Well, no secret it's been warm. Here is a striking map showing anomalous high temps for Scandinavia in June; July has continued the trend.
Click for more info from NASA.
We packed both light clothes and sweaters and jackets. Sweaters and jackets have stayed in the suitcases.
Trondheim to Östersund
We set out Monday afternoon to travel east by train to Östersund, a resort town in north-central Sweden, where we would spend one night, then next day take another train south to Stockholm. (It would be possible to do both train trips in a single day, but it would have meant leaving Trondheim at 7am and traveling for more than 14 hours. That wouldn't suit these flaneurs.) This two-day plan developed some major hitches due to circumstances beyond our control.
The first indication that all was not well came when we arrived at Trondheim central station. The NSB (Norwegian railways) reservation bought months ago online had now to be converted into a real ticket. The ticket agent who assisted with this let us know that there would be a change of plan. Due to an avalanche, he said, the train could not go all the way to Storlien, the border town where we would change from an NSB train to a Swedish one. Instead, the train would terminate at Kopperå and we would travel by bus to Storlien. Well OK; or, oh que sera sera.
At this point it was hot for Trondheim. In the shade, the air was a pleasant 78 or so, but direct sun was very uncomfortable. The train that arrived for us at track 5 had apparently been sitting in the sun all day with its windows closed. Scandinavian trains (and hotels, stations, stores...) do not have air conditioning. None of the windows opened. So let us just say the next 90 minutes were icky and sticky, so that when we got out of the train at Kopperå, it was a relief to stand outside in the sun. Everyone schlepped their luggage to the waiting coach and climbed in. Happily, the bus had A/C.
For the next couple of hours the bus took us through some really pretty countryside: wide river valleys filled with lush croplands and scattered red farmhouses, the hills thick with conifers. Of course we were seeing it under slanting evening light. (In summer here, the photographer's "golden hour" lasts about four hours.) Unfortunately none of the pics grabbed through the window of the speeding train came out.
At Storlien we hustled onto the blue and yellow Swedish train which left quickly. Although not as roasty as the NSB train, it had no air circulation either. We had been a couple of hours without anything to drink now, and were pleased to see this train had a little snack kiosk with a refrigerator full of drinks. We waited impatiently while the conductor lady finished her ticket-checking round and unlocked the kiosk. David grabbed orange juice, coke, bag of trail mix.
Now here we must admit to being rather stupid. We had idled away 2 hours at the Trondheim station where there was a money exchange window, and we didn't take advantage to change Norwegian krone into Swedish ones. (Hey, you can use Canadian money anywhere near the US border, why would Sweden and Norway be different?) So here on the Swedish train, the conductor lady politely but absolutely didn't take Norwegian money. No problem — pull out the Hyatt credit card with the "chip" that has been working several times a day for weeks. The Swedish train's credit card machine wouldn't process it! (It had only failed before in vending machines for bus tickets. Something about transit that Visa doesn't like...)
So we are hot and seriously thirsty, with hands literally holding a cold sweaty coke can, and can't buy it. David confesses to a little show of temper at this point.
An hour further into the 2-hour trip, Marian approached the conductor lady and asked if there was any kind of drinking water on the train. "Sorry, no, but here..." and she handed Marian two "juice brick" packages of plain water. Which we drank with great relief.
From the Östersund station it was a four-block walk to our hotel, which had a pub restaurant downstairs, so after we checked in we had quite nice suppers sitting on the street. The hotel wasn't cooled but our room had windows that opened. So that was good.
Östersund to Stockholm
Tuesday dawned brilliant and warm. We ate breakfast at the hotel, packed, checked out leaving our bags, and had to find something to do to fill the time until departure. Well, item one was to get some Swedish cash. The hotel lady pointed us at a bank just up the street where this was accomplished.
Östersund is a resort town that caters to active vacationers (hikers, bikers, skiers, boaters, etc), not to flaneurs. So, for lack of an alternative, we went to the second open-air museum of historic reconstruction in as many days. Jamtli is larger and more comprehensive than the Trondelag park we saw in Trondheim on Monday; and is more pleasant to visit, although not so historically rich, as Den Gamle By in Aarhus.
Kids get in free to Jamtli. And the furry kids live there.
We idled away about four hours, part of it just sitting on a bench in the shade. Then we got a taxi to go to the hotel for our bags and then on to the station.
Here the departure board again suggested problems. Our train was delayed from 17:25 to 17:40 and there was a note that (with the help of the iPhone translation app) read "bus replacement". Uh-oh. There was no ticket office at this station, but Marian found a railway employee who explained that owing to an accident, half the route would be accomplished in a bus. A few minutes later David got an email from Swedish Railways. Here is the Google Translate of its text:
Hello! Currently, it stops in the train services on the route Ange-Ljusdal because of an accident. It affects your trip by train 85 on 2014-07-22 with booking number KUZ4354G. Your trains are replaced by buses on the route Åre-Ljusdal. In Ljusdal of switch to regular trains with new departure time at 21.00.
There was free wi-fi at the station and David sent an email to our Stockholm hotel advising of a likely late arrival. No longer novices to hot-weather travel, we stocked up with bottles of water and juice, and waited outside the station with 50+ other travelers for the coach to show. Grabbed a pic while in the scrum to board.
This could equally well be picture of changing to a bus in Kopperå, 24 hours earlier.
The coach had feeble A/C, and the afternoon sun was shining in the right-side windows. Which was our side: Marian had grabbed the last available pair of seats while David chucked the bags into the luggage bay. So it was a hot, three-hour trip.
The ride was not much improved by the scenery. Central Sweden is pretty much all conifers and small lakes. It was reminiscent of the ride on the Trans-Siberian Express, except unlike Russia, the occasional village has paved streets and modern houses.
Finally we reached the tiny station of Ljudale, got out, collected our bags, and schlepped them to the platform. There was a 40-minute wait before departure, time enough to use the toilet and grab a couple of ice-cream bars and fresh drinks.
The ride on into Stockholm Central took three hours, but there were some windows open and the temperature was cool enough. It was actually dark when we arrived in the central station.
Welcome to Stockholm, where the local time is 0:40.
Our hotel, the Radisson Blu, is adjacent to the station, so we were soon chillin' in a nice air-conditioned room.
Tomorrow: we meet Stockholm!
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