Välkommen till Sverige!

My trek to Sweden was a bit longer than planned, but I made it! Due to the weather in Chicago, my plane left a half hour late. This made us land a half hour later in Amsterdam and left me a mere 20 minutes to make my next flight. Now, have you ever gone through customs in Miami when returning to the United States? You have to walk about 2 miles to get through customs and back to the domestic flights. The same thing exists in the Amsterdam airport. Knowing this, the United agents met me as I disembarked and handed me my new ticket for a later flight--one that didn't fly directly to Stockholm, but to Oslo first. All in all it added about 4 hours to my travel, from 14 and a half hours to 18 and a half.

On the other hand, it allowed my good, long-time friend in Sweden to pick me up on her way home from work instead of my having to take the bus into town... so that worked out! And, United put me on SAS in first class for the last two legs! I could drink like a Swede! (I had one glass of wine and that was it for me--too tired--not much like a Swede at all.)

So...

• 4 airplanes
• 5 airports
• 3 customs check points
• 2 security screens (I accidentally exited the Oslo airport looking for my connecting flight. You get to keep your shoes on here.)
  
• 2 glasses of wine
  

Staying just southwest of Stockholm in a 'burb called Bromma, which is about 4 miles from the downtown area. Had a nice walk last night and a longer run this morning in the area. It sidles up to the water and has many great hiking and biking trails. Also home to Mats Sundin for you hockey fans.

More later...