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.

Heathow to Oslo

I left you yesterday in the Lounge at Heathrow Airport. We had a relaxing time here and were well prepared for the off when the time came.

At 9.50am our gate number came up - Gate A18 and it turned out to be just downstairs from the lounge. By the time we went down the escalator check in had opened, as we were travelling SAS plus we were among the first on the plane and we were onboard and seated by 10.05. 

The flight took off at 10.35am right on time, with a hour 50 minutes to Oslo. For aviation fans it was an Airbus A320 plane.

The flight headed for the North Sea and flew in a north-easterly direction before coming to the Norwegian Coast. Lunch was served at 11.15am or at 12.15pm Oslo time. Lunch is free for Plus passengers, though can be ordered in advance (and paid for) by other passengers. 

It was a real tasty snack. Smoked salmon with barley and broccoli salad, pickled butternut pumpkin with a capers and lemon mayo and rye crispbread. Light suitable for a Friday and with lots of flavour.

I also had tasty sparkling water, a brand called Ramlösa, which is based in Sweden, but sells its water across the Scandinavian countries.  

Drew also had a Swedish treat of chocolates after the meal, they were Almond Pralines

We finished the meal with coffee and had a quiet calm flight with both of us reading our kindles for most of the rest of the journey. Finally, as we came below the clouds we could see green fields and small villages, more green and less mountains than I might have expected in Norway!

We arrived in Oslo Airport at 1.33pm and disembarked at 1.40pm, where we were welcomed by an advert for duty-free!!

  

We walked through the quiet airport, it is such a different experience from the busy scenes of a Heathrow or even a Malaga. Still we had to queue at the passport control as only EU and EFTA arrivals could use the electronic passport gates. 

We arrived in the queue at 1.45pm and were through at 2pm, so it wasn't that bad a queue. We walked through to the Baggage area and the bags were already on the belt when we arrived. By 2.05pm we have our bags and are through customs and into the airport.  

We head towards the Flytoget express train. With our tickets bought on the app a few weeks ago, we find the station easily

We get on the train which runs every 20 minutes and we arrive at Oslo Sentralstasjon at 2.52pm. 

The walk from the station to the hotel was amazing. We got off the train and headed through the station concourse in the direction of the hotel, the Thon Hotel Opera where we are staying for the next three nights. We came out of the station and I stopped to take a photo of the station sign (something we'd not seen inside the station) 

As I turned around to begin looking for the hotel, this was my view:

Yep, right next door!

Granted I had selected the hotel (Thon of 9 or so in the city) because of its closeness to the station, making it easy for us to make an early departure on our way to Bergen on Monday morning - but I had no idea it was quite this close!

Thon Hotel Opera

The reception area to the hotel was a floor down from the station level entrance, it had a very grand staircase.

It also had some grand chairs near the lifts. 

On our, seventh floor, it had a highly decorated seat

And the corridors are remarkable 

The room itself is well provided a nice big bed with Scandinavian duvets, i.e. individuals ones, so that Drew for three weeks doesn't get to complain about some clumsy oaf stealing his duvet!!

Finally, having hunted around the station for a sign to photo, we can see the sign we actually photo'd from our hotel bedroom window! The Grand Hotel is the building next to the station. 

Thankfully the double or triple glazing means we don't get any train related sounds in the room. Which is very peaceful.

My next post, which should be later today, will outline how we spent our busy first evening in Oslo, but I think this post is long enough for now, so breaking here - see you again later.  

 

An evening and a morning at Heathrow

Dinner at the Urban Brasserie

Having settled in to the room at the Crowne Plaza and checked which of our clothes had got damp due to the heavy rain earlier (getting them out of the case and hung up enabled them to dry quite easily), we went down for dinner at the hotel's restaurant called the Urban Brasserie.

Drew opted to start his meal with a Beetroot and Goat Cheese Salad, this salad of salad leaves, spinach, roasted beetroot, goat’s cheese in balsamic vinaigrette and toasted walnuts tasted as good as it looked. Drew was very impressed.

