Day 31 – 39 Back in Gothenburg

I arrived back home from Iceland to two expensive parking fines totalling around $190.

Essentially what happened was I parked my bike in a private car park out of the way against a concrete wall. I then locked it up to a pipe. I parked it there because I didn’t trust leaving it outside for two weeks (even though I’m in Sweden which is like the safest place on earth). There are no signs saying that you can’t park outside of the allotted bays so technically they can’t fine me. Except parking inspectors always will…because they assume you don’t have the time or energy to make a stand.

I normally wouldn’t bother chasing the fine, I’d either pay it or leave the country. But the catch is that my bike is registered to my friend in Germany, under his passport details. And I don’t want to cause him any hassle. So my only option is to argue the hell out of it. See how we go hey.

I arrived back home today from Iceland to find that my luggage has finally arrived! THANK GOD. This means I can finally lock all my valuables away when I get off my bike. It also means that I can reduce the load I have been strapping onto the back of the bike and balance it on top of the two cases. Ultimately, this means that the bag won’t slip down off the seat and smush my hooha into the tank.

*Round of applause. WAIT. DON’T BE SILLY. There’s a catch. There always is.

So I received my luggage and everything’s going great, the panniers are sturdy and in great condition, all my gear seems to fit in there nicely…I should be able to leave tomorrow. Oh HAHAHA. Of course I can’t. The cases didn’t come with bolts. Bolts that I need to attach the god forsaken things onto my bike. And not any old bolts either. Two expensive bespoke BMW bolts. Two expensive bespoke BMW bolts that cost $35 each and take 5 business days to ship from the UK and which I can’t get any sooner because Sweden is on summer break and nobody’s answering their phones…OF COURSE. I should have known this. *Hysterical laugh to myself in my dark hotel room.

So, looks like I’m here for another week in Gothenburg before I head to Norway. I guess I’d better do what Swedes do when they have nothing else to do –  find a sunny park and drink.