So I woke up for the last time (in a while) in Miami, Florida, USA. Had made a small plan for the morning so I started off taking a walk to the Sixt office to return the car and then back to the hotel. Grabbed my stuff and checked out, leaving the big bag with them and bringing along my backpack to get some breakfast and then down to the beach for a last swim in the ocean.
A bit colder in the water today but got used to it rather fast. Went on to a park close to the hotel and just laid in the grass under a few palms browsing the web and passing time.
Tried Über Eats for the first time and ordered me a pizza for lunch which I brought up to the hotel pool which they were kind enough to let me use for the whole day.
I tried to make conversation with the only two people who were at the pool, but they didn’t speak anything else but french, so I was cooked.
At around 16 I booked an Über and went to the airport. Chose the upgrade “comfort”, which was Ford Expedition, a very spacious car. I’ll get back to why that’s important.
Hung around the Turkish Lounge for an hour before it was time for boarding. As usual, the boarding doesn’t start when it was announced but we left the gate at 19:50 and took off at 20:10. The ticket said 19:40, not sure what time that actually means. However, the flight time should only be nine hours so we would land ahead of schedule.
Very quick service during dinner, it felt like they wanted to get it over with so people could get to sleep. I got a couple of hours at least before it was time for breakfast and landing. I didn’t have anyone in the seat next to me so I got double pillows and lots of space.
We landed at around 11 (the schedule said 12) and parked away from the terminal. We in the business class got our own two minivans so like 30 seconds after I stepped off the plane we were on our way to the terminal.
Went straight through the passport checkpoint and towards the train. Realizing that it’s a bit cheaper in Poland when the train ticket costs 4,4 PLN, which is about 10 SEK. From Arlanda, the same trip costs about 170 SEK.
After a recommendation from Jon, I went to Mleczarnia Jerozolimska and had some potato crumpets. They were quite good, but I should have said no to the sour cream.
I found a Hard Rock Café just around the corner, so another magnet to Peters collection was bought. Also per Jon’s recommendation, I headed up a tower, 30 stories tall, where I could look out over the city. Always a nice experience.
Went on to find a regular café where I just took a break, trying to find wifi. I realized I hadn’t seen anyone else in shorts, which actually might not be that strange, even though it wasn’t that cold.
I was really tired from the lack of sleep so I decided to head back to the airport. Found my way down to the same train station I arrived at and bought a ticket. However, I couldn’t find a board telling me when the next train would arrive, and the only staff-looking person did not speak English. So I gave up. I got above ground, went a block away from the station, and ordered an Über, the cost? 43 PLN for the comfort option. Difference between USA and Poland? In Poland, comfort (with extra legroom) is a Toyota Corolla. I wonder how small an UberX is…
The ride took a while, I guess because of traffic so I slept some in the car. Went to security and landed in the line where families with strollers had priority. Usually, I would say it is unpacking that takes time, but here it seemed it was the packing after the screening that was the problem. It took way longer than it should have and they should probably just accept strollers in that line.
Found my gate and then went to the lounge to write this blog post, because I will not be able to write it when I get home, then it’s probably straight to bed. Unfortunately, I can’t book a cab with Taxi Stockholm so I will just have to hope there is one available when I exit the terminal. I don’t think I’ll make the shuttle bus which runs once every hour.
I think I’ll write a summary tomorrow, got some pictures that didn’t fit in the daily posts but would be fun to share anyway. But now, one more snack, then boarding and the last flight of this trip.
