A few days ago Aegean Airlines had sent an email offering the option to bid on an upgrade. We’d received similar emails on our other flights but didn’t think it was worth it on the very short island flights. However , our flight from Athens to Stockholm would be 4 hours so we thought it might be worth giving it a go. I bid the lowest amount and within 48 hours received notice that my bid was successful .
It was a bonus as our room rate at the Athens Airport Sofitel did not include breakfast, so it was handy to be able to get some breakfast in the Aegean Airlines lounge.
We really felt like regulars at Athens airport now, we’ve been through 5 times in a little over two weeks! But this was the last time as we boarded our flight to Stockholm. We enjoyed another meal (brunch?) on the plane and I finished watching “Twisters” which is started on a previous flight and then watched “The Mummy” which is downloaded from.Netflix. An old favourite
The time passed quickly and suddenly we were descending into Arlanda Airport. Our bags arrived very quickly and we made our way to the station to catch the Arlanda Express into town, it’s a super efficient fast train that connects the airport to the city in only 18 minutes. We watched the ticket over the door show the rapidly increasing speed, we were up to 176km/h at one stage.
While on the train I had a buzz on my phone and read a message from.Aegean airlines, apologising that our luggage was delayed and asking us to fill in a lost luggage report. We were as bit flummoxed as we had our luggage with us! I guess we will never know what that was all about!
When we arrived at Stockholm Central Station we only had to walk 20 metres to the door of our hotel, C Hotel Stockholm. We were pleased the room was ready at only 1.50 pm and so we could dump our bags, freshen up and head out to explore.
The day was grey and cold! First we walked down past the main entrance to the station before arriving at the waterfront. We walked past a number of grand buildings, the Royal Opera House and Gustaf Adolfs Torg, a square with a big statue of King Gustav II Adolf.
The wind blowing off the water was very cold! A little further along we arrived at Kunstradgaden, the Kings Garden. There were still some flowers blooming in its garden and the trees on either side were wearing some stunning autumn leaf colours.
We turned up a busy pedestrian street heading north and came across the
The Jacobs Kirke, which was started in 1580 and consecrated in 2643 was glowing red.
At the end of the garden we turned left and walked up to Segels Torg. It’s a huge cebtralmsquarr in the modern part of Stockholm, with a sunken space called the “Platten” by locals . ( It means platter) The area dates from the 60s and 70s, when this formerly run-down area was reinvented as an urban “space for the future”. In the 1970s, with no residences nearby, the desolate Plattan then became the domain of junkies. Now the city is actively revitalizing it and the Plattan is a people friendly place.
We walked from here up a busy pedestrian street and came across the gun-tied-in-a-knot statue that is a tribute to Sweden’s famously neutral and nonviolent status. Sweden has been in no war since 1814; it stayed out of WWI and WWII and chose not to join NATO (up until Putin’s war with Ukraine forced it to reconsider)
Eventually we came out into a square which is flanked by the “Haymarket” on one side and the Kunserhuset on the other. The Konserthuset, the city concert hall, which hosts the annual Nobel Prize award ceremony. Dating from 1926 the hall is Swedish Art Deco (a.k.a. “Swedish Grace”
I liked the look of some of the vegetable and flower stalls.
Heading back along a busy, pedestrian shopping street we eventually arrived at the hotel. After a cuppa and a break it was time to head down for the special experience I’d booked for tonight. We were going to the “Ice Bar”
This hotel hosts the world’s first permanent ice bar , this year is it’s 24th year! It is built of ice – and the glass you get your drink in is also made of ice. The bar has a constant temperature of -5°C . We checked in and were provided with a hooded fur cape and gloves and sent through the double doors into the cold. The ice carving is fabulous, they have a different theme each year and this year it’s all about Norse Mythology. We had fun , drinking our chilly cocktails and admiring the carving.
After 30 minutes we couldn’t feel our fingers anymore so headed back out into the warmth of the hotel lobby and into the restaurant , called “Swede Hollow” for dinner. I had steak with a wonderful sauce of anchovies, herbs and nuts and Neil had Venison. Washed down with a Norwegian Reisling.
It was a good start to our Swedish stopover.