Gothenburg to Lidkoping - Day 7

Being nearly 500km to Stockholm, and wanting to get there for the weekend, we decided to take a few stops thru the middle of the country. Sweden is tailor made for camping, or maybe camping is tailor made for Sweden? Which ever it is, there are some mint spots here. Lidkoping, a cheeky little town perched on the edge of lake Vanern about 150km from Gotenburg. They always say the unplanned nights are the best ones, and with this in mind we decided to have a quiet at Harry’s. The nondescript hotel in the middle of town. Being the only customers for the first hour is a nervy experience, but we weren’t about to let that ruin our night. As the beer went south the numbers increased until it was clear that on a Wednesday night in Lidkoping, everyone who’s anyone heads to Harry’s, which strangely enough was right next door to Sally’s? Wonder if they have every met? Bar tab was left open the whole night, and combine this with a random game (money in) of Black Jack in the corner it became a rather classic night and add in the fact we decided to Jenny Craig it and miss dinner. We all put in 100Kroner ($20nz) each, and hit the table. I believe it was Steven that proposed to the lovely dealer first, second and third. At one point claiming his winning would go on the honeymoon, Phil was referring to her as his future ex wife, Clint was all charm and I’m sure she was giving me the Glad eye. In all fairness her night would have been crap had us four kiwis not stumbled across Harry’s. Melliner (dealer) was reading a book before we took to the table, and I’m sure it was Black Jack for dummies. So it was for 4 hours that we tried to win enough to pay for our relentlessly developing bar tab.

Up and down like a whore draws, but the house always wins. We befriended a group of Swedish lads and Victor was a gambler, at one point taking it on himself to loose all his weeks wages in one hand. What he failed to realise that Melliner our dealer was as lucky as a fuckin dog with 2 tails. To the point where Phil was checking up her sleeves, I presume for Aces, but with Phil you never know.

The night ended with us clearing the 2500 Kroner tab (52 pots), then some Swedish wrestling outside, and a couple attempts to throw young Lars and Victor into the local river. Funny at the time, I can assure you. They didn’t seem to find it so amusing. A good tip in Sweden is to perhaps pay for the first round, thus knowing what each beer cost before the tab is opened! Totally worth it!