Götaplatsen & Feskekôrka

I didn’t do much in Gothenburg this morning. Of the sights in my guidebooks and walking tour app that I planned to see, but haven’t yet seen, I struck only two of my list this morning, Götaplatsen and Feskekôrka. Neither called for the expenditure of much time.

There are reasons for my less-than-vigorous exploring this morning. For one, after the hikes I did yesterday, particularly in the afternoon from Skansen Kronan to Botaniska Trädgården and back to my hotel, I guess I was still tuckered out today. I moved even more lethargically this morning than usual.

For another, as I walked to and between the sights this morning, I passed some interesting, handsome, and/or charming architecture. I paused a few times to take a look and snap several photos.

l’ll post a collage here of some of the architecture I enjoyed. I’d like to describe a few of the buildings, but I lack the vocabulary and training to do so with any appeal or credibility. Enjoy the collage.

I also passed a couple of nice parks with inviting benches that I took advantage of. One of them, Vasaparken, was right across the street from one of those interesting pieces of architecture, a church. While sitting on a bench in Vasaparken, I used my phone to learn that the church was Vasakyrkan.

(I posted a separate picture of it here.)

Google Maps told me that it wasn’t open on weekends. Today is Saturday. So I didn’t get to see inside. The church’s website said it has masses on Sundays. But I have no plans to attend a mass just to see the interior of Vasakyrkan.

A closer inspection showed me that the church was indeed closed. Not only were the doors shut, but there was a gate of metal bars blocking the way to the doors.

However, getting up close to Vasakyrkan allowed me to see a small plaque affixed to one of its walls. The plaque provided information in both Swedish and English.

From it, I learned that the church is newer than my untrained eye and, particularly, my untrained brain, thought it was. Vasakyrkan was constructed between 1905 and 1909.

To quote the plaque, “It [Vasakyrkan] consists of a nave with two aisles, porches, and a tower on the southwest side. It is in the neo-Romantic style, with some influence of Art Nouveau. The façade is granite, and has many decorative features. Parts of the outside walls are smooth, parts coarsely hewn. Over the western portal is a mosaic panel made in 1957 by Gunnar Erik Ström.”

Where was I going with this? Oh, right. Why didn’t I see many guidebook-listed sights this morning? So far, we have my morning lethargy and the distractions.

But wait. There’s more.

Today didn’t unfold as I expected, as recently as yesterday. In fact, in yesterday morning’s post, I cryptically referenced something I’d booked for today. It’s not happening.

It was supposed to be a two-and-a-half-hour lunch cruise through the Gothenburg archipelago. Last night, just as I was pushing the “publish” button on my afternoon journal entry, an email came in.

It was from the company that runs the cruise. It said that they had to cancel the cruise because of an accident that day. The boat had to be inspected before it could go out again.

They offered to rebook me on the next available cruise or give me a full refund. The boat wouldn’t be in service again until almost a week after I leave Gothenburg. Needless to say, I chose the refund.

The story about the accident is plausible, but I’m not one hundred percent confident in it. I don’t want to cast aspersions, but I think there’s a non-zero probability that they cancelled the cruise due to insufficient paying customers, not due to an accident. Or maybe the DLJSSIA (Don’t Let Joel See Stuff International Association) got to them.

Another company offers a similar lunch cruise, but they don’t start their cruises until July 1. I surmise that mid-June, as it is now, isn’t yet the height of the tourist season here.

The same company that offered the cancelled cruise also offers a ferry to a small island that contains what is now a tourist attraction.

I decided to try for that. But rather than trust the company’s website, I went down to the ticket office at the dock. It was closed. A sign provided me with a QR code that took me to the company’s booking page. I took a chance and booked a ticket for the next outbound ferry, which left at 1:30.

Walking over to the closed ticket office ate a bit of the morning. It was close to lunchtime. I had a shrimp sandwich and a glass of wine at a restaurant at the dock.

And so concluded my morning. I’ll sign off now. Bye until this aftern…

Oh, wait. I forgot to say anything about Götaplatsen and Feskekôrka.

