This morning I was leaving Lithuania the last of the Baltic States and flying into Stockholm Sweden for three days. In retrospect I should have ended my trip here as I had done so much since St Petersburg I was to exhaust myself with three more packed days.

My friend and me were both flying out together on different flights, he was heading home while I continued in Sweden. Our flights were more than two hours apart but I offered to come to the airport with him.

As our hotel was right next to the bus station for easy access we walked over at 7.45. The first airport bus wasnt till 8.20. My friend was getting nervous as his flight was first so he tried jumping on a city trolley bus that wasnt going to the airport so I had to bring him back to the station before we both wandered off somewhere and missed our flights.

We waited for the 8.20 bus which was just a small minivan. Luckily we were one of the first in otherwise it filled up and was turning people away. It was barely a 5 min ride to the airport and only cost 1 Eu.

The airport was interesting and seemed like an old railway station from the outside. The new terminal is behind and connects thru the inside. My friend went thru security while I waited to print my boarding card. The kiosk wouldnt let me and they told me I had to wait 2 hours before departure for my check in counter to open.

The wifi wouldnt let me connect either so I couldnt message my friend. After waiting maybe half an hour finally the counter opened for another flight and I was able to get my boarding card. I rushed thru security and was able to say bye to my friend just as he was the last one boarding his flight.

Now I still had nearly two hours to kill so sat charging my phone and watching people go by. It was a small airport so not much happening. The rain had moved in from last night so luckily again we had perfect weather yesterday for our trip to Kaunas and now managed to dodge the rain by flying to Sweden.

The flight was a small two propeller plane with 2 x 1 seating. You had to check large hand items at the stairs to the plane. When I went in the flight was mostly empty so I could have taken my bag with me.

They were selling snack items on the 2 hour flight and there were no views of Stockholm as we came over Sweden, just farmland.

The rain stopped in Sweden but it was still cloudy, and a cooler temperature drop from Lithuania where it had become quite humid and my allergies were playing up.

I made my way to the tourist info counter to buy my 3 day Stockholm Pass. It cost 895K a shocking $127 but when you consider the average price of a museum is $15-$22 it pays for itself if you are going to get heavy use out of it.

It is also a complete metropass for all the buses, trains, and subways for the Stockholm region so cost effective. The tourist office also gave me some info about local events as Friday was the May 1 national holiday.

There was also a time change one hour back from Russian time. I thought I would have to take a bus from the airport but there is a local transit bus and train option that takes longer but is included in the pass if you have the time, and are cheap since Sweden is so expensive.

A local bus takes you on a 20 min ride to a train station which is the last stop of one of the branch lines from Stockholm. From there it was another 40 min train ride into Stockholm Central Station.

I had last come in 2003, fell in love, and had very pleasant memories so always wanted to come back. Central Station was very clean and bustling. I wanted to find something to eat first before heading into town. I remember Sweden was a bit pricey but large portions. There should be something to eat in the station.

To my surprise I saw an Italian restaurant with my name. What a welcome!. I asked what it meant and they said the spade suit from a deck of cards. However, they did not offer me a free meal even though I showed my boarding card with my name and asked them to take my pic by their sign.

I got a giant flat burger with chips for 99K outside ($15). There was a flavoured butter which melted over the burger and the chips were also coated with spices.