My trip details (long)

**bigtomhammer** · 10-31-2003, 08:42 AM

Well we finally made it back last Monday night.  It was a very nice trip over to Sweden and Denmark.  Started off Thursday afternoon leaving Minneapolis, MN going to Chicago, IL to pick up SAS airlines.   Once we got to Chicago we couldn’t figure out right away how to get to the other terminals so it took a little wondering around to see where we go.  After figuring out that we need to take a shuttle train to the international terminal we made our way to the SAS lounge.  Very nice.  Enjoyed the free breads and drinks.  Unfortunately, I don’t drink and my wife is pregnant so no alcohol for us.  Oh well had a lot of pop.  

Than we got to get on the plane and if you are planning on doing OSD, try and get an exit seat row if you can.  SOOOO much legroom.  I am 6’9” tall so it really helped.  Once we got into the air we watched a couple of movies and ate a couple of meals (which were ok in my opinion).  Landed in Stockholm for a 2 hour layover so we made our way through customs (which were just drug sniffing dogs) and to the gate for the wait for the plain to Gothenburg.  Very beautiful country flying from Stockholm to Gothenburg.  

Once we landed in Gothenburg, we were greeted by a Volvo driver who took us directly to the Factory.  After getting to the factory we were greeted by Alexandra saying that we couldn’t get our car yet but we could get a free lunch in the Volvo lunchroom.  So we walked a block or so to the lunchroom (by the way, my wife expected to be driven there just didn’t seem like the “star treatment” that we saw on the Volvo OSD DVD we got from Volvo.  I didn’t mind though).  Once there we enjoyed a meal of meatballs and veggies.  Pretty good.  

After lunch it was time for the factory tour.  Loved it!  Riding in the S80 limo was pretty cool but they sure do cram you in. It seemed the first half of the tour (where you sit through a video) was just a sales video promoting their other cars.  Once we got into the factory, it was a lot better.  

After the tour we went back to the factory to pick up our car.  I believe it was just us and another couple doing it that late in the day.  Cassandra delivered our car to us and it was beautiful.  She parked it and as I was looking it over I noticed one little thing that was incorrect….they put in the WRONG TRANSMISSION!!!  Wrong transmission you say?  Well when you order the sport package you are suppose to get the geartronic transmission but they put in a regular automatic.  So Cassandra said she would check into it.   Other than that, it was perfect.  So she went to get Hans (her manager) and he said that they were switching over to a different package and our car just slipped through without their knowledge.  After we drop it off on Monday, they would replace the transmission.  No problem with me as long as it gets changed and changed correctly.  

After all of the transmission stuff we were looking at buying accessories for the car (rubber mats and stuff).  As we were looking through the book of options we notice that the options we wanted were actually cheaper at the local dealer except for the mats and rear mat that goes in the cargo area.  So that is all we got.  

Then once we got out of there we headed to the hotel.  Now I know that some people have said that Gothenburg is a pretty easy city to maneuver through but we had a problem with it.  Just seemed like the streets were one name for a mile or so than changed to another name.  Maybe it is just me.  Got to the Radisson Scandinavia for our free night.  Very nice hotel.  At this time we had been up for approx. 32 hours without sleep.  And no free breakfast the next morning.  Oh well.

So we got up the next morning (Saturday) and checked out.  We decided to check out some castles in the area.  There is one about 10 miles to the north on E6 Oslo (E6 Oslo means north and E6 Malmo means south).  That was very cool to see although, everything “touristy” closes in September so we didn’t get to go inside.  Still, the outside was awesome to see.  I recommend that if you are planning OSD that you do it sometime in the summer if you want to do the “tourist” things.

So after the castle outage we headed back to Gothenburg to check into our next hotel.  The Elite Plaza!  I have to say that I really liked this hotel.  In my opinion, much nicer than the Radisson.  A little smaller room but still, much nicer.  And once again we had a hard time finding it.  From the outside, it looks just like any other building until you see the be “E” flag outside so that helped.  

