Train Ride to Åre
The Train ride to Åre
After an early moring rush out of the apartment, we walked to T-Centralan to catch the train for our ride to Åre. The subway was not open during the early morning hours, so we had to make the 15 minute treck on foot through snow.
Boarding went smoothly and everyone found their seats which were close together. Kevin and myself were seated with a table across from another young couple. The kids kept to themselves playing on their devices during the eight hour ride, while we spent our time talking to the young couple about their lives growing up in Sweden.
The lost Rental Car
After arriving in Åre and picking up the car rental keys we wandered through the specified lot to find the van with no success. After about an hour of the six of us searching outside in freezing temperatures, Kevin located the van in another lot about a half mile down the road. We were finally able to load van and drive up the mountain to our Airbnb in the Bjornen area.
The House Rental and the Unexpected Expense
Our rental was a beautiful ski-in/ski-out townhome overlooking Åresjön lake with a ski hill at the end of the parking lot. The townhome was perfect for us, with three bedrooms and two bathrooms to accommodate our group of six. While setting up our rooms, though, I quickly realized the rental did not provide sheets or towels. This is not uncommon in Swedish rentals, but is usually noted on the rental listing and option to rent linens is offered. Our rental listing did not note this, so we had the fun task of finding a store in downtown Åre that carried sheets and towels. Thankfully, we were able to purchase them at the Newport Store, a high end, American themed, home store.
Dinner
To finish off the evening before heading back to our rental, we walked a few blocks to go to our dinner reservation at Supper. Supper is a popular Tapas style restaurant that require advanced reservations, especially during the ski season. We enjoyed plenty of delicious options and even found enough options to fufill the dietary restrictions we have. For us adults drinking, they had a few fun drinks.
