Eva won her dream vacation—a road trip of a lifetime in West Sweden where she will be driving around and experience highlights such as Oyster safari in Grebbestad, the Sea Lodge in Smögen and the Garden Society of Gothenburg. View her full itinerary that she picked out herself here.

Tell us a little bit about yourself…

I am a trained nutritionist, but at the moment I work as a mental heath community support worker. I support parents who have children with difficulties; I help them find resources to serve their children better.

My husband and I are celebrating our thirtieth wedding anniversary in July, so this trip came as a very pleasant surprise—we’ll celebrate our anniversary in Sweden!

What is your relationship to Sweden?

I’ve never been to Sweden, but I’ve always wanted to visit. I used to have a camp counselor as a kid who was Swedish—she was such a fun-loving, warm, and nice person. I’ve wanted to visit Sweden ever since. I want to see if the country is as warm as she was!

What are your previous travel experiences?

I haven’t traveled much at all. I have always been in school, working, or raising children so I haven’t been able to travel much. The only place I have been to so far is Canada, and I am originally from the Dominican Republic. I guess that’s why I entered the contest. I am at a point in my life where I’m finally able to travel—my youngest son is twenty-one years old and he recently moved away from home. Plus, I love exploring different cultures.

Can you tell us a bit about your expectations for this trip?

I just expect to have a wonderful time, meet a lot of interesting people, and create lots of new memories. I look forward to learning more about Sweden and its culture.

Well Eva, we are sure you’ll enjoy West Sweden and we look forward to hosting you and your husband!

In Sweden, Göteborg is infamous for its tendency to enjoy puns. Many famous people from here sit in national TV and play with words in a way that nobody really appreciates outside Göteborg. Naturally then, Way Out West is an orgy in bad puns: Stay Out West (that’s what you do after the last band exits the stage and you go on clubbing), Way Out Fest (that’s what you do before the first band, when you’re in a park or a beer tent) No Way Out West (that’s what you do if you don’t go at all). At one point, a guy even made an attempt at a limerick about Mae West.

To the average Swede, Göteborg is known for puns and for one more thing. That thing took the stage at eight tonight, after the crowd had been building up in front of the stage for a full hour before Håkan Hellström made his comeback. And then nobody was disappointed. This was a very special gig, celebrating the 10 year anniversary of Håkan’s legendary debut album Känn Ingen Sorg För Mig Göteborg by playing the record in its entirety. Many of the songs had rarely been played live and, given the album’s huge impact on Swedish music, almost every song was known by heart by almost everyone listening. More than once, the crowd took over the song and made Håkan stunned and flattered because he didn’t have to sing himsfelf. In the last song’s crescendo, the place exploded in confetti, making a proper finale for this year’s biggest music happening in northern Europe.

After Håkan, indie pop star Lykke Li and legendary Chemical Brothers, among others, delivered the goodbye for this year. The great majority of the visitors did however probably leave the area with a lasting impression of the local hero’s comeback.

For the forth year in a row Way Out West was sold out and besides some whining about standing in line at times (and the tropic rain opening the club night on Thursday), it has to be considered a great success once again. Clearly, a city festival is a novel way of enjoying culture and company, providing you with that boheme feel for a while but still leaving the options to take a nap, a shower and a resturant meal. In short: we’ll see you next year!

Peaking with tomorrow’s highly anticipated performance by local hero Håkan Hellström, there are a lot of Swedish, and especially “Göteborgska”, artists at this year’s Way Out West. Friday night in Slottsskogen was however an international experience. After the amazing Soundtrack of Our Lives, accompanied by Göteborgs Symfoniker (LINK http://www.gso.se/) (but not with the Gallagher brothers, as the rumour had it), delivered a sparkling cross-over between pop tunes and classical music, there was not a Swede on the scene for the rest of the night.

But who has time for pseudo-nationalistic ideas when the line-up includes some of the world’s best musicians? Iggy Pop, for instance, showed that he is one of the world’s greatest entertainers still alive – even if the latter is against all odds. The Stooges were as tight as they were in 1970 and in a very non-Swedish act, Iggy at one point brought up a huge group of fans from the crowd, fighting resistance from the guards. They danced and co-sang with him during “Shake Appeal”. The act made the rest of the crowd, the ones still off-stage, go even wilder and the singer himself seemed to enjoy the power and didn’t exactly slow down after that.

Among the many other super acts to compete for our attention this evening, LCD Soundsystem made a lasting impression. The club/pop/electronic constellation from New York has been extremely influential during the last five years or so. Tonight’s show was a manifestation of why and the giant chandelier hanging from the scene roof made the listening experience interesting (Will it fall? Who will be killed?).

M.I.A, who enjoyed worldwide fame when she contributed with the lead soundtrack to the academy winner Slumdog Millionaire (LINK http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1010048/), entered the stage when the sun definitely had left us. It was, however, a show well suited for dramatic darkness. When she played her older hits, the mood hit the roof.

This being a city festival, after the last live act it was time for a quick clothing shuffle in a nearby apartment. With new shoes and washed hair, Explore West Sweden once again went exploring the endless possibilites the night had to offer. We’ll get back to you!

