A few weeks ago, it was that time again—summer vacation had arrived, and it was time to swing and sway once more with the lovely and fun folks from American Coaster Enthusiasts. After some final prep at home, an evening of gathering my stuff and dividing it between my suitcase and backpack, it was time to hit the road.
Day 1, The Outbound Journey#
Friday morning, the alarm rattled early—too early, if you asked me. But a long day of travel lay ahead. Even though the flight from Amsterdam to Sweden wasn’t scheduled until the afternoon, I wanted to play it safe and be at Schiphol nice and early. Especially considering the train ride beforehand. With NS, you just never know, and the last thing I wanted was to miss a flight. So it was a quick shower, a few bites of Skyr with some muesli, one last check to make sure I hadn’t forgotten anything, and out the door toward the bus stop.
Unlike some other times, the first leg of the journey went surprisingly smoothly. No delays or sketchy connections this time. And just before 11 AM, I found myself in the grand hall of Schiphol. An hour to spare before I could drop off my suitcase, and then another two hours of waiting before boarding would begin. Plenty of time to scout out the nearest coffee corner and enjoy a double cappuccino while tucked away with my e-reader. After flipping through a good number of pages and staring at an empty coffee cup for a while, it was time to head to the check-in counter.
And maybe it’s just the modern age, but flying has become so impersonal these days. Sure, it’s convenient that you can arrange your boarding pass a day and a half in advance via the KLM app on your phone, check in your own suitcase at the airport, slap on the sticker yourself, and shove it into a machine that hopefully sends it to the right plane’s cargo hold. As an IT guy, that kind of modernization is cool to see, but you do miss the human interaction from the old days.
Anyway, everything was checked in, no long queues, and even security went surprisingly smoothly. I hadn’t expected that, especially since it was the Friday before one of the busiest weekends at Schiphol. No sign of a rush at all. So there was plenty of time left to satisfy my now growling stomach with a hearty lunch once past security. After all, time was on my side.
With lunch tucked away and a bit more reading done, it was slowly time to board. Though that didn’t go entirely smoothly—at least not for a few volunteer passengers. The flight was literally overbooked, and there simply wasn’t room for four people. How things like this still happen is a bit baffling. After four folks volunteered to take a later flight that day, boarding could finally begin, and less than half an hour later, we took off—after nearly fifteen minutes of taxiing across Schiphol’s tarmac—from the Polderbaan. Off to the beautiful north.
After a short flight, with stunning views over the archipelagos and Sweden, and a classic KLM cheese sandwich as an in-flight snack, we landed smoothly with a slight delay at Stockholm Arlanda Airport. And then came the long wait for my suitcase. After a nerve-wracking half hour—especially since the screen had been saying for over ten minutes that all bags were on the belt—my trusty green trolley finally slid into view.
Emile, Jo, Ralf, and a few other fellow vacationers had already arrived earlier from Brussels and had appointed themselves the welcome committee. Name sign and all… After a quick “hi, hello, good trip?” it was straight to the bus for the final leg of today’s journey. And I have to say—public transport in the Scandinavian countries is incredibly well organized. The bus ride went smoothly, and after half an hour, we stopped at the very first stop, practically right in front of the Scandic Järva Krog hotel.
What followed was a cozy evening filled with reunions, new faces, and loads of fun, great stories, and anticipation over a beer. The hotel kitchen had already closed, and some of us—including me—were starting to feel a bit peckish again. So it was quickly decided to end the evening with a tasty burger at the nearby O’Learys. Yum!
The stage was set: “ACE Europe Summerfest 2025: The Finnish Invasion” had officially begun!
