Well, it’s been a challenging first day of my ScandiRAYvia adventure.
Before I go any further, let me reiterate that everything I’m going to recount here is very much a First World Problem. I’m extremely cognizant of the fact that I’m very lucky to be making this trip.
First of all, let me say that the Airbus A380 was everything I hoped it would be! It’s a beautiful aircraft, and my Economy Plus seat was very satisfactory.
It was a good thing I made sure I had an aisle seat. Eleven hours in the air is hard to take, and it helped a lot that I was able to get up, stretch, and even walk up and down the aisles. It helped keep me sane.
The First Challenge had to do with my connection. I was concerned when I first got my ticket that an hour and a half was pretty tight for an international connection at Heathrow. But the British Airways agent in Los Angeles assured me there would be plenty of time.
Well, there wasn’t. I had a huge journey from one gate to the other, and since it was international, I had to go through security again. At each bottleneck I very clearly stated that I was about to miss my plane. Happily there was a fast-track line to get to security.
Things got scary when I actually made it to security, though, as it was moving more slowly than meaningful immigration reform. I explained my hurry and got put into the front of the line, but I could still tell that I was in trouble, as the bags were moving unbelievably slowly. I found the security manager and explained my situation. Bless her, she grabbed my as-yet-unsearched bag, marched me down (in the direction of my flight gate) to the nearest security agent who was free and put my bag in her hands and explained my situation.
When I finally got to my gate, boarding was almost over. I was relieved and happy, but a little alarmed at the idea that if I had trusted the British Airways people, I would have absolutely missed my plane. It was only my own vociferous (but I hope, not impolite) insistence on my situation, over and over again to multiple people, that got me through on time. And hey, my bag made it, too!
The flight from London to Stockholm was much shorter than the first flight. But at least the woman next to me was sick. As in, barfing right next to me in her seat. Poor thing.
At Arlanda Airport in Stockholm, border control and customs were a snap. My bus into town was right outside the terminal door and was there in five minutes.
I finally made it to the hotel. I was tired, dazed, sweaty, foul-smelling, and as I expected after such long trip, barely human. I tried to get comfortable in the room.
I was considering going down to the restaurant for a spot of dinner when I realized that the woman next to me on the flight might have gifted me her sickness. Yay. What better way to start off your foreign vacation than bowing to the porcelain god?
I went to sleep around 8:00 p.m. local time. Happily, the sickness was a one-time thing (so far!) and I slept well for six hours. I got up about 2:00 a.m. and began working some tech problems.
I spent most of the rest of the night on the phone with Verizon and Time Warner cable trying to sort out issues with my mobile data and email. Yay!
The upside is all that time on hold gave me a chance to plan out my plan of attack for my first couple of days in Stockholm.
It’s now 6:00 a.m. I’m going to try to nap just a bit before breakfast.
Oh, and the weather? And the weather forecast for the next few days? I can’t even.
I hope my next entry will be jollier!