Yesterday’s euphoria and massive downpour are gone but not forgotten. The weather is clearing up just as the festival area opens its gates. Discussions about yesterday’s pregame night
are ubiquitous (”After we saw Harlem, we tried to go Port du Soleil but couldn’t get a cab in the rain so we just dropped in at some jazz bar where the owner allowed smoking indoors”) but the focus quickly shifts to the real deal: Way Out West – the proper, daylight version.

After the legendary hip hop-act Wu Tang Clan made 10,000 people wave their hands in one synchronized motion, the festival really felt officially alive and the lines to the beer tents exceeded 5 kilometers.

The general impression is that the visitors mainly come from all over Sweden. The downtown central station has been flooded with travelers on their way towards the festivities and now there are enough people at the area to make you think you’re in Tokyo. A lot of foreign visitors mixed with the native crowd; including them Hollywood stars such as Kirsten Dunst. Your correspondents took a stroll around the area, got our feet muddy and spoke to some people.

Erik, Manager/Hustler

What’s the single best part of Way Out West, in your mind?

The concerts, hopefully. There are a lot of different stuff going on, but I feel the clubs and parties have to be secondary.

Were you bothered by the rain?

What rain?

The night included three live acts, in addition to the resident DJ, and after running around six different bars we arrived at Världskulturmuséet just in time to see jj enter the stage. The crowd waiting for hours in line had to discover the hard way a bitter fact about Göteborg – once it starts raining, it never really stops…

Inside, it was hot, humid and crowded. Once JJ got on stage, the place went bananas and never came back. On big screens, everything from vacation pictures to Youtube clips of Zlatan was streamed and the crowd went nuts. Jj, being a local act, did all they were supposed to and delivered a dancy yet subtle performance. When they finished, the place was quickly emptied and the crowd shattered. Your correspondents left for Park Lane, one of the other club venues, and the night went on for a long, long time. And so did the epic rainfall, symbolizing Gothenburg. There’s not a dry pop soul in the city tonight. Some cried from jj, some couldn’t afford the tax ride home and had to walk.

This long weekend in August is when Sweden’s second city shows itself from its best side, especially since its synchronization with Kulturkalaset , a citywide fiesta aimed at the crowd not so very interested in beer, loud music and muddy sneakers. The two events combined mean that Göteborg is turned into something very different for a while. The clubs and cafés stay open longer, the city squares are filled with improvising musicians and behind every apartment door there’s a party going on. Many hours before the festival schedule officially starts, the city is literally filled with music, as shown by this clip we just shot from Kungsgatan, one of the shopping streets normally not occupied by pop musicians:

Untitled from explore westsweden on Vimeo.

The Explore West Sweden blog will be your confident guide during the next couple of days, providing concert reviews as well as interviews and vivid accounts of Way Out West’s beer and shellfish selections. Tonight we will sample the club night, taking place at 10 different venues around the city. Stay tuned!

Mary-Jordon in Gothenburg! We wanted to find out just how amazing her trip was so we asked her a few questions. Enjoy!

1) What was your first impression of Sweden?
I was taken by how well kept everything was there. Anywhere you looked it could have been a view from a postcard.

2) What was on your itinerary?
We began our tour in Gothenberg, then headed north along the coast. After we got our Volvo loaner, we visited Klädesholmen, the Nordic Watercolor Museum (and saw an Andrew Wyeth exhibit, funnily enough), Handelsman Flink on the Flatön island, and the Vitlycke Museum in Tanumshede. Later we traveled to Fjällbacka and tooled around the village while waiting for our ride out to Väderöarnas Guest house. On our way back for one last night in Gothenberg, we stopped for lunch at Villa Sjötorp.

3) What was the greatest culture shock that you saw/experienced while in Sweden?
Coming from the sometimes chaotic New York City, I was surprised to see such order in Gothenburg. It was evident that the Swedish Government devotes a great deal of resources to making the country a pleasant place to live.

4) The beauty in making your own travel itinerary is that you could tailor your trip to your liking – What was your favorite part?
I appreciated getting off what I would consider the beaten path and seeing the Swedish countryside and the more remote sights. We traveled the backroads instead of the E6 whenever possible and enjoyed the farmlands.

5) Is there anything that you left off of your itinerary that you wished you were able to do or see?
Too many to list. I will have to go back one day and see so much more!

6) How was your experience with your rental Volvo? Would you consider driving a Volvo in the future?
I was extremely happy with the Volvo. The added safety features were a welcome addition, as I was slightly nervous to be driving in a foreign country. I will definitely consider Volvo when I am ready to make a car purchase.

7) After your week vacation, would you recommend Sweden as a vacation destination to friends or family?
I have! Everyone I spoke to about my experience was terribly jealous.

What did you think of the food/culture? the people?
The food was fantastic! I don’t eat meat, but with all of the fish in the region, I was well fed. As far as the people in the region, I didn’t meet a single one who wasn’t whole-heartedly friendly and welcoming. I was made to feel completely at home.