My ABBA-Tour Adventure - Part 2
Late August 2023: My excitement brimmed to overflowing as I packed... and repacked... and repacked... three weeks of clothes into my large teal suitcase. Preparing for temperatures anywhere between 50 and 90 degrees. Whew, just barely under the 50-pound weight limit. All right, I'm ready for my Friday morning flight to Baltimore.
The two days spent playing tourist with my brother’s family in D.C. were a good warm-up for the museums and mass transit experiences of Europe: the Baltimore Aquarium, the Smithsonian, and the Holocaust Museum.
Donna and I double-checked our reservations, confirming our seat and meal selections, as well as details for the excursions we booked in advance.
At last, the adventure began.
Our overnight flight from Baltimore to London was my first transatlantic flight. I marveled at the monitor on the seat in front of us, tracking our flight. We watched Mamma Mia! The Movie on my tablet to get us in the ABBA mood.
Video monitor on flight:
Tracking our overnight journey from Baltimore to London.
During our first full day in London, our explorations included the Waterloo Bridge and Waterloo Station on the Tube. That evening, we enjoyed a theatrical presentation of The Way Old Friends Do, where the main characters were high school chums who reunited decades later to create a drag ABBA tribute band. It was hilarious.
We spent a couple more days in London visiting Big Ben, the London Tower, and Buckingham Palace. On Thursday, we took a train ride to the British Music Experience in Liverpool just to see a display of the costumes used in the development of the ABBA Voyage virtual concert.
ABBA Voyage Poster
Signs advertising the ABBA Voyage Show were everywhere in London! This one greeted us in the Underground.
Friday, September 1. It was our last day in London, and we were looking forward to the Voyage concert that night. That morning, I purchased a multicolored dress we determined would be perfect for the concert that evening. Then we traveled from our lodging to the ABBA Arena to confirm we knew how to get there via public transportation.
While we were standing outside the arena, a guy riding a bicycle stole my mobile phone right out of my hand. Donna was a steady force as I contacted the local authorities and arranged for a replacement phone to be sent to my brother, who would join us in Paris in 10 days.
After resolving the issues I could, I looked at Donna and said, “I will not let that jerk ruin my vacation!” We ate dinner at the Moxy, donned our concert attire, and returned to the ABBA Arena.
After snapping photos on Donna’s phone with some of the other costume-clad ABBA fans, we found our seats and prepared for the concert experience of a lifetime!
When the opening notes of “The Visitors” launched the ABBA Voyage show, I marveled at how they created such a high-tech, visually and sonically stunning way to celebrate the amazing musical history of my favorite group, ABBA.
The show started with the look and feel of any other live concert and transformed into what felt like being part of an elaborate music video of multiple ABBA songs. I was one of 3000 ABBA fans dancing and singing along with every song. I whispered to Donna, “These are my people.”
The next day, we took another train to Glasgow for a couple of days of sightseeing. Our lodging was on Waterloo Street. The lyrics of “Super Trouper” hint at being sick, and ironically, I was feeling ill with an upper respiratory infection. A visit to a quick clinic and a few doses of Scottish antibiotics, and I was on the mend.
We spent a day in Edinburgh, guided by a former coworker who now lived in Scotland, before boarding a plane to fly to Stockholm, Sweden.
The next morning, we experienced ABBA: The Museum. The audio guide narrated by the ABBA members was a fascinating journey through their history. I danced while singing “Dancing Queen” with ABBA holograms as the 5th member of ABBA. I belted out more songs in the sing-along and karaoke booths. The entire experience was pure magic!
At ABBA: The Museum in Stockholm
Dinah and Donna pose on the bench made famous by the ABBA Greatest Hits album cover, shown in the background.
We ended our adventure in Paris, chosen based on multiple references to the city in “Our Last Summer.” Donna and I spent one day at Disneyland Paris, then the next took a taxi to another hotel in the tourist area of Paris. Just after checking in, while waiting for my brother Dan to arrive to join us for the last few days, I pulled a heavy door toward me, which landed on my big right toe, causing an injury that I later learned was a broken toe.
Dan, Donna, and Donna in Paris
Rain and my broken toe couldn’t dampen our spirits beneath the Eiffel Tower.
Undeterred, I hobbled around Paris with a swollen toe for the next 2.5 hours. I got pictures with as many of the song’s Paris references as I could: morning croissants, the Seine, the Eiffel Tower, and the Mona Lisa. We enjoyed dinner at a cafe along the Champs-Élysées.
After our time in Paris, I said farewell to my brother and Donna, my new favorite traveling buddy, and flew to London for an overnight stay before boarding a flight to return home to Orlando.
Did my European adventure go exactly as planned? No. My stolen phone, brief illness, and broken toe are evidence of that. But did I have fun? Yes, I had a blast. I chose not to allow those speed bumps to derail my journey. Sometimes the most interesting stories come from the detours we don’t plan.