30th
My Saab Pilgrimage
I’ve arrived in Trollhättan, birthplace and home of Saab! I was so excited to get off the train that I nearly forgot my bag. Right away I took a picture of the train station sign and then headed to the nearest food joint, which happened to be a place called Pizza Arena, across the street. When I saw “Saab Special” on the menu board, I knew I had to order it. For 58 swedish krona (around $7 US) I got a huge pizza and a soda, which I thought was a great deal. Because the pizza places in Northern Europe are run by Middle Eastern immigrants, not Italians, the food is somewhat different. The “Saab Special” had kebab meat (pork), peppers, bacon (but not like American bacon), onion, and a spicy kebab sauce. Yumm. After eating, I headed to the hostel, only to discover that the reception desk didn’t open until 5pm, so I decided to go straight to my main destination, the Saab Museum.
It was quite a hike to the museum, especially with my big and heavy backpack, but I made it just fine. I was greeted outside by two beautiful Saabs, both bright red just like mine. I spent over an hour and a half at the museum, learning about Saab’s history from their very first car, the Ursaab, handmade by aircraft engineers in 1947, up to the present. There was a lot to cover: their early rally-racing history, the first turbocharged production car, all the Swedish practical innovations, crash testing simulating collision with a moose, the “four-season, four-seater” convertible, engines running on ethanol, and more. To say that I enjoyed my time there would be an understatement. I think I took 80 or 90 photos. My visit made me miss my Saab at home! I now feel like a true Saab enthusiast.
The hostel I’m staying at tonight is a cute place near the train station. I’m in a room with 5 beds, but it’s only me and one other guy, Nicholas, here. At first I wasn’t sure how it was going to go, sharing a room with someone I didn’t know, but we ended up talking for hours. He’s from Munich, Germany, and he’s a very experienced traveler, having been to almost every country in Europe. He works for some German court but doesnt like his job—his real passions are in history and ethnography. He’s written two books, one on a Croatian mintority on the Hungary-Austria border, and another on some abandoned railroad tracks in Poland. He says that he likes to visit a place quickly, get a first impression, and then come back later to study it and possibly specialize in it over 20 or so years. He’s a lot like me—he’s interested in the stranger places in Europe: Lappland, Luxembourg, Lichtenstein, San Marino, Transylvania, Transnistria, etc. I hope I impressed him with my knowledge of the places he’s been. Since his books are written on very specific, somewhat obscure topics, he’s made only 50 euro on them! We both laughed at that. I’m grateful not only for having company but also being able to engage in some fascinating conversation. I hope that my other hostel stays will be just as rewarding.