I opted for Hot and Spicy Chicken Wings, a regular choice for me early in a holiday, as they are something I wouldn't make at home. The Crispy Wings were served with Blue Cheese dressing and salad. The batter was more like a popcorn chicken style batter, rather than a more traditional wings mix, but it was lovely and crisp. The bones in the wings meant that even when the meat was all used up I could still mop up the lovely blue cheese dressing on the bones.

For my mains I opted for slow roasted pork belly, this was largely because I remembered that my first choice - Murgh Mukhani was the dish I had in this restaurant when we were here last year - the crunchy meat was well complemented by sweet potato mash, sauteed pakchoy and char siu sauce, the mash had flecks of sage through it which added to the flavour. I also ordered a side of Broccoli tossed with garlic - the second photo below - it was crunchy and delightful too. I'd have felt I hadn't had enough to eat without it, so I was glad to have ordered it. 

Drew ordered Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani for his own main course, when it arrived he recalled he had had the same dish last year! But no harm as the roast chicken cooked with  indian spices and layered with aromatic rice, boiled egg and mint raita was as nice as he remembered.

We decided to treat ourselves to dessert and Drew opted for the Baked vanilla cheesecake served with a raspberry coulis. He enjoyed the sweet flavours and was able to make some inappropriate masterchef related jokes at the end as the cheesecake had a buttery, biscuit base

I had the delight of a Cheese Board, to be honest I didn't hold out great hope on the cheese front as the restaurant food was good, but eclectic in style. But it turned out that the place did a wonderful selection of delightful cheeses: There was two pieces of Mimolette, a favourite of mine with its orangy colour and tangy flavour, there was also Applewood Smoked, which is of less interest to me, I feel it is a bit rubbery in tecture, but I like the smoky taste. The third cheese was a English Pecorino - a Hard Sheep's Cheese with a strong flavour and texture. The final cheese was a well aged Blue Stilton - one of my favourite English cheeses. All the cheeses were served at room temperature, so many times in the past my delight in the cheese has been disappointed by them still being chilled from the fridge, with their flavour reduced because of it, but not here, they were at just the right temerature to make them a wonder and delight. I loved the whole dish.

After dinner we went back to the room, read for a while and them went to bed at around 10pm, ready for a 6am alarm and 7am departure tomorrow.

Terminal 2

I woke at 4am and posted yesterday's blog at 5am I could hear Drew stirring, so made us both a cup of tea, Earl Grey for him and English Breakfast tea for me. The tea brand here is Birchall Tea not a brand with which I am familiar, but which gives a lovely flavoursome cuppa. 

I made another cuppa at 6am and began my ablutions, then Drew got up and did the same. We left the room at 7am, as planned and headed along the link back to Terminal 4 and down the lift

to the underground, where we picked up our free tickets. 

and caught the 7.15am train which arrived at Terminal 2 at 7.21am

We then went back onto the travelators in the opposite direction from that we had travelled yesterday afternoon and then arrived at Terminal 2, which has the title: The Queen's Terminal!

We had checked in yesterday, so a quick flick of our passports and the machine printed our luggage tags.

It was then onto the bag drop and there was no one in front of us. 

My bag came to 11.2k and Drew's to 10.9k (though to be fair as I am carrying the sealed bag with our dirty clothes from yesterday, I have trousers, shirt and smalls of Drew's in my bag, so I think we were more even before that!). The truth is that with the ticket we have we could have 44k (two bags) each - so we weren't near any limit. It is just that travelling light is a target on a holiday with lots of train coach and bus travel.

In the lounge

Having dropped the bags at 7.39am we went through security and it was speedy too by 7.45am we were through and walking to the Lufthansa lounge. Lufthansa are a partner of SAS and with their SAS Plus tickets - the equivalent to Premium Economy - we are able to make use of the lounge, which we did. Drew got himself comfortable, as you can see below:

It being Friday it was cheese, eggs, fried potatoes and and cheese for me for breakfast. To be fair the small roasts were cooked with tarragon and parsley, a very nice combination and the scrambled eggs were fluffier and tastier than any I remember. 

Drew had an extra treat, having the bacon, he was quick to tell me that it was luscious and juicy - he is so kind making sure I feel what I am missing in my Friday fast!

