Day 1 (7.11-12.22): Chaotic Departure and Happy Landings

Our trip to Sweden was something of a bonus trip for us. Please forgive me for diving into some backstory. In the summer of 2021, we found a great deal on flights with SAS to the Canary Islands. We quickly bought the tickets so we could visit our dear friends (and frequent travel partners – Teresa, Diego, Catalina, and Guillermo). Sure, there was still a lingering pandemic, but what could possibly go wrong? By the time the trip rolled around in the fall of 2021, the covid Omicron Variant hit, derailing trip. But we were confident that the setback was temporary. Once the covid rates dropped, we could reschedule our trip, right? Wrong. By the time we tried to arrange new SAS flights, we discovered that SAS stopped flying to the Canaries.

Fortunately, we were able to book entirely new flights to the Canaries (and had a fabulous trip). We were not able to get refunds for the SAS tickets, but we did get credits, though they would only last one year. As a result, we had to take a trip with SAS by the end of summer 2022. Complicating matters time for Team Hubbard was very tight. We got back from our rescheduled trip to the Canaries on July 3, 2022. Lydie had plans to study environmental science for two weeks at Hobart and William Smith College starting July 10. Cassie had plans to study engineering for two weeks at Notre Dame on July 10. That left Julie and me with a two-week window before we had to pick up Cassie and Lydie. Hoping for the best, we used the SAS credits book tickets to Sweden departing July 11.

And then all of the SAS pilots went on strike. As our departure date approached, we watched SAS flight after SAS flight get cancelled. On the morning of July 10, we got the message that our flight was cancelled. We stopped worrying about packing. But then just a couple of hours later, we got another message that we had been rebooked on Iberian Airlines. The Spanish to the rescue! On the afternoon of July 11, we finally were off.

As we walked through the airport to check in at the Iberian Airlines counter, we passed the SAS counter. Yep. Our SAS Flight was cancelled.

We were soon in our seats and on our way to Madrid, where we had to change planes before heading north to Sweden. Along the way we flew over Versailles, bringing back memories of our trip there in 2017.

We soon landed and headed to our hotel, which was just around the corner from the main train station. We quickly dropped our stuff and headed out to explore Stockholm!

Along the way, we admired the manhole covers, which reminded us of our trip to Trondheim in 2017.

We eventually made our way to the Kungsträdgården (or “King’s Garden), a park in the center that was once the “kitchen garden” for the nearby palace.

We strolled around the garden and the nearby neighborhoods but really didn’t know what we were looking at. This trip had been cobbled together so quickly that I didn’t have a chance to do the usual research and planning. But it’s also fun to follow your nose a bit. It turns out this is the Molina Fountain, which dates to 1866 and depicts various Norse gods.

By now, our energy was starting to dip. We needed nourishment! We headed back toward our hotel and found a great restaurant (Bistro Rolf de Maré) along the way. The beer was fantastic…