Arriving in Stockholm

Storyline: Scandinavia

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As everywhere in Europe getting from the airport to the city centre is very easy. Take the airport express.  It is 48 km from Stockholm Arlanda Airport to the city centre and its central train station. The Arlanda Express train took us there in 18 min. It runs every 10 to 15 min.

After a long flight with some “adventures” we are finally in Stockholm. The first adventure was at our end at Toronto Pearson Airport. To begin with terminal, one is getting unbearably busy. Gone are the days when we admired the newly-built modern terminal, where after going through security one could relax just before boarding for a long Trans-Atlantic flight. Now one would be lucky if they could squeeze through to find their gate on time. Because of Alex’s medical issues and the medical supplies, we carry with, us we talked to the gate crew to pre-board.  A young, kind lady told us to sit near her so she could call us when the pre-boarding began. June 4th was the first direct flight from Toronto to Stockholm. Our aircraft was arriving from Frankfurt and it was late. They still had to clean it and load the meals and supplies. 30 to 40 minutes later, the flight crew patiently waiting with us at the gate was finally let into the airplane. Some more time and the gate staff were growing impatient. There was some confusion of what was going on. A lady went to check and came back. They announced that there were some technical issues that were easy to fix. An older, very friendly gate staff member walking around and keeping everyone entertained, when asked joked that the mechanic didn’t show up. It was late and everyone was tired. So, his sense of humour was well appreciated. Finally the young lady called us and checked us in. Phew, we can now board. Not so fast! As we headed towards the gate a call from the aircraft came in and they told us to wait. Don’t even remember what time it was, but Alex was falling asleep and I could barely stand on my feet. Yet, having been boarded according to the system, we now could not go back to our seats. Alex sat on the window ledge.

No, no, wait, the old guy said and quickly brought two wheelchairs. We sat in them and waited patiently. The same guy then announced with lots of humour that they need a few more minutes and called everyone but zone 3 to sit. Trust me he said, this way it will be faster. Only the people in zone 3 can stand. (To this day I have no idea why zone 3). When we call you zone you can come and we’ll board everyone in no time. The catch was “once we start boarding”. Few more minutes, the technical issue was resolved, lots of cheers and off we went to orderly board the aircraft. The flight was late evening to begin with. With all the delays I believe it was after 11PM, when we were on board. I rushed to the toilet and then discovered that there was no water for hand washing. Going out I told the flight attendant and she said, that this was the technical issue. They thought all was fixed but this particular toilet apparently still had the issue. I went to rinse my hands in the toilet across. There was water there. Well, I was relieved to know that the mechanical problem was the water in the WC, not something more serious. They provided wet wipes for that one WC. Don’t remember what time we left. I think a flight attendant said it was 1 hour and 45min late. Nevertheless, we arrived at Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport on time. The pilot did miracle, the same flight attendant told us (Don’t know how he conjured up that strong tail wind, and don’t really care – A).

Next was entering Sweden. It is an EU and Schengen country and usually we enter with my EU passport and tell them Alex is with me. As a matter of fact, this is what customs in Amsterdam told us we should always do, years ago. Since then, we’ve travelled to many EU countries and skipped the big non-EU lines. Off we went to the lonely officer at the EU booth. What he said was – I can let you in here, but can’t do anything with his passport. You have to go to the “All passports” line. Mentioning the fact that we’ve been entering many countries this way was useless. “Well, they were all wrong”, he said. Netherlands, Denmark, Portugal, Spain, Austria, etc… were all wrong! We lined up in All Passports and when our time arrived the guy examined both my passports – the EU one and the Canadian. Then told me that we should go to the EU line. We were just sent back from there to here, I mumbled… I got lectured that I should always use my EU passports (apparently, I had some old stamp in my Canadian one from somewhere, perhaps when I didn’t carry my EU one with me). In the end the guy announced that I have the right to enter and Alex is admissible. He stamped his passport and we were finally and officially in Sweden. But I would not want to go through that immigration booths again. Two adventures within less than 12 hours. But there will be more. (I subsequently looked up the EU regulation that specifically allowed non-EU passengers entering with an EU passport holder to enter via the EU line. But it also allowed each country to decide whether or not to adopt this approach. Apparently, Sweden does not care to minimise the delay for EU citizens – A.)

