About 1 ½ years ago I booked a trip to Skellefteå to see SAIK – Leksands IF in January 2022. Then more restrictions were applied and eventually the game even got postponed because of Covid in LIF. I went anyway, had a nice, calm weekend in the winter landscape, and took a selfie outside the arena.
A year later I decided to try again, but this time Katharina and Annette wanted to join. So we booked flights, hotel rooms, and hockey tickets and planned for a nice weekend up north.
Friday – Getting to Skellefteå
We got to Arlanda at about 11:30 to start the check-in process for an electric wheelchair. It took some time, papers to fill out, someone needed to call a supervisor, and lots of questions regarding the batteries and whatnot. Good that we had margins since it took about an hour from entering the terminal until we finally were allowed to drop it off at the special luggage. We had requested assistance to get on the plane but asked them to meet up at the gate since we could handle it through the terminal. While waiting for the boarding to start I checked in at work so I in good conscience didn’t report this as a vacation day. On the fully booked plane was also the J20-team of Rögle who was going to play against Skellefteå on Saturday and Luleå on Sunday. Lots of young guys dressed the same gave us a hint. And the huge amount of green bags on the tarmac 🙂
Two guys showed up with a special wheelchair that fits onto airplanes and we got to board first of all. Excellent service and it worked really well. Uneventful flight for about an hour. Unfortunately, my podcast app had lost the setting to automatically download new episodes so I didn’t have anything to listen to in my noise-canceling headphones. 🙁
When we landed everyone disembarked the plane while we waited for the assistance guys again. Skellefteå airport doesn’t have a jet bridge but the mobile stairs had a built-in elevator. Again superb service and it works!
Get the luggage, swap back to the electric wheelchair, and then off to the airport shuttle. 25 minutes later we entered the Best Western Malmia and checked into our rooms.
Mine wasn’t too big but it works. Had a desk so I could work a bit more before we headed out to find some dinner. Didn’t really count on it being a paycheck Friday but actually got a table at Pinchos. Even though the food orders took quite some time we managed to squeeze in two rounds and had a really nice dinner. I should go there more often.
Afterward, we went to O’Learys to get dessert and watch some hockey. They had AIK-Björklöven but most people seemed more interested in the beer, probably because Löven is a bitter rival. A short walk back to the hotel (almost everything is close by) and then we went to bed.
Saturday – Game day
We decided to meet up for breakfast at 9:30, so I had the alarm set for 9. However, I woke up early so scrolled around on Facebook and then watched today’s episode of S.W.A.T. The breakfast was decent and quiet, except for an incident where a woman’s knee buckled and she dropped onto the floor. She took it very calmly while getting helped up, it apparently happened before, but her son got a bit shaken. All seemed well in the end.
After the meal, we headed out for a walk, with the goal to visit Bonnstan. Took about 20 minutes to get there and we realized that all three probably had underestimated the cold at least a bit. Even though Google stated it was only -7 degrees.
It was quite the collection of little cottages and it’s probably really beautiful during summer. Now everything was locked up and stowed away for the winter season.
On our way back, Annette went to the hotel again while I and Katharina kept on walking for a bit. Checking out the river, a church, and Sara kulturhus. I ramped up 10,000 steps before lunch which was quite nice in this lovely weather, even though a bit cold.
Back to the hotel for some resting and then off for a late lunch since the game was starting at 18. We found our way to “Bistro A” in a mall just a block from the hotel and had a good meal before going to the local ICA store to look for Dr Pepper light because you can find that in “Norrland”. Apparently, we were at the “wrong Norrland” cause they only had regular Dr Pepper.
We left the hotel again at 16:30 to walk to Skellefteå Kraft Arena, the place for tonight’s entertainment which took roughly 25 minutes. It was a bit uphill so the cold didn’t bother me as much as earlier on the day, even though I expected the temperature to be about the same.
At the arena, we met up with Patrik who I found through Twitter since I had an extra ticket to spare and he drove down from Piteå. I and Katharina went looking for the press entrance and where the post-game interview should take place and how to get there. And then where her spot in the stands was. Everyone was very helpful and it was quite easy to find everything.
The game itself was really intense with three goals scored in the first period leaving Leksand with the lead by 1-2. And despite lots of rather good chances the two following periods were left scoreless which meant that Leksand won the game, the first team to take three points in Skelleftå since late October 2022. I got some spontaneous congratulations upon leaving the stands while rushing down to meet up with Katta for the interview.
She had made friends with two young boys and one of them loved the two goaltenders of Leksand, Armalis and Kaskisuo. So they followed us down to the locker rooms to get a photo with Armalis.
Katta did her thing, then we found Annette and headed back towards the hotel, looking for some food on the way. We stopped at MAX for some late dinner and then took a quick detour to The Wood Hotel and their restaurant Miss Voon to look at the view from the 19th floor. Quite marvelous.
Compresses everything to the lower half of the screen. Smart!
Finally back in our rooms, trying to sleep with smiles on our faces. This was a good day 🙂
Sunday – Going home
I slept through the whole night, guess yesterday took some energy 🙂 We spent the day in our rooms, getting a couple of sandwiches from ICA and then at a café looking through clips and news from the game yesterday. At half past one we got on the bus towards the airport.
I must give credit to the staff at Skellefteå Airport. What took Arlanda an hour to complete, check in an electric wheelchair, this guy made in seven minutes. Great service!
The same guys who disembarked us upon arrival helped us onboard again and we got to go on first. Really smooth! When we arrived at Arlanda we got off last, as when we got to Skellefteå, however, this time they had found the wheelchair and brought it to the jet bridge, just outside the airplane so we could switch right away. Except for the long time it took to check in at Arlanda, this is a terrific service and I’m impressed with how well it worked. Bear in mind that we traveled between two Swedish airports, I hope it works as well abroad.
Got a ride back to Kista and was greeted by the cats when I got home.
Thanks a lot, Annette and Katharina for a great weekend. The victory against SAIK was of course really nice, but it was even better to share it with you.
