The Travels and Misadventures of Miss HeatherLynnP

It’s a good thing that I don’t blog for a living. I never get these posts up in a timely manner. I always have good intentions, but life seems to get in the way.

In late June/early July, I joined a friend on a guided tour to Scandinavia. I’d already had another trip planned for the year and frankly, I’d never really had a ton of interest in Scandinavia. (There’s nothing wrong with Scandinavia, I assure you. It just never called to me like some of the other places I’ve had the good fortune to visit). In any case, this year, it just happened, that I could take another trip. So, I paid the tour company, got my flights booked, and started reading up on where we’d be headed: Stockholm, Sweden, Bergen, Norway and finally Copenhagen, Denmark.

I also decided that since this trip fell over my birthday, that I ought to treat myself to business class seats. That turned out to be a very expensive yet worthwhile decision.

Summer travel in 2023 was wild. Flights canceled, flights delayed, feral people running amok in airports. I grabbed a flight from Albuquerque to Minneapolis. At the time, I though Minneapolis was a strange place to connect, but in hindsight, I am so thankful that I (a) flew Delta/KLM and (b) that I went through Minneapolis. United Airlines had BIG problems over the summer and many airports had heavy delays or cancellations due to weather or from the wildfire smoke drifting down from Canada. I had no such issues. All of my flights (ABQ>MSP>AMS>ARN) were smooth and surprisingly on time.

Now, let’s talk about my business class pod. I wish I understood how airlines price tickets. I really do. Sometimes it seems that you can upgrade a flight for next to nothing and sometimes it costs an arm and a leg. As mentioned before, I rationalized upgrading my seats because it was a long flight and because I was flying over my birthday and because I NEVER sleep on overnight flights. NEVER. (I’ve tried Benadryl – which knocks my ass out for 8+ hours if taken at home, I’ve tried wine, I’ve tried meditation, and I’ve even tried prescribed sleeping pills from my doctor. I give up. I have decided that it’s a psychological issue in which I cannot relax if I think people are looking at me). I flew KLM from Minneapolis to Amsterdam and thoroughly enjoyed my business class pod. Being able to lie flat (and away from strangers peeping at me) was a game changer and I slept for the first time ever on a flight to Europe. I feel incredibly spoiled and I may not be able to afford a business class seat every time but it is certainly an incentive to save as many miles and credit card points in the hopes of upgrading my next international flight.

There are very few direct flights from the US to Sweden, so I had a brief layover at Amsterdam’s Schipol Airport. I found Schipol to be a pretty nice airport and it was easy to navigate. During my layover, I listened to a rant by a man who didn’t feel the same. He reamed the KLM agent for the airport’s poor design and yelled that he couldn’t find anywhere to charge his phone. (Cue side eye from about 30 of us sitting at charging tables just behind the KLM desk). He then proceeded to tell us all in the waiting area that he’d been to airports all over the world and that the US would have shut an airport like Schipol down. I thought to myself : “He’s clearly never been to Newark.” It takes a tremendous amount of energy to be this mean and rude. Just don’t do it. (PS: not all squirrely travelers are American. This crank happened to be a Brit).

I boarded my commuter flight from rainy Amsterdam to Stockholm without issue and in about 90 minutes, I landed to find our tour guide waiting for me outside baggage claim. Deborah is a world class traveler, tour guide and real travel blogger who gets her blog posts up on time. You can and should follow her here: https://www.passporttheworld.com/).

Hopped in a taxi and on my ride to the hotel, I learn that my friend has missed her United connection and is stuck in Newark. I also notice that there seem to be hundreds of 7-11s in Stockholm. I spend the first afternoon of my tour on a solo walk around the neighborhood. I had a sandwich and a crispy Coke Zero from a cute local deli, took a shower and a nap and then met my fellow travelers for drinks and dinner.

Our hotel was not located downtown; however, Stockholm was surprisingly walkable and also has a great subway. My first two impressions of Sweden were that it was clean and that 99% of the Swedish population is tall, blonde and good looking. People in Scandinavia speak beautiful English and were very kind to me as a visitor. Stockholm (and everywhere we visited in Scandinavia on this trip) is incredibly expensive. Sweden uses the Swedish Krona. Do not take a lot of cash with you or withdraw a lot of cash in Sweden. Sweden is on the move to become a cashless economy and they are serious about it. You will have trouble using your Swedish Krona. You can use credit cards everywhere and Scandinavia has a much more sophisticated tap system that makes charging things fast and easy. (And dangerous. I tapped my way to much more than I had allotted in my travel budget).

On our first full day in Sweden, my friend is still in Newark but has secured a flight to Lisbon and then one to Stockholm. She’ll miss most of our time in Sweden, but I’m thankful that she’s en route and I’m thankful that our tour is full of lovely people! There are pros and cons to tours. The pros include having someone else make all of the arrangements and move you from place to place in air conditioned comfort. You get to see a lot more than you might if you are making your own plans. You’ll meet other people interested in travel and you might even make some new friends. The cons include (sometimes) an overpacked schedule, early mornings and late nights and not getting enough time to yourself. I am happy to say that this particular tour had quite a bit of free time built into the itinerary. I don’t mind a tour, but I cannot do tours all of the time.

We were in Stockholm for a very short time and it rained. Not sprinkled. Not drizzled. POURED. When you spend your whole time wet in a place, it’s hard to give it a fair evaluation, I think while wading through puddles. I can tell you that if you are going to Scandinavia for the first time, you do need to consider the fact that it can and will rain on you. Rain jacket, travel umbrella and waterproof shoes were all sound investments.

