TRIP HOME

      Looking down at the check-in area from the SAS business class lounge in the Stockholm airport.

                                                                SAS lounge

                                                Champagne toast on the A330

        Up at 5:15 this morning for our 6:45 scheduled taxi from Hilton to Stockholm airport.  The Hilton made up some breakfast sacks for us to take with us as restaurants were not open that early.  Taxi was right on time.  There were heavy thunderstorms this morning in Stockholm.  We arrived at the airport at 7:30.  There were carts for us to use (no charge) where the taxi dropped us off.  We needed four carts so positioned the girls both outside and inside at the ticket counter while I wheeled them all in.  We were flying business class so there was no line and were immediately checked in.  Another benefit of business class is “fast track” line through security check.  We were all comfortably relaxing in the SAS business class lounge by 8:15.  Our flight was to depart at 10:20 but board said to head to the gate just before 9:00.  Now I know why!  It was a long walk plus we had to do passport control check.  We made in it in plenty of time for boarding the plane which started late, due to crew arriving late.  Once situated in our seats with carry on stowed they served us a glass of champagne.  The flight departed the gate at 10:24 and took off at 10:38 for our 8 hour and 20 minute flight to Chicago Ohare airport. 

        When at cruising altitude we were offered drinks and a nice lunch.  I watched a movie while everyone else rested.  The seats were not fully recline but close.  Later I tried to sleep but couldn’t.  Our ETA for Ohare was 12:00 (noon) and that is when we landed.  We were on an Airbus 330-300 which head 264 passengers.  I’m not sure if it was full as did not look back in coach.  I do know there were LOTS of small kids back there.  Another reason we fly business.  An interesting thing about our A330, it had foward looking camera so we could watch takeoff and landing.  When on approaches a camera was pointed down so you could see below us.  It switched to forward looking when the landing gear came down.  Our (AA's DC-10's used to have cockpit cameras until the crash of one at Ohare).  Our plane arrived at the gate at 12:06 and headed for immigration.  Rebecca and I used our Global Entry which took seconds.  They now also have kiosks for self checking of passports for US citizens only which Charlotte and Jane used and was super fast also.  Next we were in baggage claim and I got a porter to help us with all our luggage.  We had to collect it before passing through Customs.  Basically Rebecca, Jane, and I walked through it but the agent asked Charlotte a lot of questions about where she had been and what she had bought.  The porter took us to where United re-checked our luggage on to DFW and we got boarding passes for our United Express (Regional Jet).  Then we had to change terminals so hopped on the train to go to Terminal 1.  There we again had to go through security but we were all TSA Pre-check stamped so went to special lane where we did not have to take anything out of our bags, even my computer.  Just put bags on conveyor and walk through.  Piece of cake!

        Our United Express plane was an EMB-170 and was very comfortable for an RJ.  The seats were more comfortable than a Super 80.  We departed a little late due to weather reroute and arrived at DFW at 6:00pm.  We were to have two limos again to go home because luggage would not fit into just one.  One driver showed up but the other didn't.  Had to wait 45 minutes for the other one to return.  I was NOT a happy camper!  

        All was well back at the house.  I ordered a pizza and on way pick it up stopped to get milk and eggs. Rebecca watched some of the Cowboy's pre-season game but I hit the hay at 10:00 pm.  Not a easy night's sleep despite being so tired.  Woke up at 1:30am as that was get-up time in Northern Europe.  It's going to take a couple days to get body use to Dallas time again.  One problem was our mail man did not stop delivering mail but our good neighbor got it.

        There will be one more posting.  I have a lot of photos you have not seen yet and I want to sum up our wonderful cruise adventure.  In the mean time the dreaded "weigh in" will occur this morning after we work out.  How much weight did we gain????  I'm afraid it won't be pretty! 

   

STOCKHOLM--DAY 2

        This was our 2^nd and last day in Stockholm.  We had a really nice breakfast buffet and then set out to do touring on the Hop On Hop Off bus.  It gave us a nice “big picture” look at the city.  We were lucky when we got on as there were seats and got some on the top deck under the shaded part.  From then on the bus was packed at every stop so decided to just stay on for the full circuit.  Bus was so jammed at stop we wanted to get off that Rebecca was yelling at people to get out of our way.  Jane and Charlotte thought that out of Rebecca’s character.   Me too! 

I set up a taxi pickup time for tomorrow at 6:45 am for our trip to the airport for our flight.  We will be flying SAS airline to Chicago Ohare (9 hours) and then after a 3 hour sit there, on to DFW on a United Express plane.   Think we arrive at DFW around 6:00 pm.  It will be a LONG day. 

