With a pipe organ fanfare Sara and I are departing Stockholm at the end of our two week European adventure. Sara is flying to Amsterdam in a couple of hours and then tomorrow morning she flies back to Houston. In a couple of hours I fly to Paris and then tomorrow morning I take the train 🚂 to St. Jean. I will take care of a few logistical issues on Sunday and Monday and early Tuesday morning I start to walk.
Today Sara and I packed, had breakfast and walked around Old Town. Sara did some shopping and I visited a couple of magnificent old churches where I said a few prayers for my sister Anna who is in the hospital continuing her struggle with cancer.
Sara and I then had a two and a half hour lunch at the Stockholm branch of Eataly. This is a great Italian food emporium that has a Chicago location. If you are ever in Chicago I highly recommend you check it out. We split a charcuterie plate and then had pasta. What a great last meal in Stockholm.
Stockholm – Random Impressions
The Swedish People
The Swedish people went out of their way to be friendly and helpful. Sara and I felt so relaxed and at home in Stockholm. The people make the place and the Swedish people make Stockholm a great place to visit.
Getting Around
Streetcars
Stockholm has an extensive streetcar system. The streetcars are new, the routes well laid out and the service is frequent.
Buses
Stockholm has a massive fleet of articulated busses 🚌 . These monsters can articulate around the tight narrow streets with ease while the passengers ride in plush comfortable seats.💺
Subway
Not that subway but the underground subway 🚇.
This is a very popular transportation option so you are often forced to stand up sandwiched into the car with your fellow passengers like sardines in a can.
Bikes 🚲
Bike rack in Stockholm.
Bicycles are not nearly as popular in Stockholm as compared to Copenhagen.
Bike rack in Copenhagen.
But bikes are much more popular in Stockholm as compared to Krakow.
Krakow bike rack.
Arlanda Express
This is the high speed train that connects the central train station to the airport. This is a true high speed train. The average speed is about 110 MPH and the ride is super smooth.
Speed indicator on the Arlanda Express.
This is a very popular way to get to and from the airport and the city center. The trains run so often that it is never a problem getting one of the comfortable seats. There is plenty of room to store your luggage and it is only a twenty minute train ride. What a great idea.
Well, the last two weeks have gone by so quickly. What a great trip. I urge and implore anyone who is even considering a trip to Europe to just do it. I was so worried about the currency, the language barrier, the strange food and a hundred and one other things. The currency is easy. You use your credit card for everything and the credit card machine tells you the cost of your purchase in dollars and the local currency. The language turned out to be the biggest non issue. Everyone, and I mean everyone, speaks English. And finally the food. Half of fun of traveling to a foreign country is exploring the local food scene. But it is OK if you don’t want to do that. Hamburger joints 🍔 are all the rage in Europe and you can get good Italian food 🥘 anywhere.
Most of you know me and you are thinking 🤔:” If Mark can do it anybody can do it.”
So just do it!
I hope everyone had a good day.
Good evening from the Stockholm airport.
AbeAndMarkontheCamino 