After we checked in we headed out for a walk down by the riverfront.  Nice little walk took us to the opera house so we decided to see what was playing.  It was the “Sound of Music”.  Just for fun we decided to see how much tickets were and they were only 20 usd.  So we figured what the heck lets see it.  So we saw it and didn’t understand any of the words.  All in Swedish.  But if you have see the movie or play you kinda get the jest of it.  Pretty cool none the less.  After the opera, we headed back to the hotel for the night.  

The next day (Sunday) we got up and had breakfast at the hotel that is INCLUDED in the price.  WOW what a spread.  It was a huge buffet.  After breakfast we headed to Copenhagen, Denmark.  Nice drive down south but not too impressive.  Very flat for the most part and a lot of farmland and forest.  While we there my wife wanted to see what the car could do so we got up to 120 MPH very easy.  Nice ride.  Very smooth.  The highpoint of the trip was going over the bridge that connects Sweden and Denmark.   Once we got to Copenhagen, we went to the Hard Rock Café for lunch and it was very good food.  Bought a few souvenirs there and walked around town for a while till it was time to go back to Gothenburg  (drove back the same day.)  Car really seem to want to hover around 80 MPH nicely so what is where it was most of the time.  Got back to the hotel, took a couple of pictures of the car in front of the hotel (will post once we get them back), had a burger and fries from the pub downstairs, and went to sleep.  

The next day (Monday) we got up at about 7 AM to get ready to leave back to the states.  Once again the hotel had a HUGE spread of food for breakfast.  Ate a ton of food and headed to the FDC to drop off our car.  Once we got there it was just a matter of filling out the sheet of things we wanted changed (transmission and the heated seats seemed to not heat up to warm so we had them adjust them hotter).  Leif was the gentleman helping us when we dropped it off.  So I guess I pretty much had some contact with everyone there.  After that, we got in the taxi to the airport and waited for our flight out.  Once there, the airport seemed like the only place we could find “Swedish” souvenirs.  So bought a few and relaxed until the plane was ready.  Met COMark there and chatted with him for a while.  So as we were waiting, the airport put up that our plane was delayed for approx. 15 minutes or so.  But the problem was, our flight out of Copenhagen to Chicago was to take off at the same time our flight from Gothenburg to Copenhagen was schedule to land.  There were about 10 couples that were suppose to transfer so they held the plane for us.  So at least we weren’t the only ones that were suppose to be on the waiting flight.

Quite flight back.  Glad to be home.  Now we just have to wait till December 7 or so (probably will be longer due to the Thanksgiving holiday in there).  Waited this long, what is a few more days right.

**AutoMonkey** · 10-31-2003, 10:09 AM

Great report BTH... is this the castle you saw about 10miles N of Gothenburg?

(Kungälv has a pretty old town... for you science historians out there, it was also once home to Lise Meitner, one of the first physicists to explain how nuclear fission works. I believe her house was the pink one in this picture)

AM

**bigtomhammer** · 10-31-2003, 10:21 AM

Yes that is the one.  Only wish I could have seen the inside.  Although, the outside was pretty amazing.  When you walk on the path that goes around it you don't see much but the river that is on the other side for those who haven't seen it yet.  

**SpudRacer** · 10-31-2003, 10:41 PM

BigTomHammer,

I'll ask you the same questions I've asked others. Is there anything you wish you had done differently or something you would try to take care of in advance if you could turn back time?

Sounds like you had an OK time despite all the setbacks. I'm so sorry to hear about your car having the wrong transmission. That is a pretty serious mistake, don't you think?

Sport model? Which car did you order??

I can't wait to see your pictures!!

If you haven't heard, we finally have our delivery date set, for December 18th. We originally had the 19th, but there were over 15 other deliveries scheduled, so we changed to the 18th which only has 2 including us. I want time to go over the car with a fine-tooth comb before we accept it. By the way, the Mrs has decided we need more time than two weeks, so we are opting for a full-blown 4-week trip which will hopefully get us all the way down to Italy. We plan to drop off the car in Frankfurt, Germany.

I'm so glad you made it back safely.

We'll be taking tons of digital pictures for the forum.

