I took a trip to Stockholm, Sweden recently and thought I would share some pictures from my journey. I was traveling solo on this trip and booked a United flight from Philadelphia to Stockholm, connecting through Frankfurt. I had United Gold status at the time and thought I would benefit by using United. I was wrong! It was a partner airline, Discover Airlines, that was flying the route. I was not even able to pick a seat assignment without paying. To top it off, before I even left for the airport, the flight was delayed an hour. It was not a great start.
Upon arrival at the airport, I decided to pay for a Business Class seat to try and improve my experience. After I cleared security I walked from terminal A all the way down to terminal D to try my luck at the United Club Lounge. Lucky for me, I was granted access with my new ticket. It was a fairly small lounge with a small food offering. I did find something that I really enjoyed though, pulled pork. It was some of the best I ever had and that says a lot after living in the South for several years. It reminded me of the pulled pork my wife and I had in the Atlanta lounge on our way to our first safari in South Africa.
After some time at the lounge, and two plates of pork, I headed to my gate. Boarding was delayed another 20 minutes or so, but then I was on my way. I was not a fan of the business class seating. The seats do lie flat, but it is not private feeling like other airlines offer. The seats are much smaller as well. My seat mate ended up kicking my legs several times while I tried to sleep due to the poor design. I also think the seat had a mind of its own at times and the lumbar would randomly inflate and deflate.
The meals were good, not great. I have definitely had worse meals on other airlines. One of the major issues I had was the cabin temperature, they kept it really really warm. I had to ask twice to have them cool it down. It didn’t help much. I went to the Lufthansa Panorama lounge in terminal A of the Frankfurt Airport. They had a great selection of foods to include fantastic meatballs and beignets! And of course they had soft pretzels.
My flight to Stockholm boarded on time. It would be a short 2 hour flight to Sweden. As we landed, the terrain looked snowy and frozen. It was devoid of any color with a light covering of snow. I took the Arlanda express train from the airport to the center of Stockholm, which ended up only a 5 minute walk to the hotel. The Sheraton hotel still had their Christmas decorations up in the lobby.
When I checked in, I was upgraded to a junior suite room. It has a large sitting area at the entrance. It was on the corner of the hotel, so I had a nice view from the room.
While in Sweden, I had some great meals. I had dinner at old prison Cafe Sten Sture.
The Cafe previously contained secret passages to the Royal Palace and Stockholm Cathedral in the old town. During World War I, the vaults were used to store inventories for Royal soldiers. The Cafe has also been used as a monastery before Gustav Vasa’s time in the 1500s.
I ordered the fried herring with mashed potatoes. One thing I noticed during my stay was the abundance of Lingonberries in most meals. The Lingonberry is a close equivalent to a cranberry in North America.
During my short stay, I walked around Old City, saw the Royal Palace, the Supreme Court, and the Nobel Prize Museum among other things.
I did have the opportunity to visit the Vasa Museum, which showcases a historic shipwreck that was recovered and put on display in 1988.
On the afternoon of Aug. 10, 1628, the Vasa, built by the Swedish to be one of the most powerful warships in the Baltic, set off from the palace docks in Stockholm. It sank minutes after setting sail.
Breakfast was provided for free at the Sheraton hotel and it had a great selection of foods and an omelet station. I had a wide variety of food during my short stay including Moose, Reindeer, Wild Boar, Ox and even a waffle with duck liver and Parmesan cheese.
The flight from Sweden was on time and after the wings were de-iced, I was on my way home. While I wasn’t able to stay too long, I got to see a lot of the Old City in Stockholm as well as try some excellent food.
