Leisurely would be a good way to describe how we approached today. We had breakfast at the hotel, now accustomed to the continental spread that has been a staple throughout this trip. Then we had an appointment at a local sauna - the Jubileumsparken. The park, located in the Frihamnen area, is supposed to be part of the upcoming celebrations of Göteborg's 400th anniversary in 2021. For the sauna and pool, admission is free, but there are limited spots every day, so reservations are required - which we had made online. To get there, we walked across the Götaälvbron bridge which was north of the Innerstaden.
It was a pretty quiet area - far enough from the city center that tourists don't usually end up there. We arrived a few minutes ahead of our appointment and waited in line with the rest of the locals that also booked reservations. Once it was time, people came out to check us against their list, then gave us bracelets and instructions on how to use the facilities: change rooms, showers, cold pool, and sauna. Similar to Iceland and Japan, it's proper etiquette to shower before entering the pool/sauna but I noticed that most people showered with their swimsuit. Maybe Swedish people are more conservative?
The sauna itself is located in this oddly-shaped structure above the Göta River. It looks like it's covered in metal plates from the outside, but has all wood paneling on the inside - fitting for a Scandinavian sauna. It was also more decorative than a typical sauna (on the inside) - in that they added thin wood panels along the walls of the sauna, almost like siding, such that the edges of the panels curled up - resulting in what looked like parallel cinnamon sticks covering the walls and ceilings. We relaxed, breathing in the warm air, for about half an hour, then showered up and headed back downtown to drop off our swimsuits and towels (you had to bring your own) at the hotel.
We wanted to have lunch at the Saluhallen, but found that it was closed on Sundays. Since it was still drizzling outside, we decided to grab lunch at and explore the Nordstan shopping mall. Turns out everyone else in town had the same idea - we finally found all the people in the city! The mall was similar to what we'd find in North America at this time of year, a combination of different sized-shops and eateries - decked out in Christmas decorations. Some differences: there was a mini Christmas market on the ground floor with different local vendors selling their wares, and no mall Santa! There was a throne-like velvet-upholstered chair, but no one dressed up like Santa Claus or elves. It was kind of nice - and made me think that our North American tradition is a bit ridiculous - how would Santa have time to sit in a mall and take photos with children a month before Christmas?!
Wandering around the mall, we didn't really find much worth buying - a lot of the products were things we would be able to purchase at home or too big to fit in a suitcase (e.g. shoes, clothes, cosmetics, kitchenware, household decor). They even had a store called Usupso that had things that reminded us very much of Miniso! Wanting to partake in another Swedish activity, we left the mall to find a coffee shop for a fika (coffee and cake break). We ended up back at Steinbrenner & Nyberg, just in time before they closed, to pick up a coffee and some sweet treats to take back to our hotel lounge.
When the sky turned dark, we headed out for dinner to a beer hall - Ölrepubliken. They had a ton of beers to choose from - many local craft beers on tap, including their own. The atmosphere was very cosy with small tables adorned with candles, and paintings of Gothenburg on the wall. We tried their burger and mussels - both were satisfying, not too salty, and the perfect portion size to accompany our beers. After staying till their last call, we made our way back to the hotel - nothing else was open on a Sunday night.
Hopefully tomorrow will be rain-free for our last full day in Gothenburg!
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