Even better from his point of view was the fact that thirty minutes later the bacon was replaced by sausages, so he had to have some so I would know what I was missing 😂

After breakfast I sat and wrote this blog post, so I can post it before getting on the plane at 10.35am. [Co-pilot's note: They were indeed a very fatty and herby sausage! yum, yum, yum.]

See you on the other side, as they say.

On our way

So, the morning has arrived and we are on our way. 

Getting up

Drew got up at 5.30am and had the puzzle of a kettle without a heating element. It was working fine last night, it is defunct this morning! He improvised and used a saucepan to heat water for his tea, probably not the most eco-friendly method of heating water, but it did the job. Note to self, order a new kettle for delivery when we get home!!

I got up at 6.15am and had my breakfast while Drew brushed his teeth, the electric toothbrush always being the last thing to go in the case, and got ready to depart.

The journey begins - Part 1

With the bags packed we took our traditional photo of the luggage with our old travel companion Captain Jack ready for all boarders!

As we drank our tea and I ate my oatbran, raspberries, red peanuts and homemade sauerkraut, so the SAS app notified up that online check-in was now available.

It took a couple of minutes to be all sorted:

It was a positive thing to note that there is no sign of flight delays, given the NATS problems which occurred across UK airspace yesterday. Let's hope it means everything will be fine tomorrow.

Drew then heads off for work, with his luggage with him, to catch the 132 into town and spend the morning working before taking flexitime this afternoon, to enable us to get to the airport the evening before our flight, a nice relaxed approach.

The journey begins - Part 2

 

While Drew is at work I wash the clothes left in the laundry basket and the towels we have used in the last few days, then go through the house turning off all the electricity and making sure all the windows and closed and locked.

I have fruit for lunch and leave the house at 12.55pm heading for the 132 bus stop and the 1.04am bus.

The bus is running four minutes late when I arrive at the bus stop at 1pm, but I had left plenty of time for this leg of the journey. The 132 arrives just before a heavy rain storm - you can see the cloud in the background below:

It is a comfortable journey on a quietish bus to Blackweir which is the stop where I get off at 1.35pm to walk through Bute Park to the National Express Coach Station.

A rainstorm of tropical proportions began as I enter the park, I thought this would pass quickly, but it became more not less intense, so my trusty mac-in-a-sac came to the rescue. 

Three minutes after putting it on the shower had passed!! So that by the time I crossed the River Taff the sky looked delightful.

I arrived at the bus station at 1.50pm only 45 minutes before the bus. I think this is some kind of record for me. I'm normally arriving an hour or more in advance, being on time is an obsession of mine.

Drew walks up from his office, which is opposite the park gate, and he arrived at 2.15pm. he had also been caught by the rain.

The rain returned as we headed to the bus, so we got wet all over again!!

National Express

The coach left 10 minutes late due to the crazy rain. That is at 2.45pm, rather than 2.35pm. This coach only stops at Cardiff Gate and Newport and then is straight on to Heathrow Central Bus Station, our stop. There were no particular incidents on the journey and we arrived at the Bus Station in Heathrow at 5.50pm only 15 minutes late, even though the traffic on the M4 was very busy. 

Heathrow

We have had different ways of getting to Heathrow over the years. Once or twice my brother, when he still lived in the UK, acted as driver for us, on other times we travelled via a Car Hire and once or twice by train (which doesn't really help as the Reading to Heathrow leg of the journey is still by bus. But in recent years we have settled on National Express as the easiest means of getting here. Also in recent years we have booked a airport hotel the night before. Initially in the hotels (often Premier Inns) out near the M4 with hoppa bus taking you back and forth. But last year, as we were looking for IHG hotels, we found out that internal travel between parts of the airport are free, so a underground (Elizabeth line) train takes you directly from the Central Bus Station to the Crowne Plaza at Terminal 4. This worked smoothly again this year. 

We got on the Elizabeth line train at 6.07pm 

arriving at Terminal 4 at 6.10pm, then along the covered walkway to the Crowne Plaza where we arrived at 6.20pm and checked in, getting up to our room, 4501 by 6.25pm.

Not only is this a lovely comfortable hotel but by using our IHG points earned on previous booking, we were able to book this night's stay for free. 

More photos

A reminder to readers that if you want to see more photos of the journey or the hotel room all the holiday photos are shared via Flickr, click this link to see them all.