Oslo to Gothenburg….

The three of us were getting the train today, 1pm from Oslo central station, arrive Gothenburg 4:30pm no show tonight so we get a night off but Gothenburg show tomorrow.

We left the hotel around noon and made our way to the rail station, wasn't as sunny as it had been the day before, in fact it was just like English weather, cold cloudy and damp! it started to rain heavily as we got on the train and continued for a couple of hours on and off.

We were half hour late getting into Gothenburg due to us leaving late. Stuart passed the time opening a few tins and i managed to get a couple of hours sleep on and off.

Stuart and his cans!                    Stuart, Ole and myself.

 

Stuart and Ole had booked a hotel in Gothenburg, they had booked it several months ago and got a reasonable deal. Sweden is cheaper than Oslo but still compared to the UK its expensive. I on the other hand had gone a different way for my accommodation for the next two nights. I’s booked a room in an apartment that was only 200 metres from the guys hotel and it was only $40 a night! The downside was it was someone's apartment and they just rent their spare bedroom out! I’d booked it on Airbnb.com, never used them before and to be really honest i might not use them again unless i can get a place where you actually get the whole apartment to yourself.

I walked to Stuart and Ole’s hotel with them, check out their rooms and then headed out to my place, The apartment was habited by Vishal, an Indian student over in Sweden for 12 month and trying to make money to pay his extortionate rent by renting the bedroom out in his apartment and himself sleeping in the living room!

I was a little apprehensive about staying in someone else's place and made the following comment on my Facebook status:

“Just got to my room in an apartment booked with Airbnb, its strange staying in someone else's place when they are around, the guys ok though. cant complain though for the centre of Gothenburg for $40US a night! not sure its my sort of thing though,probably the first and last time I'll do it.”

Jeez, did that open the door for some comments or what!! I’ve put screen captures below of some of the fifty odd comments that i got within an hour! read then in order and they’ll make sense.

1                                                                  2                                                  3                                             

   

4                                                  5                                                                       Vishal, my host!

   

The place wasn't too bad, it was a bed for the nights that's all. I put some clothes in the washer and chilled out online for an hour before heading up to the Hard Rock cafe to meet up with Ole, Stuart and a couple of Ole’s friends,  Sverre and Bettina  who had joined us in Oslo and taken the train down with us.

Apparently the Norwegians come to Sweden to get drunk due to the prices, the Swedes go to Denmark to get drunk and the Danish go to Germany to get drunk, again because of the prices.

My regular drink, a Long island Iced Tea was nearly $35 in Oslo!, suffice to say i didn't have one and they were a little more respectable here at the Hard Rock ay $15 each! We all ate, drank and chatted for a couple of hours, the rain was really coming down now and people were coming into the restaurant totally drenched! It was due to stop raining at 6am the next day and the sun would be out for the show, i dread to think what it would have been like had the show been tonight in the rain! no fun whatsoever!

I headed back to “my” apartment around 10:30 leaving the guys in the Dubliner Irish bar.