Travel day

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Crossing another country off my bucket list! Technically I have been to the UK before when I was one and a half but I have never been to Scotland. Castle ruins, abbey ruins, amazing scenery and the Scottish accent are the reasons I have long wanted to visit. SAS had a great sale where I was actually able to fly into Edinburgh for not a lot of money. I booked the flight back in August and finally the day arrived to leave!

Original flight plan was O'Hare to Stockholm, 11 hour layover which would allow me to get out and explore a little bit and then on to Edinburgh. However SAS changed the itinerary and here is how my travel day went.

I worked until 2, did some last minute stuff at the house and then was driven to the airport by my sister. I'm always way early and had 3 hours to kill at O'Hare before my flight left at 7:45 PM. A lot of people watching and reading helped to pass the time. Once on the plane I settled in for the 8.5 hour to Copenhagen, stop one of two. Since I had stayed up late the night before and got up at 4:30 AM for work I was hoping I would be tired enough to actually sleep. And that did not happen mostly because I can never seem to sleep on planes and also because there were a few kids who were also not happy about the long flight. Instead I watched a few movies and did some reading. This flight had dinner of chicken and pasta, a roll, some lunch meat and potato salad and a dessert. One drink was included with dinner although they did walk through the cabin with water several times. Breakfast was orange juice and a warm ham and cheese croissant.

We arrived in Copenhagen after a very smooth flight and I proceeded to passport control to switch to the Schengen zone part of the airport. There was no line and I was quickly through. Originally I was worried because the layover was only 1.5 hours but the airport is small and I ended up having time to buy a snack and do some reading before boarding the next flight, an hour and fifteen minute jaunt to Stockholm.

Yet another smooth flight and we landed in the rain. Once again I had to go through passport control to switch to the non Schengen zone part of that airport and the line moved very quickly. I was hoping to find some Swedish meatballs for lunch but no luck in my area of the airport. I settled form some quick snacks instead. Like the Copenhagen airport it was quiet and clean with lots of seating. I also noticed there were individual bathrooms every so often which was really nice. Plenty of room to maneuver with a suitcase and backpack, unlike some stalls where you almost have to play Tetris to get in and out!

The flight from Stockholm departed a little late because they had to de-ice the wings due to snow! This final flight was two hours and fifteen minutes and also very smooth. Finally landed in Edinburgh! Passport control here was crazy! The line was super long and it did not move fast. There also was no bathroom from the time I exited the plane until after that line. Note to self if ever arriving in Edinburgh again, go on the plane! After what seemed like forever I got through the line and headed out to the bus into town.

I loved seeing all the houses along the drive as well as the cafes and people out and about. I'm staying at the Hub by Premier Inn located near the Haymarket train station. It was easy to find once I got off the bus and check in was fast. The rooms here are small but all I need is a bed and a bathroom to return to after a day of exploring. I wasn't going to walk back out to find food because I was so tired but I was also hungry and that beat out the tired. It was a bit chilly out but it felt great after the really long day of travel. Grabbed some fish n chips, ate quickly, took a shower and was finally able to crawl in bed.

Being up for 34 hours straight is not fun, especially for someone like me who is normally in bed around the time my original flight left Chicago. But the payoff is worth it. Edinburgh has a lot to discover and I cannot wait to start my adventure tomorrow!

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Photos

Stockholm Snacks
I bought the chocolate for the name! The little sandwich snack was really good

Comments

[Mom]

nice
Looks like you had good flights with minimal problems. Room looks cozy. So far so good!! Have fun!