tjcnkc

I finished up my first ever trip report last week on a recent trip to Italy. I figured I would get some more practice by memorializing a trip I took this past August.

I have wanted to visit more of Scandinavia so when I saw a cheapish Business Class fare to Stockholm on AA/BA/Finair, I jumped on it. The flight originated out of JFK so also bought a cheap economy ticket from KC to position me for my flight.

The original plan was to visit both Sweden and Norway, I had two weeks to do this. About thirty days after purchasing the tickets, a good friend and I discussed meeting up in Berlin. I decided I had enough time to tack that onto the beginning of the trip as well.

Needless to say, this required pretty much an all day of flying to get to Berlin with five segments including a Stockholm to Berlin flight on Air Berlin.

Day 1

AA 879 @ 6:58am MCI to CLT, upgraded to First

AA 100 @ 1:10pm CLT to JFK, upgraded to First

I had about four hours until my flight to LHR, so made my way to the Flagship lounge. My friend I was meeting in Berlin was flying from JFK to ZRH on her first leg that evening and were able to hang out a bit in the lounge before our respective flights took off.

AA 100 @ 7:15pm JFK to LHR, business class. Flight was delayed about 50 minutes.

Day 2

Arrived in LHR about 40 minutes late. Made my way to T5 from T3. Grabbed a bite to eat in the BA First lounge while I queued for the showers. Grabbed a shower with about 30 minutes before my flight to ARN. Hustled to the gate to my next flight.

BA 774 @ 9:28am LHR to ARN, Club Europe.

Uneventful flight, napped a bit. Was able to utilize the Menzies Executive Lounge while waiting for my Air Berlin flight.

AB 8005 @ 3:00pm ARN to TXL, Economy exit row. Alas my last Air Berlin flight ever.

Made it to Tegel on time, grabbed a taxi and headed to the AirBNB in Mitte.



The AirBNB was centrally located, basic but roomy. Was across the street from the Adlon hotel.

Once I cleaned up, my friend and I set off to grab something quick to eat and see the sights. I have been to Berlin four times previously so got to play travel guide for my friend who had never been.

Dinner we headed to Markthalle Neun which on Thursdays is 'Street Food' night and they stayed open later. There was a wide variety of foods available and a very lively crowd.



We took a walk afterwards and headed over tot he East Side Gallery. This is a section of the Berlin wall that has been preserved and sports some amazing street art murals.







After the walk, it was time to crash after my long day of flying.

Day 3

Day of sightseeing in the central part of the city.

The New Synagogue which is now a museum after being restored.



We ventured inside the Berlin DOM and climbed upstairs, great views.





Checkpoint Charlie

aquamarinesteph

So far, so good! I can't wait to hear more about this one.

tjcnkc

Day 4

After a good nights rest, ready for more sightseeing. First up, we headed to KaDaWe department store's food hall on the 6th Floor. The KaDaWe food hall is my kind of heaven. Every kind of cuisine, great drinks and other assorted food stuffs.

Oysters & Rose Bubbles, breakfast of champions


Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church


Charlottenburg Palace


After a bit of sightseeing, we made our way to one of my favorite neighborhoods in Berlin....Prenzlauer Berg. Our aim was to to have beers at Prater Biergarten on a lovely late summer afternoon. We drank a few beers and enjoyed the sunshine.




Since we were in Berlin, I thought it would be fun to see a Burlesque show. The city is known for their Burlesque shows. I made reservations for one of the better known ones called Principal in Kreuzberg. There was a cover of 60 euros per person but that got us reserved seating and pretty much all the cocktails we could imbibe.

Day 5

Slept in a bit late due to the hour we got to sleep and the amount of cocktails we drank. Headed back to Prenzlauer Berg to experience the Sunday market at Mauer Park. Mauer Park is built on a former area of the wall and death strip surrounding it.

The Sunday market is great people watching. There are tons of things to buy and eat. One of the great things to do experience Bear Pit karaoke which is held on a hill in the park. Saw some great singers and the crowd was totally enthusiastic with all of the performers.



