From Gothenburg to Stockholm: our ultimate Swedish road trip
It had been in my agenda for months with big hearts around it; with Daan to Sweden cruise through the country in a fully electric Volvo EX40. And suddenly the day we had been looking forward to for so long is here. Of course, there are hiccups. Daan, usually very well organized and always arriving earlier than I do, sends me a message: “I’m on the bus, May! Almost there.” The Uber she ordered went to the goat farm in Amstelveen instead of her home. How that happened, she would figure out later, first with quick steps towards customs where the line – you’ll always see – is three times as long. After I’ve said “we’ll make it” to Daan four times, my heart starts racing too. It can’t be? Being the person she is, Daan approaches a Schiphol employee, three sentences later he opens the belt that connects two gates and nods in the direction of the customs belt where we can join. While we place our bags on the belt, we take a moment to reminisce. Do you remember when we were allowed to go through the diplomats' entrance at the airport because we were so hungover from the vodka-soaked night before departure? With a calmed heartbeat and ultimately right on time, we buckle our seatbelts in the plane that will take us to Gothenburg in just over an hour. Moscow Arrival in Gothenburg and Volvo HQ.
The airport in Gothenburg already breathes the Volvo atmosphere. Naturally, because Gothenburg is the heart of Volvo, something the city is rightly proud of. When we ask the taxi driver to take us to Volvo HQ, she doesn’t even need to look at her navigation, she nods contentedly and smoothly takes us there. Jenny is waiting for us, who immediately takes us to our EX40. We can’t help but chuckle at the license plate of our four-wheeled friend. Swedish license plates start with three letters and in our case, those letters are LUL. The Dutch national team has just lost to Sweden, so we see it as a little nudge back.
Trosa: charging and candy stop.
Daan types in Trosa, a stopover place also known as the Hamptons of Sweden, and off we go. In Trosa, we can possibly charge for a bit. The range of the EX40 is a maximum of 570 kilometers, so we should just make it from Gothenburg to Stockholm, but it’s always nice not to have to drive with clenched cheeks. And charging is a lovely excuse for a coffee stop. Touring through Sweden is equivalent to seven meditation sessions combined. The landscape is soft, calm, clean, and spacious, and the electric EX40 adds a bit of relaxation to that. No sound of a rumbling engine, no polluting puff from the exhaust, but a lovely ‘glass ceiling’ (for the first time we emancipated women are happy about that) in the form of a sliding sunroof.
Gas station adventure: Swedish candy and help from a Viking.
Just before Trosa, we decide to charge at a gas station. We’re still doing quite well on battery, but keeping the adage “better safe than sorry” in mind, we turn onto the grounds of a Swedish gas station with charging facilities. We also fancy a cold drink and are, yes yes, nothing human is alien to us, very curious about Swedish candy. We both have quite a Haribo craving during car rides – and halfway through the workday too – so while charging we can indulge in the gas station shop. Since we haven’t discovered Google Lens at that moment, we struggle with the charging instructions. They are all in Swedish, and let’s just say we don’t master that language to perfection. A rather attractive Swedish Viking comes to the rescue. When our credit cards don’t fit his app, he swipes his payment card across the machine. This refill is on him and no, he doesn’t want anything in return, not even a cold drink or a bag of Swedish licorice. While we gawk and grab all the Swedish goods in the shop (Barebells bars in After Eight or Lemon Meringue flavor! Chocolates with salmiak inside! Red Bull Light in cranberry flavor!) he comes back to ask if we know how to log off and disconnect. You understand; Sweden can do no wrong in our eyes.
From Trosa to Stockholm: picturesque villages and city rhythms.
With a full battery and a satisfied belly, we glide towards Trosa, a village where Pippi Longstocking would have a great time. Wooden houses all over, even the local primary school and library are Instagram-worthy. Being city girls, the tranquility does overwhelm us a bit. So we zoom through the streets, saying ‘oh’ and ‘ah’ and nudging each other when we see another pine forest, handsome Swede, or red wooden house, and then we floor the gas pedal towards Stockholm. Driving in Sweden is a party; even in the metropolis of Stockholm, everything flows fluidly. The traffic lights here seem to count down from red through orange to green, making everyone act just a bit faster than in the Netherlands. We have the wind at our backs, our hotel is by the beautiful water of Stockholm with a view of the white boats that shuttle back and forth to one of the hundreds of islands. We are within walking distance of NK, the Bon Marché of Stockholm, and around the corner from our hotel is a parking lot with charging options and suspiciously many available spots. That turns out to have a reason, but that dear readers, I will tell you tomorrow.
It had been in my agenda for months with big hearts around it; with Daan to Sweden to cruise through the country in a fully electric Volvo EX40. And suddenly the day we had been looking forward to for so long is here.
