We made it to Sweden just fine, in spite of airline delays and issues. We got to our gate in Denver and saw they had an airplane waiting. That is always a good sign. But an hour before the flight, they announced a gate change. Usually not a good sign. We switched to the other gate and there was no airplane there. About the time we were supposed to board, and airplane showed up and the ground crews swarmed all over it. Loading food, baggage, checking the plane. Everything that needs to be done. Activity ceased and I figured it was boarding time. Not to be. An announcement was made that they were waiting for the cleaners to prepare the airplane for boarding. We waited, and waited, and waited. An hour or so later, a cleaning crew went on board and 30 minutes or so later came off board. We finally boarded, by now, it was 90+ minutes late. I wasn’t worried yet since we have a 3.5 hour layover in Frankfurt. Boarding proceeds; the door is closed; we are got to go.
Alas, a late afternoon storm came and hung over Denver airport. Because of the lightning, there was a ground stop for personnel safety. This lasted 90 minutes or so and the ground stop was lifted. I figured we would leave soon. By now, our connection was iffy at best. We sat and sat and sat. The captain announced that because it had been over 4 hours since the plane had been inspected, FAA regulations said it had to be done again. So, that delayed us some more. Finally, 4.5 hours late we took off.
We were ready to sit back and enjoy a drink and dinner. Alas, that was not to be the case. Lots of turbulence as we gained altitude, and then we had to maneuver around thunderstorms to the upper midwest. The first hour or so was very bumpy, bumpy enough that the flight attendants were in their seats. Finally, it smoothed out and normal service resumed.
The only good thing about all of this was that by the time dinner was over, it was 10:30 PM and basically bedtime. So we (at least Chuck) got 5-6 hours of decent sleep.
Of course we (along with most folks on board) missed their connections. They announced that everybody had been rebooked and suggested we should check the United app. I did, and it showed a rebooked flight which wasn’t too bad.
Finally we arrived at Frankfurt, a HUGE airport. My phone says I walked 1.6 miles yesterday, and most of that was in the airport. We got to the departure gate about an hour ahead of time. I started tracking the inbound flight and it is clear that it will be late by 15-20 minutes. Sure enough, we finally boarded about 20 minutes late. We hopped on a bus which the drive seemed like it took 15 minutes to our airplane before it parked on the tarmac. We left 30 minutes late and it was a tranquil flight to Stockholm compared to the last one. Our friend (cousin) Anna works near that airport and was waiting for us. 2.5 hours later we were in Norrköping drinking a beer with Janne and renewing our friendship.
In spite of the adventure, there is really no cause for complaint. We travelled many thousands of mile in less than a day and were safely delivered.
We had a good night’s sleep and are ready for the day. The day started with a typical breakfast in Janne and Anna's kitchen. The options were eggs, bacon, small salad, cheese, yogurt, cereal, bread, jam, and more. And, or course coffee (we are in Sweden) and tea.
Their apartment is very nice. The picture below is the table in their main room.
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