The journey home

Today's post is probably a bit prosaic as we head home, but here is a brief outline: 

Early Morning

I woke up at 3.30pm and get to writing the blog from last Sunday in Tromsø. Drew wakes up at 5am and I make us a cup of English Breakfast tea, and later an Earl Grey tea, each. Drew reviews the blog post and adds his elements to it and it gets published just after 6am

Ablutions start at 6.30am...

Breakfast

The idea of late breakfasts at the weekend seems rather quaint to me. At home my breakfasts on weekends tend to be two or three hours before my weekday time of 6.30!! But here it is 7.30am, so that's when we have it.

I start with the same things I've had for the last three days. A chia pudding and yogurt with nuts, seeds and raisins.

Drew decides to repeat yesterday's delights with dark bacon and dark mushrooms plus a potato or two.

I then head over for my last plate of pickled herring, as usual in Sweden, this is two types - peppercorn and mustard, this is accompanied by pickled vegetables - today this included pickled beetroot, pickled radish, pickled cheery tomatoes, pickled gherkins and pickled things I don't recognise (Google when I use search on the photo suggested they may be a fake brain prop, I can see why they suggest that, but I'm sure they aren't) 

I also have a Knäckebröd and Rågbröd

to mop up the pickling juice.

Drew has some white bread with two eggs, so the yolk can soak into the bread.

Back to the room

We go back to the room at 7.55am and I write a second blog post about our journey from Tromsø to Kiruna. This involves lots of happy memories and some rambling about our reading/TV watching habits. 

With that drafted I do my weekly check on our stocks and shares, while Drew is checking the blog post. I then post it.

We pack and check we have everything we need for the journey home. 

Arlanda Express

We check out from the hotel by the app at 11.20am and drop our keys at the key drop point as we walk up from the room and out of the hotel. I reckon we'll be back at this, our happy place. 

From our hotel room we could see the Arlanda Express on its platform, so it takes us less than ten minutes to walk from the hotel to the train. 

Which leaves at 11.35am and arrives at Terminal 5, our terminal, at 11.50am, exactly 3 hours before our departure.

We get into a very friendly lift

which says "Hello, I just want to say thanks for taking the lift." This sounds so much like the lifts from Zaphod Beeblebrox's ship, The Heart of Gold, in Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, that I wonder if a fan works for the lift company. This lift only says it in text, so at least we don't have the synthasised voice of the Heart of Gold's lifts.

Arlanda Airport

We make our way to a self-check in machine 

and then to the luggage drop. We have completed this and the security - fast track was quiet this morning by 12.10pm.

So, it was time to head to the SAS lounge.

We settled in to the lounge. I had a coffee and sparkling water and Drew Pepsi Max, then I had a delightful minty pea soup which was served with croutons and crusty bread to eat with it. 

Drew explores the airport and returns and starts to read his novel while I do some holiday accounting. I've not had a chance since we left Kiruna on Wednesday.

We leave the lounge at 2.15pm to go through passport control. This isn't as smooth as the earlier queues, it takes 10 minutes to go through. So we are through passport control by 2.25pm, then have to walk ten gates to our one where we board and settle into our row 4 seats. 

On the plane

We take-off at 2.55pm (1.55pm UK time) right on time. Lunch is served about thirty minutes later. It is a lovely fresh chicken dish with tabbouleh.

Drew is not as comfortable as me on the flight. He is sat beside a large muscley guy who apologised at the end of the flight for the amount of space he took up. [Co-pilot's note: I, dear readers, was in fear of my life!!! He was massive, his arms were the size of my waist. Some people might think that him falling asleep was a positive, not me, dear readers, because he seemingly started to have night terrors, one sudden move from him and I'd be crushed, flattened, as dead as a Norwegian blue parrot.]

Drew says at one point he had stereo snoring with me on one side and the large fella on the other. 

Heathrow

We landed at 4.18pm BST and disembarked at 4.30pm. Using the e-gates got us through passport control quickly and we arrived at the luggage belt at 4.40pm. My case arrives at 4.48pm and Drew's at 4.50pm.

We take the familiar path through Terminal 2 and use the escalators to get to the Bus Station as the lifts are very full.

We arrive in the Black Sheep Coffee shop at 5.15pm; 1 hour 15 minutes before the coach we are travelling on.

At least here the Americano and the Latte are the same size, I wonder, to myself, if there are Europeans here worrying that their coffee is to large??

National Express

The NX202 leaves at 6.30pm with our cases safely packed under the bus. It wasn't my imagination, the seats are closer together on National Express buses than the VY buses in Norway. Perhaps something for feedback when we get the survey question. As it happens this coach is not full, so it feels very spacious.

We have a peaceful drive stopping at Bristol and Newport on the way. We arrive in Cardiff at 10pm. We don't order the taxi until we get our luggage, which on reflection was a mistake. But I'm not used to using taxis in Cardiff, but as the last 132 leaves at 10pm, it was the only sensible option.

We get home at 11pm and decide to leave clothes sorting and washing until the morning. We get to bed by 11.25pm.