On the Sleeper and into Stockholm

Yesterday's post ended with us going to bed in the sleeper compartment at 11.06pm. We were heading for Stockholm and this was the route:

So, let's pick up the story from the next morning.

On the sleeper train

I first woke at 5.30am having had a surprisingly good night's sleep. While we slept through the night, the train has trundled down through Alvsbyn, Jöm, Bastuträsk, Umea, Örnsköldsvik, Kramfors and Hämösand. 

We arrived in Sundsvall at 5.40am. Overnight we had caught up much of the delay with which we had begun. 

As I could hear that Drew was still sleeping in the bottom bunk, I decided, after a quick loo visit, to go back to bed. I must admit not having to put socks, shoes and a dressing gown on to go to the loo at the end of the carriage, as have previously,  is one of the big advantages of this class of travel. 

So, I headed back to my upper bunk and returned to sleep. The next time I woke up it was 8.30am - what a wonderful lengthy sleep - the train seems quieter and less jumpy than sleepers we have travelled on before, it has certainly been the best night's sleep I've had on such a journey.

Drew had woken at 7.45am and had dressed quietly. So, I then get up and get dressed so we can head to breakfast together. When coming to bed I was convinced we'd have been there as it opened at 5.30am, but not so, we are three hours later!!

Breakfast

We walk up to the 'bistro', as they call it here, area for breakfast through two carriages of apartments like ours 

then through four carriages of the 6 person per cabin ones

Then we open the door into the seating carriages and the smell that hits you can be described as nothing but rank. [Co-pilot's note: RIPE, dear readers, RIPE!! It hit you slap bang in the face. It was like wading through a sea of stench.] 

No wonder there are so many bleary eyed people about the train this morning. I don't know how I'd have coped in a seat all night, especially with so many others around me. We are very grateful to have had the opportunity of a private compartment. 

Breakfast for our accommodation is included in the price, we show our ticket and are given a delightful box of - apple and rhubarb juice, a carton of yogurt with a bag of muesli and a box with a slice of pepper, some cherry tomatoes and cheese on top of a potato scone/flapjack not unlike a Scottish tattie scone.

Onward

We headed back to the compartment, convert it from a sleeping to a sitting arrangement and catch-up with stuff ready for our on time arrival at Stockholm Central. 

A random note: In Swedish, the word central is indicated by a C (the Swedish and English words are the same). The use of S (the Norwegian word is Sentral) had caught me out a couple of times in my early planning of this holiday. I was reading the S as South and wondered where the main station was!! I had sorted that out in my mind by the time we booked the trip. 

Second Breakfast

Drew often compares me to a Hobbit and one of their attitudes I strongly agree with is the idea of a second breakfast. On this principle that they would go to waste otherwise I had the Cheese, tomato and basil 'sandwich' I'd bought on Tuesday for today's trip. I'd assumed I'd have been eating it when we arrived on the train last night, but time didn't allow. 

It made a very tasty second breakfast. [Co-pilot's note: He, dear readers, actually bought two of these sandwiches, so I was expecting a request for elevenses to come in!]

Arrival

We arrive at Stockholm at 10.13am, perfectly on time. This is quite remarkable given that overnight we have travelled 462 miles i.e. 745 km and without noticing it. We wait until the people in the corridor reduce and then disembark at 10.17am. 

The Thon Partner Hotel Kungsborn

We only have a two minute walk from the station to the hotel. 

We have checked in and are in our room by 10.26am

Apparently I am now a Thon Platinum Member so have early check-in and late check-out as part of the 'benefits', as they notified me by email last week. 

I'd not looked at it in detail, but it meant that unlike our last visit to the hotel, when we had to leave our luggage in the luggage room and wait until 3pm to check-in, we were able to have immediate check-in and get access our room, which is a floor below reception. Room 106.

The room has a much better view than the room we stayed in last time we were here, two years ago. Though it is the location of the hotel which trumps any other matters. Being so close to the trains, tunnelbana (metro), trams and buses makes it perfect for a visitor to the city.

