Putting the Fun in Funicular

Today we rode the Fløibanen top the top of Fløyen, a mountain practically downtown. Well we rode to the top of the funicular, the mountain continues on beyond the end of the line offering great hikes. 

We walked through this cool looking street market on the waterfront. It was hailing / raining but we have the right clothes for this weather so we were all good. Also the weather changes every 5 minutes or so. 

You can purchase your ticket online, or at a kiosk in the station, or from an attendant at the station. You can purchase a ticket for half way up, all the way up, or all the way up and back down. Hiking both up and down is free, but we chose a round trip ticket. It was just about $21.50 USD each after the conversion. 

The views on the way up are incredible. 

You know you are exactly halfway there when you pass the other vehicle. Funiculars are unique because they only have 2 cars.  They operate at the same time, with the car coming down, helping pull the car coming up so it is more energy efficient. It's an old but cool technology. 

When you reach the top, there are a few more stairs exiting the station and then views!

There is something for everyone at the top. 

Cashmere goats to pet

a cool playground for the kids and the young at heart 

you can rent this treehouse or the yurt in the background 

there are also bars, places to eat, and a gift shop. 

We chose to go hiking. There are long hikes and short hikes, easy hikes and hard hikes. 

We chose not to do this hike...

There is even a short hike to a lake where you can canoe. 

It seemed there was some sort of severe weather event that knocked over a bunch of trees. 

After our hike we ate lunch at Fløirestauranten. It was a bit pricey, but the food was great and the ambiance was fantastic. 

Alcohol here is expensive but this brewery is great. 

Donna had the seafood soup that Bergen is known for. 

After lunch, more views. 

After taking in the rest of the views, we headed to the station for our trip down. 

On the walk back to the hotel I took photos of a few murals. 

The Fløibanen is a great way to spend half or even a whole day while in Bergen. 

Pinball Tournament in Göteborg!

Tonight we went to RedStone Pinball here in Göteborg. It's the premier public (more on this qualifier later) pinball place here. They are open Wednesday through Saturday and they have a weekly IFPA tournament on Wednesdays. The tournament is included in your entry fee with no money going to a prize pool. The winner gets a giant bottle of non-alcoholic cider and free entry the following week. 

Donna and I took the trolly for about 25 minutes and found RedStone in an old Sugar Factory that is now converted to mixed use including art studios and an awesome pinball location. 

The arcade is a pay a flate rate and play all night model. We tried to pay with our Visa but it was having issues so David, one of the owners, volunteered to pay and have us transfer money to him via PayPal. That worked great and we really appreciated the favor. 

There are 3 rooms with pinball and arcade games. The first room is a coat rack room with Alien Remake and Metallica Remastered. The middle room, seen above, is a really cool looking room with classic Solid State Machines. 

I got to play Cosmic Gunfight for the first time. One of the owners came by while I was playing and said it was their newest addition to the arcade. 

I also got to play Dragon, which I had played before, but not often. Many of the classics were set to 5 ball. It made sense once the tournament started because it made the classics play about as long as the moderns. 

The main room is also cool. The machines were all in great condition and playing well.  They were fixing and working on machines the whole time we were there. 

Donna and I got to play ABBA, a machine you mostly see in Europe. In fact, one of the players I played with did voice over for the machine. 

We got there at about 5:30 and the tournament started at 7pm so I got some practice in and also talked to a journalism student about pinball. He was writing an article and trying to find the story he wanted to tell. 

I also took the opportunity to have another delicious Swedish beer. 

Why so serious?  Well the tournament was starting soon so we all got serious!

At 7pm a horn honked and everyone gathered around the monitor showing the tournament info. The tournament director was kind enough to go over everything in English for the 1 person that was there that didn't speak any other languages. 

27 players showed up to play in the tournament. There was only 3 hours to play so things went fast. The rounds went up and we were off and playing. 

For round 1 I played with 3 other players in 3 different machines. 

Hot Doggin' was set to 5 balls and my ball 2 was amazing. Your bonus carries over ball to ball in Hotdoggin' so my good ball 2 led to the rest of the balls being good and I took first place without having to play my last ball. 

Kiss went well too. I had a good game and came in 2nd and then Medieval Madness went fantastic. Again, balls 1 and 2 were enough to take 1st place. I didn't need my last ball. 

Round 1 was almost a perfect round for me so round 2 was going to be tougher because I would be matched with other players that played well. 

TMNT isn't my jam. Somehow I eeked out a 3rd with almost no points but, I I believe the game malfunctioned. I chose Donatello and his perk is a multiball ready to go, all you need to do is hit the right ramp. I did that instantly and multiball didn't start. And then things didn't go well after that. 

I had a good Roadshow game and came in 2nd. This left Bally Kiss, which is one of my faves. I crapped the bed. :( Luckily my first round had me in position for making finals. I had to sweat 2 2 groups but the players that could have moved me out of a finals spot didn't. 

The goal is always to make finals and then do my best. 

The first round of finals, or semifinals if you will, I was paired with Karyn, one of the top players in the world. 

I was also on TMNT again. I had an even worse game than I had in qualifying. And finished last, but...

my Stranger Things game was great and I finished 1st and I had a good Mandalorian game finishing 2nd. This gave me enough points for 2nd in my group and I was moving on to the finals. 

The finals round didn't go well for me. I had bad games on Star Trek, Kiss, and Pokemon. I ended up in 4th which is great, but I feel I had the skills for 2nd but it didn't work out. 

(Insert podium photo from RedStones Facebook page when it's available)

Proof!  Podium finish photo!  

It was a super fun time and I met some great people that hopefully, I will run into in the future. 

While I was messing around in the tournament, Donna was playing all of the machines. She put up a GC (Grand Champion) score on Grand Prix!

The Complex Relationship between Sweden and Pinball 

I'm not able to find any good links about Swedish Pinball Laws so I will recite what I remember from my talks;

Pinball was classified the same as slot machines here in Sweden until about 2 years ago. Up until recently, most of the pinball has been in private collections and private invite only clubs. 

RedStone doesn't take coin drop so it is harder to call it gambling. You pay to get in and then games,. including arcade games are free. I do see places with 1 or 2 machines around, but I didn't check to see if they are coin drop. 

One of the people I played with said that the law said or maybe still says that you need to provide a receipt for every credit of pinball played, like the slot machine requirement. Again I can't find any info online in English so that's the best I can do.