Monday 10 August 2015

The Journey is the Goal – Trollhättan (1)

2015-07-20 thejourneyisthegoal

It’s amazing how long you can make a short holiday trip last, if only you make enough photo stops. (In case you feel you’ve lost track: After two weeks of blogging about it, I’m still only on Day 1 out of 4…)

If our aim had been just to drive straight from where I live to the town where we were to stay the next two nights, we could have done so in about 1½ hour. With all the various stops we made along the way, however, we took about 8 hours getting there…

Map picture

Trollhättan is situated on the river Göta älv. The steep water falls here used to be a huge obstacle for boats travelling the river between Gothenburg and Lake Vänern, until a lock system was built in the 19th century (the present locks still dating from 1916). In the late 19th century, the waterfalls were also “tamed” to produce hydropower, and to make the town a centre for heavy industries as well as for a national energy corporation.

Nowadays, the water is usually only let out into the falls for a few minutes daily in the summer season, as a tourist attraction.

The first view I’ll show you, however, will be the one from my hotel room – which overlooked the bascule bridge across the river/canal:

2015-07-20--21 klaffbron

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My room was on the top floor to the left above the restaurant.

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Linking to Mosaic Monday and Through My Lens

17 comments:

  1. I love the fact it took 8 hours to drive 1 and 1/2 hours. I would love to do that. when traveling with bob he is a point A to point B get there as fast as we can driver... fun to stop and snap and look. great view from your room and I love the glass across the front

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    1. This was of course never meant to be just a point A to point B kind of journey... Most of our stops were planned. Not timed exactly, but I did think ahead about opening hours, and where we might find restaurants/cafés etc. :)

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  2. I have never seen a bridge like that up close, so these images were really a great sight. Thanks so much for linking up with "Through My Lens" photo meme.

    Mersad
    Mersad Donko Photography

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    1. When living there, and while that bridge was the only way to cross the river, one was not always happy about the traffic queues it caused... But now, as a visitor, I enjoyed watching it! :)

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  3. This reminds me of many draw bridges in Virginia where we used to live. I took loads of pictures on our trip top Colorado and it took me months to post them all! :-) So I totally understand.

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    1. Marie, since I've hardly been out of my own town in later years and feel like I've blogged just about every street and building several times over by now, I'm happy to be able to show a few other sights for a while :)

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  4. I would love to get a close look at the locks and falls.

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  5. It is great when one can make the trip to get somewhere already make part of the whole event! My sister and I will be on the road on Sunday from about 6.30 in the morning until around 4.00 in the afternoon to get from Ludwigsburg to Ripon... involving altogether four trains, one plane and my sister-in-law's car for the last bit from Harrogate to Ripon :-)

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    1. I get too tired from long "transports" these days, Meike, and as I haven't been anywhere at all in a long time, I decided that just revisiting some places not really all that far away would be excitement enough for me to start with :) And to my brother it made a change to play tourist too, instead of just swooshing by the signs pointing to these places, as he's had to do often enough in later years!

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  6. Because our second night away was unplanned on our journey back from GB's, Jo and I only had short distances to travel on days two and three. So we avoided motorways and saw all sorts of minor places we had never been to before. It really did add a lot to the holiday.

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    Replies
    1. I think that's a good way to do it if one can spare the time, John!

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  7. Yes it should always be about seeing the things along the way on the journey. After all when you get there, it is over?. Love the things you have shown us in this post.

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    Replies
    1. Of course if one really wants to go somewhere far away one usually has to come to some sort of compromise... :)

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  8. Oh to have the time to meander a 1 1/2 hour drive and make it last a whole day must have been wonderful.
    I've stopped to watch the boats go through a bridge that raises in Florida and never tire of the process.
    Thanks for sharing your venture at Mosaic Monday.

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    1. For me right now it was just about perfect and I felt that I got a lot out of our four days.

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  9. I've been saying for many years that I must do what you and CJ/Jo did too. I must. I really must.

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