A few weeks ago, my sister asked me if I wanted to join her and a few friends to watch the sunset at Ramberget. I said yes immediately, before even looking up the place on the internet. My excitement to explore Gothenburg hadn’t worn off despite having lived here for 2 months.

We took a bus to go across the river, to the northern part of the city called Hisingen. This wasn’t an area I was familiar with. Except for a few trips to Ikea and a meetup with a friend for fika once, I’d never ventured far north.

But Ramberget was definitely worth the trip across the river.

Ramberget (meaning Raven Hill) is actually a mountain, a fact that I learned from a friend who was born and raised in Gothenburg. I didn’t believe that it was a mountain until I checked it later, as it looked more like a small hill (the highest point is only 87 meters above sea level, so it’s definitely a tiny mountain).

We arrived just a few minutes before sunset, when the sun was already inching toward the horizon. The place was quiet save for the occasional blasts of sirens, something that’s apparently normal in Hisingen (the area is said to have a higher crime rate compared to the other parts of Gothenburg, so sirens of ambulances or police cars can be heard quite often).

On the left side, we could see the port with the ships and construction, a contrast to the residential look on the right side.

The sunset happened almost all too quickly, and the sky changed colors; from pale pink with streaks of magenta, to yellow with tints of orange. It was incredibly stunning.

We stayed for a while after the sunset, enjoying the view of the city in the blue hour.

My favorite part about this was the moment of peace I had after a few weeks of constant worry. Watching the sun set never fails to get me transfixed, and there’s something about it that’s soothing. It’s the time where I can take a deep breath and just be in the moment.

The past few weeks have been incredibly busy and stressful. Moving to a new country is exciting, but it comes with a lot of problems and uncertainties. It’s been months since I read a book, and I can’t remember the last time I took a break without feeling like I was wasting my time, because there’s just so much to do and 24 hours is not enough. I miss doing things that I love without feeling guilty. I miss wandering aimlessly with my camera, taking my time to edit photos, and writing on this blog just because; things that I haven’t been doing much since I arrived in Gothenburg.

It seems that the next few months will still be busy and stressful, but I’m going to try harder to be gentle with myself. I’m going to stop beating myself up for things that don’t go as expected, and to stop feeling guilty whenever I need to take a break. I’m going to start making time for things that I love to do, no matter how quintessential they might seem.

This is what I love about random trips. You never know what you’ll get to see in the places you’re going to, or what realization you’ll get in experiencing things you wouldn’t normally do.

Apparently, it only took a trip to Ramberget at sunset to remind me to take a better care of myself.