This morning I said goodbye to my hotel and Stockholm. I will miss Stockholm. It is a beautiful city and by every measure an accommodating one. And I will miss the quiet hotel with a view from my room of the shared courtyard.
My journey today is to Kalmar, a city in the southeast of Sweden and on the Baltic Sea. Kalmar is where my mother's Swedish ancestors emigrated from, the Carlsons. Also my g grandmother on my father's side, Hulda Perrson, who was born in the countryside near Kalmar.
Hulda married Claes Erik Leonard Sjowall after emigrating to Chicago in 1880. Claes didn't come to Chicago until 1884. They had two children, Hildur and Arthur Sjowall. Hildur is my grandmother, my father's mother.
My plan is to visit Kalmar and also explore the surrounding countryside by rental car for two days. I have the locations where my ancestors lived and by using Google Maps plan to visit the small towns and surrounding areas.
I set out after breakfast for my 10:21 departure from Stockholm Central. The station had my departure at track 11 and on-time. I got to the station early knowing that I could spend some time in the SJ Lounge writing this blog using their wi-fi and having a cup of coffee.
I made my way to track 11 and the entire platform was filled with people. A SJ employee explained that there were some train problems which cascaded through the system. She said to keep an eye out for a track change.
Sure enough 9 minutes before departure a message came through the SJ iPhone app stating my train had a track change to track 10. Oh no. I have to make my way through the crowd with luggage, down a flight of stairs (no elevator), a short walk to an up escalator and then to track 10! That's a cruel thing to do to a tourist. Of course I made it!
The trip to Kalmar from Stockholm is a two train affair. The first train is 3 hours 10 minutes to Alvesta station for a connecting train to Kalmar. The connection time was 9 minutes between trains.
All well and good but my train left Stockholm 5 minutes late. And watching the SJ app updates showed the time not being made up along the way. Luckily the connecting train was also 5 minutes late and I made the connection without mishap.
The ride from Alvesta station to Kalmar was 1 hours 27 minutes for a total travel time of just over 4 1/2 hours.
This was my third high speed train travel day. I have just one remaining when I leave Kalmar on Monday, June 10th for Copenhagen. But I am getting ahead of myself.
I caught up on my blog writing while on the first leg. The wi-fi works great even though the train is traveling at 200 kph. I had ordered food when I booked my ticket and was served at my seat. The description was a prawn sandwich but I think something was lost in translation.
Out for a bite to eat and then tuck myself in for the night reading my latest novel.
Glad you made your train even with the change. I'm so envious of all that good food. Yum.
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