostel where we met a dog named Bentley. He was supper friendly but unfortunately we couldn’t stick around for very long.
This dinner in particular called for a dress code so we all put on whatever nicer clothes we had left and headed to Gothia Towers. Gothia Towers is the largest hotel in Scandinavia. We headed up to the restaurant on the 23rd floor and were seated next the window where we got an amazing view of the city. It was all lit up by beautiful lights and you could see the city moving about.
We all had the “King Sandwich”, which is a Swedish specialty. It was an open faced sandwich with mayonnaise, egg, lettuce, spinach and plenty of shrimp. It was definetley like nothing I’ve had before. I couldn’t finish, it was too much and you could tell why it was called a KING sandwich.
After dinner we headed to Tin Tin’s one last time for dessert. I had their raspberry pie with cream. It was the perfect way to end the night and our trip. After dessert we headed back to our hostel to start/finish our packing as well as wrap up our blogs. We will be meeting at 6:15 am to start our journey home. It’s always a bittersweet feeling to leave a new country but I am excited to be back home again!
3 Takeaways
- Curling shoes are a lot harder to get the hang of than ice skates
- The U.S. needs chili cheese poppers
- King Sandwich is almost impossible to eat on your own
Leslye's Travels 