We spent several hours at Mauer Park then made our way back to Mitte and our AirBNB. On our way, we did a little more sightseeing.

Brandenburg Gate


Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

tjcnkc

Day 6

Mid morning flight from Berlin Schoenefeld airport (SXF) to Oslo. Grabbed a taxi across the street at the Adlon hotel. Appears public transport to the airport is minimal and didn't want to deal with the hassle.

This is my first experience at SXF as well as Norwegian Air.

The airport is very barebones but seems to run fairly well. There were a few food trucks out front which is a nice Berlin hipster touch. Made it through security uneventfully.

When it was time to board, we traipsed out to the awaiting airplane.



The flight was quiet and lasted around 1.5 hours. Made my way to the Flytoget train from OSL to Oslo central station. The train costs roughly $23 USD. The train ride was comfortable, the cars were nice and clean as well as comfortable.

I checked into my AirBNB which was close by to the Central Station. Nice modern clean and economical place ($150 per night) to explore Oslo from.



After checking into the AirBNB, walked around a bit near the harbor.

Oslo Opera House


'She Lies' sculpture in the Oslo Harbor


Grabbed an early dinner and relaxed at the AirBNB for the evening.

Day 7

Took public transport out to Frogner Park which is northeast of the city. In the park, there are multiple mammoth sculptures by Norwegian artist Gustav Vigeland. The park is beautiful and the sculptures are really interesting.





After Frogner park, headed back to the center of the city for more sightseeing.

Royal Palace





Akershus Fortress



That evening I had dinner at a Pan Asian/Japanese restaurant Hanami. The dinner was great. Super expensive ($100 USD for one person) but thats Oslo for you.

As I was walking back to the AirBNB, passed a group of people swing dancing by the harbor.

tjcnkc

Day 8

Set out to visit a few of the great museums in Oslo.

First up was the Norwegian Folk Museum which is an open air museum across the harbor. The museum contains over 100 traditional Norwegian buildings. Took the ferry to reach the museum. Once across the harbor, it is a short 10 minute walk to the museum.

Wooden Stave Church from 1200


Farm houses


Close by the Folk Museum is the Viking Ship Museum where I headed to afterwards. The museum has four (though I only saw three) salvaged Viking ships.





While I was out around the harbor, it was a short ferry ride to Hovedoya island to check out the monastery ruins.





Once back from Hovedoya island, it was late afternoon and I was hungry enough to chew my arm off. I headed over to Mathallen in the Vulcan district which is a newish food hall. I had a great duck confit sandwich.



Interesting 'street art' near Mathallen


Oslo is a huge construction zone with modern buildings going up all over the place. There are very few traditional buildings left. Kampen is a neighborhood that has a large amount of traditional wooden houses that are painted in different colors. The area of Kampen is about 20 minute walk from the center of the city.





That evening I grabbed another expensive but good dinner at Restaurant Sawan which is Thai fusion.

tjcnkc

Day 9

Last day in Oslo. Headed to one of the top coffee roasters/brewers in the city to start the day off.

Tim Wendelboe micro coffee roasting


Passed by some great street art


Headed to the Munch Museum. I really like his work. The museum has a large collection of his paintings, drawings and writings. Currently there is a new Munch museum going up by the harbor.



Munch's 'The Scream' though is at the National Gallery which i visited afterwards.


The Astrup Fearnley is an international contemporary art museum sitting on the harbor. They have a really interesting permanent collection of which a lot is pretty obscene so I can't post them here.


Damien Hirst's 'Mother and Child (Divided)'



To round out the day of Norwegian culture, I visited the Henrik Ibsen museum which is across the street from the Royal Palace. The museum is Ibsen's residence for the last 11 years of his life.

Day 10

Time to head to Stockholm. Took the train to the Oslo Airport. The airport is pretty stunning.





DY 816 @ 3:00pm, landed onetime around 4:00pm.

