Our flight from Skellefteå was set to depart at 06:05, but since that airport is tiny, they don’t even open security till an hour before, and it is only a 35 minute drive. Therefore Keldor set his alarm for 04:00. I woke at 03:27, and decided I may as well do some pliaties, as my hips will cope better with travel if I do.
We arrived at the airport in good time, and I got a good 40 minutes nap on the first flight, as did Keldor. After we woke Keldor realised that the guy sitting on the other side of him was someone he had worked with years ago, so he had a pleasant chat as we came in for landing.
After we landed in Stockholm, but before it was possible to leave the plane I got a phone call from a “private number”. The voice identified itself as being with SAS and wondered if I was planning to fly to Hamburg today. I said yes, and let them know that I was at the airport and just waiting to get off the incoming plane. They said that they wanted to close the gate in five minutes and gave me our gate number, F26 (which I already knew as it was on our boarding pass, and they had announced it over the speakers after we landed, and let us know we were landing at F35). I assured them that I would come as fast as possible, as soon as they let us off the first plane.
Luckily, that was a plane that parked right by the terminal, so we could walk directly to the building, and then we ran to the next gate, along with a random stranger who was also on the next flight. Alas, this means I didn’t get to refill my water, nor pee before going through the gate and boarding the bus to the plane, which was very full.
Æriker and Jacquelyna were also on that bus/plane. We arrived at the plane to see that it is considerably smaller than the one we took from Skellefteå. The baggage ramp was extended, and there was an empty baggage cart and a couple of employees waiting there.
As we waited for our turn to board we saw another baggage cart deliver my suitcase, with extra garb (of course we have some in the carry on bags), feast gear, sheets, banners, etc. However, Keldor’s suitcase, with armour, wasn’t delivered before we boarded, and we sat on the wrong side of the plane to see if it caught up before they closed the door to the baggage area.
Luckily, we have hours between landing at around 09:00 and site opening at 17:00, so we knew we had a good chance of getting the armour before the event, but it did make for a more stressful travel experience than ideal.
Even better was the part where we got off the plane and the baggage door was already open, but they hadn’t started taking the bags out yet, and we could see the bag nearest the door, in exactly the shade of blue of the suitcase with armour. Yay!
And even better than that was that both suitcases (and all four of Æriker and Jacquelyna’s suitcases) were already out in the time it took to get to the baggage area. Then Æ & J went to get their rental car (with that much luggage they needed one to themselves), and we went on a quest for food.
We found a grocery store between terminal 1 and 2, with some tables set up just outside the entrance, so I sat with the bagss and ate the salad I had with me, and he did a lap through the store, where he bought himself energy drinks, snacks, and beer, and bought me a container of natural skyr (you can’t get that at home), which I tucked into my backpack next to my slowly thawing pastie to kerp cool till later.
Since Keldor failed to find himself real food in the store, I went over to the cafe and paid high airport prices for a soft pretzel for me (€2.50), and a salami and vegetable sandwich on a cheese bread for him (€4.95).
After we ate we went over to the benches by the arrivals door to await Katharina’s arrival. Æriker and Jacquelyna joined us and we hung out till Katharina arrived (and a bit longer) enjoying pleasant conversations.
Then, even though it was hours before the site would officially open, we took a taxi to site, helped out with set up, moved into our rooms, got a nap, and then enjoyed the event.
Keldor and I were the first to check in, and receive our site tokens, keys that work as bottle openers.
While visiting with people, I managed to mostly finish an outline of a reindeer head on My viking coat
The assembled group of royals at court was pretty impressive:
We hung out talking with folk only till just after we got to talk with Duchess Jacquelyna at her Pelican vigil, and then went to bed around 22:00.
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