November
Getting colder here now, winter is definitely on it’s way!
The month kicked off going to see a game of ice hockey at the stadium with our swedish friends! Frölunda (Gothenburg’s team) vs Färjestad (Our friends home team) were playing and have a long standing rivalry, which is always fun. It was a great game, the energy was high and there were lots of swearing swedes (which is a rarity)!
Lil had a moment to spare from uni so we got away for a quick overnighter on one of our local hiking trails: The Bohusleden! We completed one of the sections and were able to get to and from the trailheads via public transport (45mins each way, pretty cool!). Everything is very connected here via, trains, trams, buses and ferries. The full trail is actually over 350km long and has 12 sections, we will definitely be back to do some more. Because it is very much the off-season we had the trail to ourselves and enjoyed some the colder weather. As you will see below it is just gorgeous!
With the days getting shorter we’ve been making the most of the daylight we do have and enjoying watching the enviroment change. With autumn is in full swing, many of the leaves have already fallen off the trees! Which is a bizarre and interesting phenomenon for these two aussies! Some of these walks were starting to become very frosty! I even went for a dip in our local lake with one of my swedish friends, There was even ice on the jetty as I walked over to check the water temp before jumping in, 5c yikes, Cold as f***!
Our first snow! This came very unexpectedly as there was no mention of snow on the forecast, but low and behold when I opened the blinds the next morning we had 5cm of fresh pow! I shrieked with excitment and caught poor Lil off guard who woke up confused wondering why I was shouting and dancing around the room. Of course I spent the day outside, crunching around and exploring the environment which looked completely new and bright, nothing like the wet and grey we were used to.
A trip to London was on the cards next. To visit some friends and eat lots of good food, This was something we were both looking very much forward to. Of course, being in Europe and close to the UK the flight was only 2 hours which was epic! Something us aussies are very used to is long flights, but explaining this concept to europeans is very entertaining. The fact that you can fly from Melbourne to Perth for 4 hours and still be in the same country blows their minds.
More London pics, some markets, a canal walk and park hangs with friends. We visited the british museum, crazy to see how much stuff they have stolen in the past and now won’t return… We finished off the trip with a late lunch at a restuarant rec by a friend, it did not disapoint! With another great trip in the books we jumped onto the Underground one last time and headed to the airport.
After the extreme hustle and bustle of London we were excited to get back to Gothenburg which was very much feeling like home for us now. I never thought I would feel so excited to hear Swedish being spoken on the plane haha.
We caught up with some friends and went to the local Christmas markets that had just started in the city (The swedes are so excited about Chritmas they couldn’t wait for December!).
Lot’s of hand knitted goodies, artisal gifts, cheeses, pastries and no shortage of glögg (Swedish mulled wine) lined the street. We even got to witness a choir singing carols, It certainly was feeling very Christmassy!
Wrapping up the month I headed out with a new friend I had met before heading off to London. We planned to meet up for a gravel ride and despite the extremely soggy and cold conditions they were still keen to head out (Which I was very excited about). Oskar took me to some of his favourite spots around the area and we even got to see some beaver evidence, no beavers though so will have to check back later. Lil was jealous when I showed her the photos haha. The forest is really misty at the moment, it’s very pretty.
Thanks for reading!