Sweden has an exemption in the EU to allow the sale of snus. I’ve met multiple snus users. It’s apparently a very Swedish thing. That surprised me.
I started off in the campground and I was on the road by 8:30 AM to meet a ferry leaving from Fredrickshaven, Denmark for Gothenburg, Sweden at 1:45 PM (check in at 1:15 PM). I only had about thirty miles to cover which I can generally complete in under three hours and maintain a leisurely pace. However, there was a very strong headwind predicted and it did materialize. I skipped breakfast to get on the road quickly and knocked out the first fifteen miles. Ahead of schedule I took breaks, including busting out multiple pieces of bread and the hunk of butter in a bag I carry with me on a park bench.
The ride wasn’t fun but I eventually made it with time to spare.
I met two Swedes waiting for the ferry that were on four-day cycle holiday. We chatted about bikes and their careers (fire suppression system programmers). I was waiting outside of the ferry lane and walked up when boarding was about to start.
It was there I met Kevin, another long-distance cyclist who started in Lisbon and zigzagged his way across Europe. He was heading to Gothenburg to cross Sweden and then potentially cut down through Estonia and friends. We ended up talking the entire ferry ride. We had a significant amount of country overlap. Interestingly, while I meet lots of cyclists I rarely have a chance to discuss their individual practices. It was fun to dissect gear, go-to meals, and other travels. Perhaps unusually, most of my conversations and social interaction in the past couple weeks had tended to be with retirees.
Sooner than I expected we found ourselves in Gothenburg. Kevin and I parted ways. Happy trails Kevin! His website is , it’s in German but translates well enough.
I found a cheapie for Swedish hotel and booked it. It was a bit out of the city center. Gothenburg is heavily marine which I didn’t know.
The hotel I found was in some sort of sports complex. The one window in my room faces into an indoor soccer stadium which is empty. It’s quite bizarre but as the sun sets at 10:30 PM it’s a good psychological reprieve.
Tomorrow I go north.