Back in NYC after a clean Tuesday morning getaway from Sweden.

I took the high-speed non-stop train from Stockholm’s Central Station to the airport. The one-way rail fare is stiff (260 Kronor) but it’s a slick way to go. It drops you off a couple luggage-friendly escalators away from the Arlanda Airport check-in counter. Time of trip is 20 minutes. The bus takes almost three times as long.

Skies were crystal clear during the first phase of flight over Sweden and Norway. It allowed those with a window seat to look down at it all. Snow-topped mountains over western Norway north of Bergen included deep ridges filled with water. It appeared good chunks of Norway are uninhabited. Lots of lush farmland could be seen as we flew over Sweden.

All aspects of the return journey to New York went off without a hitch really. While standing in the check-in line at Arlanda, I was grilled by a security worker with the firm ICTS. He asked what brought me to Sweden.

I told him I came to see a rock and roll band called the Babies. He asked for a printed itinerary of my travel plan to which responded I had no such document. To explain the lack of detailed arrangements in print, I told him I was an airline employee and that flight plans were typically made on the go. Upon production of my work identification, the Q and A quickly ended.

Checkpoint screening at Arlanda was a breeze as it often seems to be if the TSA isn’t involved. It’s not until just prior to the gate of departure that I met up with the Swedish customs agent. Before stamping my passport with a clear whack of fresh ink, the agent warned me that there “wasn’t much to do” once I entered the clearance zone for international departures. As long as coffee could be bought there, I said, I’m ready to go in. There were zero questions – just friendly advice. The customs agent’s focus seemed to be his concern that I would encounter a lack of services in the gate area isolated from the rest of the terminal.

The carrier I work for has just one flight a day out of Stockholm to Newark. It appears all of the staff associated with the flight’s operation work for a third-party vendor.

A few other notes about the trip:

-I saw the Helmut Newton “Retrospektiv” at the Swedish museum of photography “Fotografiska” on Monday. Newton died at the age of 83 after a car wreck outside the Chateau Marmont in Beverly Hills in 2004. This collection of Newton photos occupies several rooms on a single floor at the museum down the shore from the Slussen subway station. While I’d heard of Newton, I’d not previously seen much of his work. Among the more eye-catching pieces on display is a photo of Jackie O printed in Vogue’s French edition in 1970. Jackie appears to be aggravated at Newton for taking her picture. A giant shot of David Lee Roth chained to a fence appears near where most visitors end their walk through the exhibit. Roth had sought out Newton to take the publicity photo prior to the 1980 release of Van Halen’s Women and Children first record. The exhibit includes vast amounts of information about Newton’s approach to his art. Among the more interesting statements is Newton’s rejection of all forms of touch-up or manipulation prior to processing. One wonders how he’d feel now given all the great tools in the hands of camera hounds with far less talent than him. Most of Newton’s work is staged and aimed to startle. Many of his subjects are famous or attractive or both. A whole room in the Newton display is devoted to full-on nudes and semi-nudes. Admission to Fotografiska is 120 Kronor.

-Stockholm is expensive. That’s not a complaint. I was ready for it going in but pretty much everything costs more than say London or New York. Most entrees at decent sit-down restaurants start at 40 bucks American. Beers are at least 8 or 9 bucks but of a generally high quality. The best meal I had all trip (not including those crazy Scandic hotel breakfast buffets) was actually a bargain in Sweden. I had the “lunch vegeterisk” at Fotografiska’s third-floor bistro for 105 Kronor. I was served a big bowl of carefully-assembled cream of asparagus soup and was pointed to a beautiful salad bar with crunchy-fresh greens, grilled cauliflower, pea casings and flavorful tomatoes. My table faced a large picture window with a spectacular view of Gamla Stan and Skeppsholmen. Stockholm has more picturesque segments of “skyline” than any city I’ve ever been without much in the way of tall buildings to catch your eye. Because the town is essentially a dozen small islands connected by bridges with room for pedestrians, you get a dizzying amount of angles from which to see centuries-old architecture set up against waterfront. The only blight on any of the prominent angles of the city I saw was the gaudy amusement park Grona Lund on the southwestern shore of Djurgarden.

-Montclair Mike commented here about the extraordinary duration of Scandinavian sunlight during summertime. It is a remarkable thing to experience. It’s hard to take full advantage of all of the brightness on consecutive days but it does elevate energy and deepens one’s embrace with the outdoors at a time when the weather is generally good there. Of course, for every extra minute of daylight the Swedes get in summertime, it goes the other way in the winter. There are a lot of dark days in December and January. I think I’d take the trade-off although you’d have to make a point of ducking out in the middle of the day in wintertime to avoid shriveling up.

-I watched Soderbergh’s “Side Effects” via the in-seat entertainment system on the airplane ride home and shrieked loud when Emily (Rooney Mara) stabbed her husband. I don’t know what was edited out of this fit-for-a-plane version but the flick is pretty good. I certainly did not anticipate what would transpire when Jude Law’s character started piecing together a pretty twisted conspiracy.

-Berlin’s subway system has no gates or turnstiles. It’s an honor system. Nobody asked to check my unlimited ride day ticket either of the two days I rode the train there. In Stockholm, there are barriers to pass. You wave a smartcard to gain entry. I noticed some people simply put their wallet in the vicinity of the scanner to make the gates open. Dogs appeared to be welcome on trains in both cities. People willingly spoke English in both places. In Berlin especially, people who work in commerce transition effortlessly between German, English and French. Both cities lack even a fraction of the kind of diversity you see in New York. In Stockholm, it wasn’t until I got well outside of the city’s center before I saw people of color. Speaking of color, it was strawberry season at markets in both cities and they look different there. They’re a lighter or paler hue of red. Tasty, though. The Swedish word for strawberry is “jordgubb.”

-I got lost a lot, especially in Stockholm. The nice thing about getting lost there is the amount of city park space and benches to rest on while looking at a map.

-On arrival in Newark, I took the Coach USA bus from the airport to Port Authority bus terminal. When I have a piece of luggage, I take the bus because it’s easier to haul heavy stuff through the Port vs. Penn Station and the train. Part of the bus advantage has been negated however with the recent addition of new equipment serving the airport bus route to the city. I’ve noticed on recent trips that Coach USA is now using some buses that lack a cargo hold for stowage. It forces riders to bring suitcases onto the bus which can be a strain as you to move up the stairwell. It also clogs up space on the bus. It’s amazing to me with all the international visitors coming through Newark that there isn’t a public transit route that better accommodates those with a piece of luggage. That said, there is no better ambassador for NYC than Coach USA’s longtime representative manning Newark’s terminal C stop. His name is John and he’s extremely helpful to all first-time visitors seeking guidance as they head to the big city. I’ve watched John work for at least a decade. No query is a bother for John. His patience answering questions is important considering he’s the first human interaction for many stepping off airplanes from faraway places.

-Back to work tomorrow. The last two nights here in New York, I’ve stayed on Euro time with the sleep pattern which will make returning to the early Friday shift an easy one.