The snow returned. It fell all night, coating everything in white. Although it is quite light, there’s enough to make everything look lovely again, covering the mud that had started to appear everywhere. My trip to the shops first thing was a bit chilly. While the actual temperature was a few degrees below zero, the wind made it feel like -11°. In fact, I even wore my thick beanie.
But that was early on. Today was all about getting Amanda back to London.
There are a lot of buses in Stockholm. Generally they have their route number displayed at the front, back and on the sides. When they are not in service, the display reads ‘ej i trafik’. Sometimes, like today, there is a Schrödinger’s bus which is both in and not in service. That’s when things get a bit confusing.
I think the display system on the number 57 bus we changed to at Kolonnvagen today was faulty so, rather than get a whole new bus, it was decided to use it and unhelpfully put a flip sign in the window that read 515. Fortunately, Mirinda asked the driver if it was the 57. We climbed aboard when she assured us it was.
We were on the way to Stockholm central station, taking Amanda back to the Arlanda Express platform. Today was her final day and so she lugged her massive bag (she only used about half the contents) through the snow and ice, from bus to bus, until we were sat comfortably on the unnamed 57.
I was busy keeping an eye on the bus stops. We were two stops away from our destination when I felt a tap on my shoulder. A rather overbearing woman with a metal walking support, the kind you get from a hospital for short term use, wanted my seat. Mirinda quickly came to my aid, telling this woman that I had a real walking stick. I figured the woman needed the seat more than me and stood up.
This caused a bit of an uproar as Mirinda and Amanda stood up with me, and other passengers glared at the woman as I wobbled towards the door. Eventually, the overbearing woman was the only person seated in the four seats, while quite a few of us stood at the middle door.
A very nice lady offered Mirinda a seat next to her. Her expression clearly indicated what she thought of the overbearing woman.
In a short while, the bus arrived at our stop. A woman behind me with a shopping trolley and wearing a mask, was beside me, wanting to alight but when she pushed the trolley before her, one of the wheels became wedged between the bus and the kerb.
I reached across and managed to extricate the wheel and helped her off. According to Amanda, she said something like “Be careful you don’t fall!” as I helped her off the bus.
It was quite the kerfuffle and, as I said as we stood on the footpath, excellent blog fodder. Mirinda supplied the title.
We had a lovely lunch at the Rolf de Maré, the restaurant beside the Dance Museum, before the final leg of the trip to the station, where we said our goodbyes. It had been a lovely week which we all enjoyed.
The trip home was on the ferry which was, gloriously, hassle free.
I laughed a lot reading this – in contrast to being furious at the time!