Tom

**mas71** · 11-01-2003, 12:28 AM

Spudracer: 4 weeks!?!?!
Holy guacamole, what a nice trip for you in a great car!

Bigtomhammer:
It really surpises me to hear that breakfast wasn't included in the price at the Radisson hotel. I travel a lot around Sweden and I have never ever encountered a hotel that does not include breakfast in the room prices. Infact it has always been included with no way to choose not to have it, they do that for tax reasons, otherwise I would have to pay taxes for that "free" breakfast while travelling in the line of duty.
It was nice to hear that the Elite Plaza was better in that respect.  

**bigtomhammer** · 11-01-2003, 07:33 AM

Wow Spud that is along time to be there. You will probably be one of the "higher mile" drivers on OSD. We only went 465 or so in 4 days. We are probably one of the "lower miles". I am sure you will have a great time though. To answer you question Spud, the Main thing we wish we did differently is to take delivery in the summer months when more stuff was open (like castles, river tours, ect...). But don't get me wrong, we had a great time it is just there would have been more things to do in the summer months. (just not during the time the factory is shutdown). When we picked up our car on a Friday, there were about 30 couples there to pick up there car but most of them went in the morning so after the factory tour, I think there were only a few couples left. And we were the last ones to leave since we were having problems with the transmission. Thats ok though, gave me more time to go over the car. And I agree, it is a big problem with the transmission but my car (and about 30 others) were ones where the factory was in the process of making the Geartronic standard in certain packages. They said it shouldn't be to big of a deal. Just have to remove the center council and some parts in the transmission. Hans said it should only take a couple of hours or so. No big deal as long as there is no scraches or dents to anything. I will be sure to look very close when we actually get the car here in Minnesota.

Mas71: with the "free" nights hotel stay the Volvo provides for you it doesn't include the breakfast. Oh well. The Elite more than made up for it.

**SpudRacer** · 11-01-2003, 11:09 AM

I agree four weeks is a long time. I've been to Europe before, but only England, France, and Belgium. The beautiful Mrs says that the time is going to pass too quickly and thinks we need four weeks to be able to see as much as we want without feeling rushed to hurry along.

We plan to hit:
1. Stockholm
2. Copenhagen
3. Holland
4. Paris
5. Normandy Beaches (this one is a priority to me, ex/future-military)
6. Switzerland
7. Venice, Italy
8. Munich, Berlin
9. Drop off car in Frankfurt, Germany before flying back to NC to check hopefully on the construction of our new home in Bryson City, NC.

I love driving, so it will be a pleasure to sit in those seats vs. any other seats for that period of time.

We have a Sony 3.3 megapixel digital camera that takes photos on tiny CD discs which makes it easy to take TONS of pictures for very little money. We just label the disks from the vacation and can pull up any picture at will. We'll be posting as many pictures as Talor lets us get away with.

Tom

**bigtomhammer** · 11-01-2003, 11:44 AM

You know those four weeks will go by so fast you won't even realize how fast they are going.  If we had more vacation left over we would have been there longer as well.  Hey, if you got the time than use it.

Wish I could have had a digital camera there with us.  The only thing we have is a digital video camera that you can take stills on as well just not high res. ones.  But you get the idea.  When we get our 35mm pics back we usually get the Kodak picture disk so I will try and post some pics off of there.

**SpudRacer** · 11-02-2003, 11:31 AM

The Mrs and I just finished Family Practice residency training and will be starting to work in the private sector next year.  This is our LAST chance to take as much time off as we want before we start our new jobs.  We could take a year off if we wanted, but student loans beckon, then start yelling over time!

If we have the chance, we'll try to post some pictures DURING our trip if we can gain access to the internet.  As our pictures are on discs, we can simply slip them into any computer for instant access to the pictures, without the computer needing any special programs to access them.  I'm starting to get excited.

Tom

**virginians** · 11-10-2003, 10:48 PM

Big Tom, we were the couple from Virginia picking up our Ash Gold XC 70 the day you were there. Glad you made it home OK, and thanks for recommending this Web site.

How was the Hard Rock in Copenhagen?

I'll post an account of our own OSD experience soon. Stay warm up there in MN.