A Change of Plans

My original plan for today was to take the train to Malmö at the southern end of Sweden. Because of delay issues on an earlier train I had a credit for a free trip. Unfortunately the train was first delayed then after an hour it was finally canceled because of electrical issues on the line. We were to take buses to a different station, then hop on the train. After waiting an hour during which time only one bus had shown up, which only fit about a quarter of the people who needed it, I realized I probably wouldn’t get to Malmö until 2 or 3 o’clock which would only give me a couple of hours there, so decided to forgo the trip. I did get to see a beautiful sunrise early this morning.

While I was waiting for the bus I met very sweet young man originally from Lebanon, Anthony. He was headed down south to meet his Swedish girlfriend and they were going on a trip to Lebanon, his first time going back since he left at 17. We passed the time chatting about travel, food, books, family and more. I was grateful for the wonderful conversation with Anthony, but completely disappointed with the lack of help from anyone in the train or bus stations. Several different train companies operate in Sweden and apparently the one I was on didn’t have a help desk in the train station, even though Gothenburg is the second largest city in Sweden and they have multiple trains a day traveling through the station. 

I had a free rest of the day ahead of me so decided to go for a walk to a park nearby with a 360 view around the city. On the way there I crossed a bridge that periodically raises a section to allow sailboats to go past. On my hike I ran into a guy with an adorable Frenchie. She came over and just leaned into me, so sweet. He said her name was Lena and when I showed him a picture of Winston, he said that the Frenchie he had had before Lena looked just like Winston. We talked for a few more minutes, then he gave me a business card and said I should check out the website as there was information that I might be interested in. I looked down at the card and realized he was a Jehovah’s Witness – guess they are in Sweden too. 

Later, I decided to check out the harbor swimming area nearby. It was fantastic swimming first in the freshwater pool then in the warmer saltwater pool. I got there around 7:30 and was the only person at first, but was soon joined by about a dozen others. A woman who was close to my age hopped in the water easily, but the younger men in their 20s were very hesitant to go in and when they finally did screamed at what they considered to be cold water! It was so much fun to swim in the harbor, but feel safe since it was a protected area and there were lifeguards. I think I may go back tomorrow night for one last swim.