I guess Gothenburg might not seem like the ideal weekend destination for a trip with the lad's but let me reassure you it would be one to remember. Now I have to be honest here, as I am a bit of a Jackal and Hyde character when it comes to weekend trips away. Yep I like to have more than a few drinks but I also like to have a good look around at what attractions my resident city has. Anyway let me first run you through how you can get to this fine city. First off you can go by ferry from Newcastle or you can fly. We did the latter. My advice is try and get the cheapest flight possible and then just have a go at knocking some money off at Priceline (www.priceline.co.uk) - it worked for us. Anyway what to see and do and drink. We arrived around tea on the Friday night and headed to our hotel where we picked up our Gothenburg Card's (see www.goteborg.com) which allow free and discounted entrance to certain attractions and also free use of transportation. Anyway we headed to Liseberg which is a theme park within the City. Dont expect Disney World but it’s a happy little place and they have a few bars also! I managed to pick up my first of three souvenier's here - a green (nucleur looking in fact!) pair of fluffy rabbits for my niece - they are in fact the Mickie and Minnie of Liseberg.
Saturday was an early morning start and we headed to the Maritime museum, which is on the harbour. The museum was half price and was pretty good if not really a museum more of a walk round the inside of a couple of boats, frigate and sub. From here it was a quick jaunt to the Lego looking GotheborgsUtkiken tower for a view over the City. Dinner for just a few quid was a Thai inside the big indoor market (known as Saluhallen) where you could grab a great picnic to eat on a budget. Then a walk up town, my second souvenir (a Sweden football top) and onto the famous Paddan tours which take you round the cities canal's and harbour - no discount on this one though. And so a bit of nightlife. I would break the nightlife into two broad areas - in and around 'The Avenue' and down towards the harbour area. You have plenty of choice from Irish bar's to smart new fashionable bar's to those you can sit outside and watch the world (and the girls) go by. So what do you to hear about first the drink or the girls? OK I will leave the best until last. The beer IS expensive and so is everything else that is wet and stores some alcohol in it. Take a bottle of something with you and have a quick drink before you go out. Just remember though not to rely on buying some duty free booze at the airport, as Sweden is in the EU - better to just by a cheap bottle at Tesco! Most beer is available but Tuborg seems pretty popular, as does Carlsberg - if your desperate for a proper pint however never fear as the likes of Guinness are also about. The local's seem to have caught onto Vodka and Red Bull also - not cheap in the UK and NOT cheap in Sweden! And the girls. Fantastic. Fantastic. Dont expect you just have to turn up and in your in though. These girls aren’t daft but they speak great English and are a great laugh to talk too. Take it all with a pinch of salt - you think its great your talking to possibly the prettiest girl you have ever seen and they want to learn some English! The best bar? Well I would have to go for the T+Q Vanilla Bar in Parkgarten. And club? It begin with an N but I would be lying if I could tell you much more. And so onto a late Sunday start. We took the ferry to Elfsborg Fortress which was again free with our Gothenburg card. Again a good trip that takes you towards the entrance to the Estuary - allow a good couple of hours in total for this trip. Overall then a nice clean City with plenty of things to look at (yes again including the Women!) and a good nightlife to boot. Oh and if you are a women the men I guess are good lookers too! And so the end of the trip. Any my final souvenir? Well a big chunk of lovely Swedish Marabou chocolate for the girlfriend. Was it guilt? I will let you decide...