        I talked with a lovely lady manager at the front desk this morning about their air conditioning, or lack thereof.  Don’t get me wrong , it is not unlivable but could be better.  I had some other comments for here but was always very positive and nice.  I like to accentuate the positives also.  Well, at 4:30 this evening they delivered a huge platter of fresh fruits to both us and Charlotte and Jane.  This is why I am a loyal Hilton fan. 

        Well, we are getting ready to for cocktail hour up in the executive lounge.  There are two other couples from our cruise who will also be meeting us there.  I believe we will go back to Old Town for dinner tonight at the same place we had lunch yesterday.  We enjoyed it so much. 

        I am having problems with Blogger (my blog site) so not sure if I can get this posted today.  I will do another post about our flight home later so don’t give up on me yet.

                                                           View from hotel

       First time I have seen this form of transportation--

STOCKHOLM--DAY 1

                                  Our 26 days of cruising ended here in Stockholm this morning.

                 Stockholm is the capital and largest city in Sweden with 900,000 people living in the city but with nearly 2.2 million living in the metro area.  It was founded around 1200 AD and has long been Sweden’s cultural, political, and economic center.  The city is known for its beauty, its buildings & architecture, and its parks.  Stockholm is located on the south-central east coast on the Baltic Sea.  The city is on 14 islands that are part of the Stockholm archipelago (hundreds of islands on south eastern part of Sweden). 

Stockholm is also known as one of the world’s cleanest cities because there is very little heavy industry here.  85% of all jobs are in the service industry:  Swedish stock exchange & financial center, high tech, and tourism.  It is ranked the 10^th largest tourist destination in Europe.  The city center area is a “congestion zone” and as such, drivers have to pay a fee to drive there during certain hours of the day.  Entrances and exits have unmanned control points with automatic license plate recognition for billing them.  It has an extensive public transportation system but it is one of the most expensive in the world to use.

        Summertime temperatures are warmer here with daytime highs averaging 68 to 77F but it is not unusual for July and August temps to be in the mid 80’s, as it was today.  Winters generally bring cloudy weather with the most rain/snow.  The average winter temperatures range from 30F to -4F.

        Well, this is the end of our 26 days on the Voyager.  YUK!  As usual we are not ready to leave but Jane and Charlotte probably are.  We disembarked the ship this morning.  I must say the disembarkation process was one of the easiest and best.  The ship docked at 8 am and a porter was loading our luggage before 9 am.  There was a young lady to assist with getting the right size taxi.  I thought we would have to use two taxis because of all our luggage but got it in a small van type with some room to spare.  Will use the same type for our trip to the airport on Thursday morning.  It was a 20 minute drive to the Hilton Slussen located across the river from the old part of Stockholm.  I had asked for an early check-in and got an email from the hotel last night saying it was approved (for a small extra fee) but no rooms available when we arrived at 9:30. So we had the bellman lock our bags in back room and we set out to go see the old part of the city.  We just had to walk across a bridge and we were in Old Town.  Very convenient!  Glad we took our umbrellas with us as there several periods of rain while we were out and about.  My main objective was to see the changing of the guards at the Royal Palace at 12:15.  We arrived 30 minutes early and glad we did as had good vantage point in front, and more importantly, in the shade.  People were 5 deep trying to get to see it.  We bugged out a little before it ended and headed out to find a place for some lunch.  Jane and I had Swedish meatballs with boiled potatoes and Rebecca & Charlotte had schnitzel with fried potatoes.  The portions were quite large and with sodas came to $30 each.  Prices are high in the Scandinavian countries so thought this very reasonable.

        We did some shopping (ok, not me) and more looking around before exhausted and headed back to the hotel.  Our rooms were now ready as was 3 pm.  We have rooms on the executive floor with a great view across the river of old town.  There is an executive lounge where we will be coming to after 6pm for complimentary cocktails, wine, and food.  Everybody is still full from the big lunch so not sure about dinner.

        I better get the photos loaded on here.  Not many captions as did not know exactly what I was taking photos of since we did not have a tour guide as we did on the ship.  Not sure what we will do tomorrow as it depends on what the weather is like.  I have a good idea providing the weather is good.

                                                    Sailing in this morning

                                                           Part of the Palace

Changing of the Royal Guard at the Royal Palace takes place every day at 12:15.

                                                        Parade grounds

                                                  Back side of the Palace

                                                           Parliament Building