Made it into the city on The Arlanda express train which costs around $15 USD.

tjcnkc

Once in Stockholm, I made my way to my AirBNB in the Sodermalm area. Public transportation was right down the street and there were a slew of restaurants and bars in the neighborhood.

Day 11

I spent the day sightseeing around Stockholm

Royal Palace


Riddarholm Church




Storkyrkan (Stockholm Cathedral) - St George slaying the dragon


Waterfront


Stockholm City Hall


Stockholm Public Library

tjcnkc

Day 12

Day Trip out to Artipelag, contemporary art museum and cultural center outside of Stockholm in the archipelago.

They have a bus that takes about 25 minutes each way or you can take a boat to the site on the way there and the bus back. I opted for the boat which takes about 1.5 hours to reach the destination.



The boat ride was great, the Stockholm archipelago is really beautiful.






Artipelag is a great venue, the building is very contemporary and the setting in the woods along the water is wonderful. The site has a high end restaurant as well as a buffet style place. There are extensive walking paths around the site.

Day 13

One of the interesting things to see in Stockholm is the amazing public art in their subway system. Here is a listing of the stations that are worth a visit: https://www.visitstockholm.com/see--...in-the-subway/

tjcnkc

Subway art continued








After subway art viewing, headed to Drottningholm which was the summer palace for the Swedish royalty.





The Chinese Pavilion at Drottningholm which was used strictly for entertaining.

tjcnkc

Day 14

Last day in Stockholm, did a day trip to Uppsala and Sigtuna.

Uppsala is easy to reach via train from Central station, The train took about 60 minutes.

Uppsala Train Station


First stop was Gamla Uppsala which is the original town of Uppsala. This required a short bus ride. There is in Gamla Uppsala is the Royal mounds which are burial grounds of kings of the area form the 5th and 6th century. There is also an old church from the 12th century.

Royal Mounds


Church in Gamla Uppsala


Headed back to Uppsala via bus to do some sightseeing.

View from Uppsala Castle


Uppsala Cathedral




Carl Linnaeus' House


Canal in the middle of Uppsala


After grabbing a bite to eat, headed to Sigtuna via bus. Sigtuna was the original 'capital' of Sweden. Nice little town with several old church ruins and ancient rune stones scattered throughout the town.

St Olof's Church Ruin


Rune Stone

tjcnkc

Day 15

Trip Home. Took the subway to Central station to catch the Arlanda express. Terminal 2 is the where Finnair flies out of along with most of the rest of the OneWorld carriers. Its not as nice as Terminals 4 & 5, it looks like it was a branch of IKEA at one time.

AY 644 ARN to HEL @ 8:40am in Business, landed on time and headed to the Premium lounge for my 3.5 hour layover.

The Finnair premium lounge is quite nice. Very light in color, comfortable. Food options were good.



Since I had time, I tried out the sauna that is in the shower/bathroom section of the lounge. Its quite novel and super Finnish.



Made my way to my next flight.

Helsinki Airport Art


AY644 HEL to JFK @ 2:10pm in Business.

The plane was light colored A330 which was a bit worn looking.

Nice Marimekko slippers and amenity kit.


The flight was uneventful, food was fine nothing extraordinary. We ended up getting into JFK about 30 mins late. I only had 70 mins to get to my next flight.

Global entry/TSA Precheck came in handy. Made it to my next flight with about five minutes to spare.

AA101 JFK to CLT upgraded to First. Uneventful, made it to Charlotte on time.

Relaxed a bit in the Admirals Club before my final flight.

AA1716 CLT to MCI upgraded to First, Again uneventful and onetime.

Time to plan my next trip

FIN

humerus

Great report. Nice to see that you made your way up to Kampen, not a lot of tourists do. I live just next to the pink building.

tjcnkc

what a a small world.....really easy walk from where I was staying.

offerendum

Very nice! Would like it

Luca Lupo

Great report and photos. Thanks.