Introduction: Waffles and Beer, Part Deux

Back in August, I made a quick weekend hop to Belgium and Amsterdam to review Delta’s new A350. But I left that trip with some unfinished business. As I mentioned in the post, I booked a “reverse round trip” to fly Delta One from Amsterdam to Detroit. Finding an affordable business class fare required booking a round trip from Amsterdam to Dallas. I finally closed the loop on that in November, with another short European weekend. I once again spent a day in Belgium, this time in Brussels. But I added another country to my list with a short trip to Sweden, too.

I currently plan the following posts in this trip report series. As you can see, despite the short length, I packed in quite a bit of material.

The Flight Plan

The first half of the trip was easy – just use the second half of my round trip from Amsterdam. This took me on Delta to Atlanta, then in KLM Economy Class to Amsterdam in the 787-9. I decided to purchase an Economy Comfort seat to see if the few extra inches of room made a difference. Thanks to a 25% discount from my Flying Blue Silver status, that seat cost me $65. To get home, I debated between a cheap one way on something like Icelandair, or a points redemption in business. I eventually settled on a points redemption, and sat down to plan a route.

I’m something of a sucker for new plane types, and one thing immediately caught my eye. United Mileage Plus offered a saver redemption on Scandinavian from Brussels to Chicago, with an overnight in Stockholm. And the added bonus – Brussels to Stockholm was on a Sukhoi Superjet! So I booked that award for 70,000 Mileage Plus miles, transferred from Chase. For my last leg to Dallas, I booked a cheap one way on Spirit for $57. Later, I decided to pony up an extra $33 to check out the Big Front Seat. In the end, my itinerary looked like this:

11/10 DL 1340 Depart Dallas – Ft Worth (DFW) 08:10, Arrive Atlanta (ATL) 11:08
11/10 KL 624 Depart ATL 15:55, Arrive Amsterdam (AMS) 06:00 (+1)
11/11 SN 2309 Depart Brussels (BRU) 19:15, Arrive Stockholm Bromma (BMA) 21:25
11/12 SK 945 Depart Stockholm Arlanda (ARN) 15:30, Arrive Chicago O’Hare (ORD) 17:45
11/12 NK 903 Depart ORD 19:49, Arrive DFW 22:23

Unfortunately, an equipment swap foiled one part of my plan early. Not even a month after booking, Brussels Airlines swapped the SSJ for a plain Jane Airbus A319. Bummer.

As with my other reports, I won’t be reviewing the domestic flights, as I have nothing new to add. To get from Schiphol to Brussels, I took a local train in Second Class for €34. I briefly talked about that experience in my last series, so I won’t cover that piece, either.

*Scandinavian Airlines A330 Business Class*

The Hotel Plan

I needed one hotel night on this short trip, in Stockholm. With my flight not scheduled until 3:30 pm, I decided to stay in the city center to look around in the morning. Though I considered burning some Marriott points, I ended up booking the Hilton Stockholm Slussen with cash. A “King Deluxe” room cost SEK 1,408 (~$159). But as with my stay at the Hilton Amsterdam Schiphol, the hotel surprised me with a nice upgrade. In this case, to a “city view” deluxe room. The view certainly did impress…

Exploring Brussels

I had most of Sunday afternoon to explore Brussels. Though the weather wasn’t great, I still managed to see quite a bit. Like Antwerp, Brussels is a great city for just walking around and exploring. Much of the city’s historic city center and parks are a short walk from Bruxelles-Central train station.

Grote Markt Brussels — *Grote Markt (Grand Palace) Brussels*

*Church of St. Mary Madeleine in fall colors*

Before heading to the airport, I made one last stop at the Van Gogh – The Immersive Experience at the Brussels Stock Exchange. The most impressive part is the color and light show, a 3D/virtual reality experience of sorts. Unfortunately, the exhibition ended this past Sunday, so you won’t be able to see it.

Exploring Stockholm

I had only a few hours on Monday morning in Stockholm. Fortunately, the Hilton is just a short walk from Stockholm’s charming old town. The Gamla Stan is a pleasant area to walk around, with little traffic in mid-November. Too bad I didn’t visit a few weeks later. I’m sure the Christmas tree was fabulous when decorated.

And Yes, Food

Of course I used my second trip to Belgium as an excuse to enjoy more waffles and beer.

Although this time, I expanded my horizons with some mulled wine and Swedish meatballs for lunch in Stockholm. (Before anyone asks, the meatballs blow that IKEA junk away.)