The Fortress- Nya Älvsborgs Fästning & Maritiman Museum

With the extra time the boys had a lot they wanted to do. But with any group of almost 30, they were as many options as there were individuals. They solution was relatively simple; decifer what they wanted to do with when they wanted to do it and overlay that with when it was available to be done. Our execution become much more complicated as some who chose to watch the Nigerians play learned it was at field much futher away and not by the Heden Center where others thought they could meet up with other teams (girls). In addition the time to catch the tram was fast approaching, just as the departure time of the boat to the Fortress. In the end it all worked out well and over the two days all of the boys got to experience what they wanted to see.

The Nya or ‘New’ Alvsborgs Fortress was built in the middle 17th century to replace the original built in the 14th century, but is nothing but ruins now. However, out sleuthing boys were able to find a few artifacts and interesting tidbits in and around the curtain walls. The fort was built as a first line of defense to protect Sweden, but also Gothenburg, from invaders off the North Sea. Even though on two occasions the Danes conquered the fort and Sweden had to pay dearly to recover it. At one point it was even used as a prison, though the rumored ‘torture chambers’ were never to be found or proven on our voyage. The Governor’s home has been beautifully preserved and it is currently owned by the State and since 2007, Stromma Turism & Sjofart AB (or National Property Board) has had operations of the fort and the boat traffic to & from the fort.

The Maritiman Museum is the largest collection of Swedish vessels that opened its doors to the public in 1987. Over the years, the fleet has gradually changed to the current configuration of ships, boats, barges and a submarine of both military and civilian types. Maritiman is operated as a private foundation, which in addition to entrance fees, is dependent on its partners, government, municipalities and industry. There are 20 vessels to walk and crawl through and even areas to enjoy lunch, relax, watch a video and/or operate the dials and valves. A few of the notable boats include the Lightship No 29 FLADEN built in 1915 as a floating light house before light houses were permanent structures on the shorelines. The largest preserved warship in Scandinavia is the Destroyer HMS SMALAND built in 1952 at Eriksbergs Mekaniska Verkstad, right in Gothenberg. We saw the old delapidated ship yard on the way to the Fortress, but it is now part of an extensive land reclamation program for a variety of housing and light commercial real estate development. We scoured almost every inch of the destroyer from bow to stern including the forecastles (large gun turrets), the depths of the two engine rooms, the upper bridge and sleeping quarters. The large number of manicans and rooms with recordings made you feel as if you were at war. And of course, one can hardly visit a maritime museum without traversing a submarine. No, they're not Michael Phelps and I don't think they will pass for a human torpedo. but I’m sure you wouldn’t be able to do that in the US.

As we wrapped up the Maritiman Museum, a quick run through the Alvrummet where they had a brief history of Gothenburg and the metro area. The most facinating was a 1:400 scale model of the area along the river and Inon Vallgraven (the walled area inside the moat). As mentioned earlier in this post, you can see the Ericksberg crane used for ship building. The beige wooden structures are current buildings already built. The white sytrofoam buildings are those planned for the next 5-10 years. You can learn more at http://www.alvstranden.com/images/uploads/file/alvrummet_klimat_09_lag.pdf, but I think you get the idea and probably have a greater appreciate why nothing looks run down in Sweden...everything has a plan before it gets to that state. And there's probably no better time than now to throw in this picture. It's the trash can in our hotel room, however most places there's not just 1 receptacle, there is almost always three?! Needless to say it would put our minds in a spin to throw a piece of gum away! Is it other, or because it is wrapped in paper, paper???? No sleep lost on this one, but I did find it a little over the top even for my anal brain.

All in all a great time to review a little history, learn a little Swedish culture and a experience a tremendous overview of naval ship configurations. On to Denmark!