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SWEDEN: Chartered in 1621 by Gustavus Adolphus: Göteborg
Written by Laszlo, 2 June 2019
Returning to Sweden after about four years, this was the first time I visited Göteborg and I spent there almost one week. As you know, I like travelling with a purpose especially when the trip involves a flight (and even when it does not). This time the main reason of my travel was to take a Swedex exam which is the official language proficiency test and internationally viable Swedish language exam designed by Folkuniversitetet. I would not actually say that I 'took' the exam, but at least I tried it. It was bloody difficult! But it went better than I initially anticipated. (At the time of writing this blog post, results have not been released yet for another six weeks.)
But surely, I did not only want to go to Sweden just to do an exam! I love Scandinavia and Swedex was just the main reason to go. But while I was there, I thoroughly explored the place, Göteborg, where I stayed. I walked averagely 20 km on a daily bases and tried to photograph as much as possible to cover the entire city. Chartered by King Gustavus Adolphus in 1621, Göteborg (Gothenburg) today is Sweden's second largest city, so there must be million and one things that I have still missed, but I tried my best to get a full coverage.
Göteborg is also known internationally as Gothenburg. The area where the city is situated now had been inhabited before its official founding date (1621) and both its Swedish and English/German names were and are still in use.
The settlement has an advantageous location which has helped it grow a port that has become the largest harbour in Scandinavia. The location at the mouth of the Göta älv, which feeds into Kattegatt, an arm of the North Sea, has helped the city grow in significance as a trading city. Still today, Göteborg is one of Sweden's most important economic centres and companies like Volvo, Ericsson and SKF are among the major employers.
This was also my first full-length trip with the manual Nikon Nikkor lens, so my entire photo camera is now fully manual. This sudden change in the processing of taking pictures is still causing me troubles with finding the right settings and sharpening the image. I think, after all, I have done very well all and I have managed to gather 200 photos of Göteborg for this blog post here. Mind the occasional blurriness that might appear, but enjoy going through the album! As usual, I will not label them, but you will see that one of my favourite spots in Göteborg was Järntorget (The Iron Square) where there is a beautiful fountain called De fem världsdelarna (The Five Continents). Have a look!