Götaplatsen

Götaplatsen is a large public square. One of my guidebooks describes it as the focal point of Gothenburg. Two major cultural institutions are beside the square, the Konstmuseet (Art Museum) and the Konserthuset (Concert Hall). I didn’t visit either.

I won’t be going to the Konserthuset, but if there’s time, I might go to the Konstmuseet tomorrow.

I have only my guidebook to go on as to whether Götaplatsen is indeed the focal point of Gothenburg, but the focal point of Götaplatsen is a giant Poseidon statue, which was created by a Swedish sculptor, Carle Milles (1875-1955). He made it in for the Gothenburg Exhibition in 1923.

The giant Poseidon figure is holding a fish in one hand and I don’t know what in the other.

There are some other figures at the base of the sculpture, around the level of Poseidon’s feet. One is a variation on a mermaid. (It verges on the androgenous side, but I’m going to refer to it as “she.”) Unlike standard-issue mermaids who have a single tail fin, this one has two legs with tail fins on each. She’s holding a fish in one hand and what looks like either another, but longer fish in the other, but it may be an eel. (Yes, I know eels are a type of fish, but admit it, you don’t think of them as such, do you? I know I don’t. I think of them more as swimming snakes.)

There’s also a creature in the stature that I can’t identify, and a fish that seems to be tangling with another fish.

The funny thing is, when I was in Götaplatsen, I didn’t think the Poseidon sculpture looked particularly weird. But when I looked at the photograph just now so I could describe it, and then read the words I wrote down, I thought, what the heck?

The sculpture sits in a low, large cauldron, but without a lid or handles. (Okay, it doesn’t look like a caulron, but another word wasn’t coming to me quickly.) When I peered in the cauldron, there was a bit of water in the bottom and what looked like jets for a fountain. Needless to say, they weren’t turned on. Otherwise, I would have described it as a sculpture fountain earlier.

When I was in Götaplatsen this morning, there were several straight (I might regret using that word in a moment), neat rows of traffic cones. Ribbons were tied between the cones to create wide rows.

There was also a table set up in Götaplatsen with a sign in Swedish on it. There were also a few Pride flags hanging off the canopy over the table. There are lots of large Pride flags throughout the city. I know June is Pride month in many places. I’m not sure, but I think there might be a major Pride event in the city this weekend.

I’m only guessing, but it’s possible that they were setting up Götaplatsen as a marshalling area for a Pride parade. But that’s only a guess based on the Pride flags and what looked like rows that could at some point be used to corral people who wouldn’t mind being corralled for some reason (nothing looked like it could hold even the feeblest of people who didn’t want to be corralled).

Feskekôrka

After I left Götaplatsen, I walked over to Feskekôrka. According to one of my guidebooks, Feskekôrka is the nickname the building’s architect, Victor von Gegerfelt, gave it when he designed it in 1874. Feskekôrka translates to “The Fish Church.”

It wasn’t what I was expecting. The same guidebook said, “The daily catch from the North Sea is brought here directly, which guarantees the freshest mackerel and the most delicious shellfish.”

I had an image of an old-world, bustling, somewhat gritty fish market. I don’t know why I had that impression. The guidebook had a picture, and real-life Feskekôrka looked exactly like the picture. There is a vaulted ceiling and only one aisle. On one side of the aisle, there are a couple of vendors. One sells fresh fish and seafood. The other sells prepared fish and seafood. The other side of the aisle and the remaining space on the vendor side were taken up with what looked like bars with counters where you could drink and sample fish and seafood.

When I was there in the morning, the restaurant/bars didn’t appear to be open yet, although the fresh and prepared fish and seafood vendors were operating. There were few customers in Götaplatsen then.

Rather than looking old-worldish, bustling, and gritty, it looked quite modern and sterile.

I have the benefit of writing this after I’ve finished my day’s activities. Something I heard during the afternoon activity I alluded to above made me think I might have missed something at the Feskekôrka. I’ll save that for the post about this afternoon. Hopefully, I’ll remember to include it then.

Promising to try to remember to include something in the afternoon post feels to me like a good way to close off the morning entry. So, bye for now.