Tuesday, June 4, 2019

Wandering boots tour: Day 16 Stockholm to Brussels




By the numbers
10614 steps
7.97kms
I ended up not having the greatest sleep especially when an elderly confused couple were put into the room. I think they were a little bewildered about the whole being in a hostel around midnightish. I think there was some excitement before my flight. I got up well before I needed to for some reason and used the last of my cash to buy a sandwich that was my breakfast. The sandwiches was 60 Swedish crowns I think they are called or nearly $10 Australian. It is always good when you can identify with the corner store that has food. Even if it is a 7/11. They come in handy when they are needed.

I was I found the bus without a problem and was happy they actually only picked up two of us. Another airport had too many people waiting. I soon found out why. If you are familiar with the Gold Coast airport the Bromma one is smaller with less space. You could basically fit the whole baggage claim area in domestic as both parts. I got there over three hours when it was basically 2 hours before departure, which was why I never got a baggage tag. In the end my bag weighed 19.01 kilos. Security even went through my hand luggage as they were after my big camera that I still hadn’t really used this trip. They wanted that, my little camera. They were happy after scanning the rest of that. All because the big camera ‘was’ an electronic device.

Waiting for the flight wasn’t too bad as I had a book to read. The plane was apparently late, but I did see a dog that was going onto the same plane and I felt then that I missed another little dog, but I also know I was tired too, which doesn’t help. The plane was not even that full when I boarded. I had a row to myself. From Stockholm to Brussels, it was around 2 hours. At least it beat the something like 18 hour trip over land that would get me into Brussels in the am. It was pretty good to relax on the plane, although it was too warm for my jumper. I even had the same problem once I arrived in Brussels. It was warm there too. Brussels airport was on a whole nother level over the Stockholm airport. It was huge and there was one thing that I wanted to see. There was a little red and white rocket ship that was inside the airport. The good thing was that I had to walk past it on the way to getting my bag. At least I didn’t have to hunt it down.. There were no security checks on the way out as I was out and pretty clear.

The train into the city from the airport was pretty easy even though I had to make sure I was going to the right station or else I would end up lost and that would not be good. I was using the maps on my phone to make certain I was getting to where I go. Once off the train, I had to catch a tram and I realised at one of the vending machines that I had the wrong machine and found one outside near the tram terminal. That gave me the tickets I needed especially the 48 hour one for my Brussels Card. Once I figured out how to put the machine in English I got myself a ticket for a one way journey. I was at the right tram spot and I checked the time table and realised I had the right tram behind me and was just in time as the doors closed to get on. I did get some looks and I again watched my map in case I missed my stop. It was again ewasy even though I didn’t speak the language.

All I had to do was walk around 500 metres to the hostel and check in. They had my name and everything. Its been a year since I made the booking and I just handed over my passport. This Meininger hostel wasn’t too bad, bit better than the Berlin one and a better shower, which was all I needed. The only problem was I had no idea where to find food and I ended up finding a random supermarket that sold a salad type thing. At least Google maps could direct me, which was the main thing and I made it back from the random supermarket. I am happy that I was able to find that and use the data as that is the helpful part. I have no idea what else is in the general area either. The weather has warmed up and nothing like wearing a jumper as that is too hot. I could see a storm coming and writing this it has started to storm, so it is good that I am under shelter in a hostel.

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