From Warsaw to Lillon

Monday, 4:00 a.m., the alarm clock jolted us out of bed – because we had a journey ahead of us.

At 5:17 a.m., I was already dragging our luggage toward the elevator, taking it down to the underground parking garage, and stowing it in the car.

We headed off to the airport. I had reserved a long-term parking space for the car in an underground garage not far from the airport, where we could park quickly and easily using a code sent to us.

We had already packed our luggage for the next few days separately, so we only had to take the two pieces of luggage and our rolling suitcases out of the car, leaving the rest in the trunk.

A shuttle was already waiting for us and took us to the airport terminal within three minutes.

Booking the flight was a bit tricky. I didn't see business class at well over US$600 per person on the short flight to Stockholm, but even economy class with one piece of checked baggage was just under US$400 per person. As it turned out, the outbound flight cost just under US$300, while the return flight cost just over US$100.

So I booked the outbound flight for 21,000 miles plus US$90 in fees, and the return flight for US$240, for two people.

The M&M Gold check-in was quiet so early in the morning, and security was also completed in a few minutes, so we entered the LOT lounge in the Schengen area at 6:18 a.m., still with plenty of time to grab breakfast.

I had specifically booked a window and aisle seat on the plane, hoping the middle seat would be free – but that hope wasn't fulfilled on the fully booked 737. So I moved to the middle seat, while the rather tall man took the aisle seat, immediately taking up the entire armrest and more.

The flight took off a good 30 minutes late. The gentleman next to me was already asleep, his side position drifting more and more toward me. I was thrilled. When he then started snoring, his breath almost directly in my ear, I gently woke him up. But after five minutes, he was back in dreamland, once again tilted toward me, his mouth open as he snored, about 5 cm from my head.

Maybe I'm weird, but in my opinion, we should respect each other, especially in such a confined space as an airplane's flight deck. Therefore, the next time, he was gently woken up with an elbow, and told not to sleep if he couldn't be confined to his own seat. This worked, and the rest of the flight went smoothly.

Although we departed relatively late from Warsaw, we still arrived at ARN on time, collected our luggage, and went downstairs to board the express train to Stockholm. Price-wise, for two people, despite a 50% discount for the second person, it's about the same as an Uber, but it offers faster transportation into the city.

I can't say that Sweden is an attractive travel destination in my opinion; I was happy to delegate this to one of my salespeople for business trips back then. Therefore, the reason for the trip wasn't the beautiful scenery or the good food; instead, I wanted to see a very good friend whom I hadn't seen in years due to his extremely difficult divorce and custody of his child.

We used to explore China and Thailand together, but unfortunately, for the past few years, his mind has been elsewhere. So, these days, he commutes between his two homes in Marbella and Stockholm, determined not to make any mistakes so as not to get into trouble with his daughter's right of access.

A few minutes after we arrived at the train station, my friend showed up. We loaded the luggage, Maryna slid into the back seat, and we drove off.

You know that feeling when you haven't seen someone in years and it feels like yesterday was the last time you saw each other? That's exactly how we both felt.

My friend had a quick errand in the city center, so we had a quick lunch at Schmaltz Bar & Delicatessen and went to Östermalms Saluhall to stock up on produce like lobster, kabobs, cheese, and herring in sauce for the next few days.

From here we drove to Biskopsuddens Marina, where my friend has his boat moored.

After hauling our luggage and a ton of groceries onto the boat, we began our trip with a short sightseeing tour through Stockholm, all the way to Stockholm Palace.

Here we turned around and drove west out of Stockholm, past Vaxholm Castle, where we quickly filled up the boat and got ourselves an ice cream.

After another 20 minutes, we reached my friend's island, where he had created a small recreational area for himself and his three children.

He fetched his ATV with a trailer, we took our luggage to one of the guesthouses, and stowed the provisions.

Since my friend still had some things to do, we arranged to meet for dinner, settled in, and relaxed.

The three of us ate dinner on the terrace overlooking the water, enjoying excellent lobster and crawfish.

We sat together for quite a while, chatting, and he proudly showed us photos of grenades and artillery ammunition he had sponsored for our army, labeled 'from Greg.'

The next morning, after breakfast, we went up to the island's hill, where my friend had had a viewing platform built on a rock with benches and a campfire site.

Then we set off by boat toward Stockholm, passing Vaxholm Castle again, before mooring at the jetty of a restaurant where Greg's friends were already waiting.

The restaurant 'Badholmen' was very comfortably furnished, and the food (by Swedish standards) was very good – but also correspondingly expensive. I have no idea how Swedes can afford these food prices when their average income is about 25% lower than in Germany.

After lunch, we returned to the island in two boats, as our new friends would be spending the next two days there with us.

We prepared dinner together and ate it on the terrace. It was perfect that almost everyone in Sweden speaks more or less passable English, and we also share a strong bond over our deep dislike of ruZZians.

Mosquitoes, we can confirm this Swedish problem – without insect spray, sleep would have been unthinkable.

The next day, shortly after a morning dip in the cold Baltic Sea, a short walk around the island, and a light breakfast, we set off again with both boats. This time we headed to 'Grinda,' a local recreation area that Stockholmers like to visit for lunch by boat.

The food here wasn't as good as the day before, but it was just as expensive. What also struck us in Sweden in general was the extreme consumption of alcohol. At lunch in the restaurant, we didn't see a single table where some kind of alcohol wasn't being consumed.

There's no other way to describe it: we chatted so much that we lost track of time, and it slowly got cold. We boarded the now three boats and headed back to Lillon.

The arrival of more friends naturally had to be celebrated, which we did with champagne on their boat. Luckily, we had packed enough non-alcoholic drinks for ourselves, especially sugar-free Red Bull in various flavors.

Barely a few bottles of champagne had been emptied before it was time to prepare dinner again. Today we grilled burgers, which, of course, were accompanied by a few bottles of wine.

The next morning, the whole group left, and my friend also had to rush off to Stockholm during the day. So, the two of us had a wonderfully relaxing day on the island, sunbathing, swimming, and walking around a bit, before my friend returned in the evening.