It meant we could get changed, shower and freshen up and begin our day properly. 

Local Transport

Next we look at the transport options. Both Drew and I had kept our SL (Stockholm Local Transport) app on our phones since our last visit. So it was an easy matter of checking the cost of travel and buying a ticket. The single journey price on the system is 43SKr (£3.34) whereas a 24 hour ticket is 190SKr and a 72 hour one is 360SKr (£27.98), so we only need to travel 9 times for the 72 hour ticket to be the best option. So, we purchase these in the apps on our phones. (spoiler from tomorrow's post, it was a significant saving).

Drew's Treat

Since our visit to Stockholm two years ago Drew has often been talking about the Bastard Burger he enjoyed so much here. So, when we leave the hotel at 11.40am our first visit is to Bastard Burgers

 where I have a New Yorker

and Drew a Double Bastard!!!

For some reason they served the wrong drinks with the meals, so my meal was accompanied by a 7UP Zero and Drew's with a Pepsi Max, not as in the photos. Seeing the chilli cheese on Drew's fries were the way I spotted the mistake!! 

Tunnelbana Art

On our last visit we spent most of the time visiting churches, castles and museums - of which Stockholm is blessed with quite a few, at the time though we used the Tunnelbana and noticed the decorations, we didn't pay much attention. Since coming home though we had explored the way the stations have been designed to be works of art in themselves.  

So we plan to spend our time post-lunch exploring a few of them. We decided to take a locgical approach and focus on the blue line stations today and do the other two lines tomorrow. 

We visited Kungsträdgården, Radhuset, Hallonbergen and Solna Centrum. This is a brief selection of images from them 

but there are plenty more, for those interested, on Flickr, starting here and moving forward. 

One you may have noticed is the Vattenfall advert with Samuel L Jackson 

but more about that tomorrow. 

Dinner - Pigging it out

The summer in Stockholm produces some great light - having been in places where twilight happens at 10pm, it is nice to see it begining to arrive much earlier, now we have come south.

Our eating place tonight is another revisit. We enjoyed the atmosphere of The Hairy Pig the first time we visited Stockholm, so had booked in again for tonight.

I started with Vildsvinscarpaccio - Carpaccio of Wild Boar

Of course, in Old English a Hairy Pig is what became known as a boar, so I had to try some of the meat the place was named for - yum, I'm glad I did. It was served with lingonberries, blue cheese and hazelnuts a wonderful combination.

Drew opted for Friterade getostbollar - Deep Fried Goat Cheese Croquettes

Drew loves a good croquetas, as the Spanish call them,  and this was a very good croquetas - with hazelnuts, dill mayonnaise and lingonberries, he was very pleased.

Drew then had Alglasagne med sidosallad - Moose Lasagne with a side salad 

This was very simple, but very tasty. The lasagne was served cooler than we would in the UK, but it had a lovely rich meat sauce and a crunchy top, again Drew was very pleased.

I had Picklad lök och rödvinssås - Pork belly with Mashed Potatoes.

This is one of those meals you dream about after, I know because I already have, and will probably do so again. Rich, juicy, fatty crunchy pork belly with pickled onion gravy and soft, mashed potatoes with salt and pepper and a delicious mix of salad vegetables with a dill mayonnaise. Just thinking about it now has my mouth watering again. It is two years since we were here last - can I survive another two years before the next time?? 

Drew finsihed with Hjortroncheesecake - Cloudberry Cheesecake

This was very good, I know because Drew waxed lyrically about this delicious cheesecake, sharpened by the fresh cloudberries. He is not one prone to waxing lyrically, so it must have been good.

We finished with a double espresso each.

And couldn't help ourselves taking a photo of the restaurant's mascot on our way out the door. 

We went back down into the Tunnelbana and arrived back at the hotel at 9.30pm, I did some blogging and then we went to bed at 10.30pm, feeling very replete.