On the tour agenda was Stockholm’s City Hall. It’s special because this is where the Nobel Prize Banquet is held every year. The building from the outside was sort of nondescript in my mind, but the interior was stunning and spacious. There are several banquet halls and the Council Chamber which boasts an unusual ceiling, crafted to look like a Viking ship. The Prince’s Hall, which features murals painted by Prince Eugen, and the glitzy Gold Hall are of particular interest. The walls of the Gold Hall are completely covered in gold mosaics depicting stories and figures from Swedish mythology and it is something. The City Hall also has a tower that you can climb for panoramic views of the city.

We got lucky, given the rainy weather, and made it next to the Vasa Museum. Home of the warship Vasa, the museum will close or limit visitors when the humidity gets too great and can threaten the preservation of the ship. The Vasa is fascinating. The famous ship, commissioned by Gustav II Adolf, sunk just about 20 minutes into its maiden voyage. The beautiful wooden ship went down in front of a crowd that was out to see her prowess and beauty, likely because the gun deck was simply too heavy. Sounds about right. The Vasa sank in 1628 and was recovered, almost entirely intact in 1961. The Baltic Sea is cold and apparently poor in oxygen content and the ship was raised in almost pristine condition. It’s really pretty incredible when you see how little this massive ship has deteriorated. If cold, oxygen poor water can preserve a ship, what could it do for my face? Now wishing I had plunged in the Baltic to see…

In the museum, you’ll be able to view the ship from various angles. You’ll notice that there are a few pieces of wood that are lighter in color. These are the parts of the ship that had to be reconstructed and they are very few. You will feel dwarfed by the size of this warship. The museum is built in multiple stories surrounding the Vasa. If you have time and the crowds aren’t too great, you can check out the detail from multiple floors. (My favorite was the “toilet.” Literally just a square box on deck, the sailors would let the ocean waves coming in over deck “clean” it out. Ha!) In a separate exhibit, you can see what carvings from the ship would have looked like in their original painted condition. It’s funny, we’ve all grown so accustomed to historical artifacts and locations unadorned, but so much would have been painted: the Vasa, Roman statues, the Pyramids…

From Vasa, we took our damp selves to Gamla Stan or the Old Town of Stockholm where we encountered an absolute deluge. You’ve likely seen this part of Stockholm in photos. Gamla Stan was Stockholm’s original city center. I believe it dates back to the 1300’s but the colorful homes and buildings you will see are from the 1600s and 1700s. The old town is much like you think it is, filled with tourist shops and cafes, but the Nobel Prize Museum is there (I didn’t choose to visit this time), as is the Royal Palace and the Royal Chapel and the Storkyran Cathedral . There is a fee to tour parts of the Royal Palace . There is also a small charge to visit Storkyrkan but if you like churches or church history, like me, it’s worth a stop…and it’s dry!

Storkyran was once the parish cathedral for the entire city of Stockholm and is the oldest church in the city. Next to the Royal Palace, the church has been connected to royal and historical events throughout history. In 2010, Crown Princess Victoria was married here. (Yes, Sweden has a royal family!)

The Royal Palace in Gamla Stan is one of the Royal Palaces in Sweden. That’s right, I said ONE of the palaces. The Royal Palace in Gamla Stan is a residence and workplace of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia and it is open to visitors. During the summer, you can also visit the Royal Chapel. The week we were in Stockholm, the Royal Chapel was open to the public free of charge.

On to Uppsala which was a short bus ride north of Stockholm. Uppsala is a charming university town that has several historic sites from the Iron Age and the Vikings. Uppsala Cathedral is the burial place for several Swedish Royals (think Westminster Abbey) and you can also visit the Uppsala Castle. Our day in Uppsala was a bit abbreviated because…it rained again.

If you can, I recommend visiting the Gamla Uppsala Museum to see the royal burial mounds and Carolina Rediviva, the Uppsala University Libray which features a fascinating collection, including a Silver Bible and original drawings by the Swedish botanist, Carl Linnaeus – who happens to be from Uppsala. It was in this cute town that I was introduced to the Swedish fika. Fika is a coffee and cake break. Count me in, Sweden! Cake might be a general translation. Most Swedes have a coffee and a giant cinnamon roll. These are everywhere in Sweden and are quite good (less sickly sweet than their American cousins).

A rainy ride back to Stockholm and my friend has finally arrived via Newark to Lisbon to Stockholm. We have quick bite near the hotel and get ready for our last rainy day in Sweden.

Drottningholm Palace, just outside of Stockholm, is another must visit. We took a boat from Stadshuskajen, the City Hall Quay in Stockholm, but you can also take public transportation to the palace. Drottningholm was commissioned by Queen Hedvig Eleonora in the 1600s in the French style. It is a permanent residence of the current royal family, but a good portion of the castle is open for tours. The palace is so well preserved that it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is grand and lavish and all of the things you expect from a royal palace. There were some stunning painted ceilings here and you can definitely see the influence of Versailles in the decor. There is a restaurant on site. I highly recommend the Swedish meatballs.

After returning to Stockholm, we have a free afternoon and decide to head back to Gamla Stan via subway so my friend, who missed two of our three days in Sweden can do a little sightseeing. Stockholm’s subway system is very clean and once we get the hang of the station layout, very easy to use. It’s raining of course, but we duck into Storkyrkan and the Royal Chapel in our course of sightseeing in the old town. We also stop at the cutest, tiny cafe for a fika. This time coffee and princess cake. Princess cake is a traditional Swedish layer cake topped with a lovely layer of green marzipan. It’s a tasty treat on a rainy afternoon. We do a bit more sightseeing and get absolutely drenched walking back to the subway. On our last evening in Stockholm, we meet up with a couple of new friends for an Italian dinner in our neighborhood.

In the morning we’ll hop a flight on Scandinavia Air to Bergen, Norway.

Want to see the rest of my photos from Stockholm? Visit my Flickr album here: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjALXJB