6:00 a.m. I have been up since 4:45 today on my rooftop here in New York a
cup of coffee in hand sunrise in the background you know what that means
normally when I start a video on my rooftop it's the start of a travel
series my name is Eric Conover and I am a world traveler who lives here in New
York City in this video I am traveling from New York to Sweden my first time
ever in Sweden with that this is the start of the Sweden travel series a
quick twelve hours later and I have arrived in the centre of Gothenburg a
city in West Sweden over the next week I will be exploring the historic and
beautiful coastline of West Sweden and celebrating at my first ever midsummer
this travel series is in partnership with the Tourism Board of West Sweden
the city of Gothenburg and Volvo Cars USA for this road trip around West
Sweden we needed a solid car now I wasn't aware of this before this trip
but if you live in the United States and you purchase a new Volvo they have an
overseas delivery program that will actually fly you and a friend round trip
to Sweden to pick up your brand new Volvo including a place to stay in
Gothenburg by the factory so of course the first thing we did
yesterday when we arrived was go to the Volvo headquarters where we got an
exclusive tour of the Volvo factory we got to experience every single aspect of
the car building and assembly line process it's one of those things you
know seeing the inside of a modern car Factory
it's a very unique experience that not many people get to see the level of pure
detail that goes into something like a car which we use so heavily in our daily
life without even realizing it a big part of the reason I came on this trip
was to experience this overseas delivery program firsthand after the factory tour
we picked up our Volvo xc60 which is our vehicle of choice that we will be using
on our road trip through West Sweden the mission on our trip is simple to fully
experience and immerse ourselves in the culture of a country that we all know
very very little about on this trip I'm not solo I am joined by the one and the
only mr. Mike Shaffer and manager Jerry I'm the first man but first things first
we are starting this video series here in Gothenburg with the top things to
experience in the city you're probably thinking to yourself
where is Gothenburg so the city is located on the west coast of Sweden it's
relatively small and it's best experienced by foot my initial thoughts
were that it's a very relaxing city especially compared to Stockholm or a
few other cities that I've been to in Europe start the day off with a fika
which is basically a Swedish term for having coffee and some sort of snack a
sandwich or some sweets one of the most popular coffee shops in Gothenburg is de
Matteo we're here right now and they're known for their coffee and for these
guys right here it's a traditional cinnamon bun but it's
made with sourdough so it kind of gives it the extra oomph they have the
Roasters right in here they have all the burlap sacks with all the beans
and they're super nice they know their coffee here so and you know Mike chef
who knows coffee when you come to West sweet innit you're gonna have a lot of
fish for lunch I highly recommend restaurant Gabriel at the fish church
yes the fish church which is a Market Hall that only sells fish and seafood
it's called the church because well it resembles a church as we found out later
on this trip respect of the sea and fishing our traditions that run deeply
in West Swedish culture we are about to go meet the owner of the restaurant
Gabriel and I heard he's a pretty cool guy hi guys my name is Johan mom born
and raised in Gothenburg two-time world champion and shucking oysters that's
right the two-time world champion in shucking oysters and in the land where
fishing rules all one would say he's a pretty famous guy since it's almost
midsummer celebration we had a shot of schnapps and harun fish on a flatbread
with some garnish which actually tasted amazing it was my first time ever trying
heron about along with a traditional fish soup by far the most famous
attraction in all Gothenburg is the amusement park the park opened in 1923
and is one of the most visited amusement parks in Scandinavia Mike decide to try
to win a prize and play some games the bus failed pretty miserably I don't
have many vices in this life besides sweets con candy is my kryptonite and
I've stuffed my face with cotton candy and right across from the amusement park
is one of the most unique places and I've seen in all my travels we just got
to our hotel we had no idea this was even here there is a pool on the 20th
floor of the Upper House Hotel where we're staying it looks straight down
that is the highway below me we are in a glass box swimming pool on the top of
this hotel you don't realize that you are in a see-through pool until you look
down and you see the traffic on the streets below you and very very cool
amazing views of the parking for dinner the dining in Gothenburg is
incredible indulgent treat yourself to some fine dining it we're going to a
Michelin star rated restaurant what are your thoughts about my outfit do the
talking would you look at this studs outfit you
do look very nice Jared your thoughts first time never been to a Michelin star
restaurant before very excited big foodie you could talk about my waistline
we are in the restaurant but I'm not trying to vlog in here just because it's
very fancy but look at our food so far Gothenburg is the Gateway to the islands
of Western Sweden there are over 8,000 islands off the coast of West Sweden and
they are the place to be norm in summer celebration it is just about eight
o'clock in the morning we are going to catch a ferry to the islands and it's
pretty amazing all the major cities in Sweden are ghost towns during midsummer
this is the night before we left the street was empty now if you don't know
midsummer is arguably the largest holiday in Sweden I mean everyone
celebrates midsummer to experience a traditional midsummer that's that's the
main reason why we came out to Sweden we are actually celebrating a very
traditional midsummer with a family who is kind enough to let us join in on
their celebrations which you will see in episode 2 of the Swedish travel series
and with that I will see you in the next video where we celebrate midsummer