Saturday morning adventures (Tuesday extension)
Denmark has had all sorts of shenanigans with its Scandinavian/Nordic neighbours. It was in 1568 with the Treaties of Roskilde that the current boundaries/borders that exist between Denmark, Norway and Sweden were established. Before the whole of Scandinavia and the Nordic countries (including the Northern Isles of Orkney and Shetland) had been ruled, under the Kalmar Union of 1397-1523 under the monarchy of Queen Margaret I of Denmark. And they still have the record for the most number of wars with one other country, which is 30 against Sweden.
Fortunately, relations between Denmark and Sweden are now exceedingly good. We boarded our bus/coach which would take us over the Oresund Bridge, passing effortlessly through passport control and onto Gothenburg.
The journey from Copenhagen to Gothenburg is 170 miles taking 4.5 hours with a ticket costing under £50. And we travelled in proper eco comfort. I reflected on my recent trip from London to York where my return train ticket cost £132.80 🙂
The coach was pure comfort taking us through this 5th largest country in Europe and 2nd largest in the EU, it looked vast and was soothing.
We eased into the uber-modern Gothenburg bus station and were able to walk to our hotel. Gothenburg is on the west coast of Sweden, the largest port in all the Nordic countries and the second largest city in Sweden. Hosting the largest Scandinavian film festival, home to several Universities and headquarters to major companies such as Ericsson, Volvo and AstraZeneca this is a vibrant, confident and beautiful city and I felt as if I was receiving the warmest of welcomes.
We woke up early, ate heartily and then set off to find our tram which would take us to Bildalsparken. The city was sleepy yet bathed in the light from the extraordinarily good weather we were enjoying. It was great walking through Gothenburg, seeing the city, its architecture, commanding University buildings, murals, monuments and general relaxed vibe.
We arrived early to the tram stop and after a while the BRITISH descended, here for the Sweden parkrun special day. When our tram arrived it was PACKED and I had a frisson of fear about whether we’d get on. Fortunately, the tram driver waited patiently as everyone squeezed on and hurra, we were off. We got off the tram at an earlier stop due to its packness. We walked through the forest and found the start line where the masses were assembling. There was much festivity in the air and story-swapping of where people had run in Denmark the previous day.
The Bildalsparken parkrun volunteer team were well prepared with their course attendance record set to double. The run director made everyone very welcome and set us off with joy and a sense of celebration.
I concentrated on soaking up the forest flora and fauna and the magnificence of the trees. We ran alongside the river up to and looping around the Nygardsskolan forest school and back to the start for another lap. We had absolutely saved the best event for last as this course was absolutely stunning. There were a couple sections where you could see other runners with lots of comradery. The Brits with their parkrun branded milestone DIY shirts, the marshals with Swedish flags and whistles and everyone cheering on everyone giving this event a real celebratory feel. After completing we went to Systrarna Werners Cafe, in the forest, with outside seating for some fine Swedish cake and good ol’ parkrun faathing + celebrating being an official ‘jetsetter’ (a challenge the 5k app) having now completed parkruns in 5 different countries.
In the afternoon we went to the Universeum with its indoor rainforest, reptile areas. The aquarium was particularly soothing as sharks swam next to and above you, such is the way the building has been built. The science sections on the human body and outer space had lots to interact and engage with making this whole trip feel even more expansive. We went back to our hotel to the rooftop restaurant, gazing over the city and enjoying the music and vibes of Sweden National Day.
Three parkruns, in four days #ridiculousgoodfun
Wowza looks amazing! Showing that parkrun is so much more than a quick run on a Saturday morning!