I woke up around 6am, showered, had a repeat of the previous day's Royal Horseguard's breakfast, and then checked out and took a taxi to Paddington, and then the Heathrow Express train to LHR.
May 20
LHR-ARN
BA 778
ET
Seat 12A
Scheduled and actual: 11:20 - 14:45
I arrived at Heathrow fairly early (around 9am), and was in the Flounge by 9:30. First class and Club world check-in were both very crowded, so I waited about 10-15 minutes for the first class area. South and north security were both allegedly the same wait, but south fast track was very crowded, so I headed to north security and was through within five minutes.
At the Flounge, I sat on the terrace as it was already a bit crowded in the lounge. The lounge and terrace were a bit too warm, and there were a series of announcements about the toilets not working in the south lounges,
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...uncements.html
I enjoyed the again fast wifi, and worked until it was time to board from gate A5. Fast track boarding commenced a few minutes after I arrived in the gate, and I was in my only non-aisle seat of the trip.
Just before boarding was finished, a pilot sat in the middle seat (12B). However, a few minutes later a flight attendant asked if she could see his boarding pass, and then stealthily moved him to CE. That was fine with me, as the exit row had more legroom than his final CE seat.
I was tired, and slept the majority of the flight, though was awake long enough to take a few photos from the air. The cabin temperature was a touch too warm.
Arrival at ARN was efficient, though baggage delivery was slow and the lack of priority baggage service by BA further delayed things.
I took a pre-booked Arlanda Express train to the city, and realized I had booked the ticket for the wrong day. Luckily this was not an issue and more humorous than anything else., and I had the tickets printed at the central station.
After finding cash from a bankomat, I took a short taxi ride to the Scandic Anglais.
In my experience, Scandic can be widely variable as they have locations at all price points. This hotel is one of their nicer ones, with a Jamie Oliver Italian restaurant in the lobby. I was quickly checked in to my room, and enjoyed the fast wifi.
After some meetings and a shower, I headed to dinner at
Restaurang Niklas for a meeting with a client. The dinner was excellent, with the Secreto Iberico (polenta) and a nice chocolate brownie for dessert. The restaurant itself has very interesting decor, with kitchens throughout (I did not ask, but it appears that they probably offer cooking classes during off hours). As I will often do at restaurants, I asked the server what she recommended, and ordered as suggested. I find that at the right restaurants, this often leads to enjoying something I would not normally order, and it worked out well on this occasion.
I walked back to my hotel around 10:30pm, had a couple of meetings, and finished the night with FaceTime and some fitness.
