Playing Frogger in Gothenburg

In Gothenburg, the area around Nordstan is always bustling with activity. You have people walking in six or seven different directions. You also have people on bicycles and mopeds. Don't forget the cars and the buses. Oh, and trams too. The formula creates a fair bit of chaos, which Anna compares to Frogger. I found out how fitting her comparison was today.

I had just gotten off the bus at the Central Station and thought it would be nice to walk to the hostel. It's a fair walk, but I wanted to get more of a feel of Gothenburg. I was able to do a little bit of that with Anna on Saturday after the concert at Lindome. We walked around town and she showed me some of the old stomping grounds. I still felt like I needed a little bit more walking time to get a true sense of the city again.

So I ventured out once more with my backpack and my luggage clicking on the cobblestone streets. I worked my way around the masses of people with their kids, their bags, and their pets. I was feeling pretty good about my dodging skills at that point.

I was headed toward Domkyrkan because it's where I go first when I get to Gothenburg. To get to the church, I had to cross a piece of the main thoroughfare, the Avenue (aka Avenyn).

I watched for the cars, the taxis, the buses. I watched out for the people and their pets and their bags and their kids and their strollers. I was feeling pretty good at this point. But there was one thing I neglected.

The trams.

I had cleared the left hand side of the road and was proceeding through to the middle island. A bus came up the right side, so I stopped in my tracks because I thought the bus driver was going to keep driving. My mistake.

I looked up just in time to see this monster of a machine bearing down on me. It was a beautiful blue and white two ton hunk of electric metal staring me in the face. Tram #421 for anyone wondering. I'll remember that number for a very long time. I'm just glad the number is seared into my memory and not on my face.

It's not the first time I've almost been run over here. Last time, it was 1999. I was getting off a tram and stepping onto a street, which I thought was pedestrian only, when a taxi nearly clipped me. I didn't hear the taxi in time because I was listening to The Bridge on my CD player. I, and my right leg, remember that incident well.


The tram looked a little bit like this, except just about a foot away:

(Picture from the official GBG tram site)


But I'm here in Gothenburg. And still in one piece. Can't beat it.

The rest of my walk gave me so many things to write about, I don't know where to begin. The flavor and the charm of Gothenburg are an unbeatable combo. I'll leave that for some other posts, as there is just so much that makes Gothenburg unique. I could spend two weeks writing about the things I see here. We'll get into some of those things with time.

For now, I'm hungry. That means it's time to act like a local and go grocery shopping.