The Journey There

From Zurich it takes us just under 2.5 hours by plane to get to Arlanda, which lies north of Stockholm. But wait, we are flying in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic… It’s not quite that simple. The day before, we had to take a Covid test. For Sweden the cheaper rapid antigen test is enough, including a travel certificate in English, French or Swedish. A measly CHF 45 is what we get to fork out for it at EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse, on the French side of the airport. The nasal swab takes less than a minute, and 15 minutes later we are told the result: Negative! Which, for this test, is thoroughly positive. We receive the travel certificate, which contains our names, the test result, the testing facility and other details. We have to keep this paper certificate safe. It is what will make this trip possible in the first place. Fast forward: Zurich Airport. We drop off our luggage at the counter, and this is where we have to show the Covid test for the first time. Then we go for something to eat and drink with Annina’s parents, who kindly drove us to the airport, before we disappear through security. Once there, we get to empty our backpacks, which we carry as hand luggage, almost completely, because we are travelling with cameras, laptops, extra batteries, drone, e-reader, etc. This is always a thorn in the side of the security staff, but we get through the check smoothly, even if afterwards we get to repack our backpacks almost completely again. We fly from Terminal 1, Gate A75. Once there, we have to show the Covid test together with our passport for the second time. Normally you would get a stamp on your boarding pass after showing it successfully, but since we both only have our boarding passes digitally on our smartphones, we get a sheet of paper with the stamp on it. That is enough to let us through the gate towards the plane. On the plane we take our seats, which we had reserved in advance: 2 nice seats right by the window behind the engines. We have to wear a medical face mask at all times. Except when the friendly steward brings round the Swiss chocolate (a SWISS tradition), then everybody on the plane takes off their mask at the same time and starts eating. Very sensible…

The flight is very smooth. Above Switzerland and Germany the weather is beautiful (it is 29 degrees Celsius when we take off) and also very clear, so we can see the ground the whole time. But when we arrive above Sweden, we disappear into a thick layer of cloud. In Sweden it is raining at 6 degrees Celsius. At Arlanda Airport we wait less than 2 minutes for our luggage, then we go straight to the Arlanda Express train, which we reach by lift.

This train takes us to the centre of Stockholm within 18 minutes. From there we walk in the rain with our suitcases to our hotel, the Best Western Hotel Bentleys, which is at the end of Stockholm’s shopping street.