We found a café in the arrivals area and parked our luggage. I had not had coffee or breakfast at the airplane. It was too early body time for me. Alex ordered a cappuccino and a croissant for me and juice for himself. We were in no rush. Activated our eSIM cards and made sure we could chat with each other. (We don’t really prefer to chat via SMS than face-to-face…in case you wondered – A.) Refreshed, we wandered to the information desk. This will be the first and the one of only two manned information services during our multi-hop trip. The second would be at the top of the funicular in Bergen. I wanted to confirm that, as I have read, we would not need cash anywhere. Yes, a very friendly lady said. You can pay by credit card, no matter how small the amount is, even for WC. That is good news.

We bought our tickets for the Arlanda Express train to Stockholm Central train station from her and walked to the escalator. In no time we were transferred to Stockholm city centre.

We stop in the Arlanda Express waiting room to check the maps and get oriented. There are two clerks, mainly showing tourists how to buy Arlanda Express tickets from the vending machines. And if one were desperate, the staff would open the WC for them. (We’d since walk a few times through this waiting room and there would always be two guys there. So, I guess they were actually guards for the airport express). We both used the facilities and were ready to launch outside.  Our hotel is about a 30 min walk (Google time). There are 2 routes to get to it. “I am going to be a woman and ask which one is better”, Alex says (in his mind a man never asks for directions and perhaps that’s why we often get lost) (OK, let me interject here. The reason I said that is that Diana prefers to stop and ask multiple people for directions. I prefer to try to figure it out first, and ask when needed. And we eventually get there either way-A. Yes, emphasis on eventually, like Alex’s videos -D) “What do you mean by better?” one of the guys, asks. “Well, less traffic, more scenic… we love to walk”. The guy shows him a third option. This one, although longer, goes though a pedestrian area. Weather is nice and we have plenty of time before our check-in. And off we go. With Google leading us through the unknown to us city of Stockholm.

At a first glance it is very charming. Full of life, busy pedestrian streets, even busier pubs, cafés and restaurants. All with patios. Tables are small very close to each other. Practically it’s a less than a hand span.  Many remind us the cozy small cafés and restaurants in Paris. T-shirts and shorts weather for the locals and sweaters, vests, and coats weather for us.

Following Mr. Google’s instructions, we rolled our suitcases uphill through the pedestrian area. Then there was a hill. Quite big one.

Alex insisted this is the shortest way. So, we drag the carry-ons uphill on a paved track. On the top of the hill Google insisted that our destination was through huge stairs. I walked and looked down the hill. Didn’t see any hotel.

Besides, the hill was fenced in many directions. We had two choices – go back and around the hill or take one of the many stairways to the other side of the hill. Since Alex trusts more his Google director than my sense of direction, he took the two carry-ons and went down on one of the widest stair paths.

It landed to a gravel path. Eventually we descended to a road and checked the direction of the hotel. Guess what – it was in the opposite direction of the hill we just conquered. Still quite away from it.

I guess Alex trusted too much Google which is not built for pedestrian hills, but for streets with cars. We met few folks walking their dogs and for sure wondering what the hell are these people doing with their luggage up the hills. (But the views were great! If you like trees, that is – A.)

Later we’d discover that this was a ridge created about 10,000 years ago when a glacier receded. At the summit was an observatory built in 1753.

We took it to the streets and reached our hotel in no time. Had we taken the first street leading up to the street of the hotel we’d be there much earlier and more importantly much easier on the luggage. But Alex had to try his dad’s-style short cuts (runs in the family, I guess – A) after all.

Finally, we were greeted by friendly staff at the reception and given a nice quiet room. For the reason we had this hotel instead of the short term rental initially booked, check my post Assembling the puzzle – Around Our e-Table.

And in less than 24 hours we had already packed in 3 adventures. What next? Just wait a post or two.