Lost in Sweden

Many years ago, I was traveling with a group to Sweden for a skiing trip. We had driven many hours north, through mountains, valleys, and grate forests. We spent a week on the top of the tallest mountain in the region. It was a great time, with many experiences, and good company.
When it was time to go home, we had packed all three cars full of gear, and set off. We drove for just a few hours, before starting to notice something was off with our car. My friend who owned the car decided to take a quick pit stop and check it out. We soon found a gas station and pulled in.
As we pulled in to the lot, the car made a few odd noises from the engine, and then died. Both my friend and I, and the rest of the group tried a few different things, but in the end we all agreed: The battery had died. It seemed the charger didn't work so the engine had drained the battery completely flat. The gas station we were at was closed, so no help there. We called a tow service to get the car sent to a mechanic, but we were unsure how we would get on with our journey. One friend group took as much extra luggage from our car as they could, and went on their way.
We were planing to go to a small cabin about half way between the skiing lodge and the ferry back to Denmark. We should then have stayed there for the night, and continued on to the ferry the next day. The tickets we booked, and these ferries are usually completely full, so changing the tickets was not an option. We had to make it to the ferry the next day.
But here we were. Stranded. The tow truck arrived within an hour, to take the car. We asked him for a ride, but he had several other stops that evening so he couldn't help us get anywhere. We grabbed the gear we could carry from the dead car. Most of it was stuffed in the second car, and we only kept the very essentials, for our selves. The tow truck drove off with the car. The group from the second car also decided to leave. There was nothing more they could do for us.
My friend and I started looking around the small town we were in, trying to find some way to get in the right direction. After about two hours we found a tourist office where we thought we could get some more information. They told us our best bet would be getting to a bigger town, and hope for transport from there. There was a but leaving shortly after, and the nice lady pointed us towards te bus stop.
Half an hour later we were on a but heading for a slightly larger town, further south. It was a three hour bus ride through some rough terrain, and when we finally arrived, it was very late in the evening. And we still didn't know how to get on from here. There was still a long way to go to the ferry, and not very long to get there.
We started walking to the train station. Luckily it was only a few kilometers away from where the bus stopped. At the train station we found the schedule. The last train south that day had left two hours earlier. The next train would be the next morning at seven. We didn't have a place to sleep, and no food.
We got in touch with the rest of our travel group. They had all made it to the cabin, and were trying to help us find viable options. Apparently there was supposed to be a car rental place in the town we had arrived in. We started to see the light. We could rent a car, drive through the night, and easily make the ferry. So we went to the address we were given, just a kilometer from the train station.
When we got there it looked more like a small gas station than a car rental place, but they had the logo on the window. We went in to the place, hoping for the best. Behind the counter was a young girl. Maybe sixteen or seventeen, scrolling on her phone. We explained our situation, and asked if she could give us a car.
"Do you have a contract?" she asked. We didn't. Apparently the gas station was only a place to collect and drop off keys for rental cars. The company behind the actual renting didn't have an office here. She informed us we might be able to rent a car on the website, and then she would gladly give us the keys. The website informed us there were no available cars at our location, and their office was closed for the weekend, so it would be three days before we could even call them.
Defeated, we called the friend group in the cabin. They had also been talking and planing, for this exact situation. The train we could catch the next morning would take us more than half way to the ferry, arriving in the city Örebro at noon. The ferry was scheduled for 3PM, and the drive from Örebro to the ferry is exactly 3 hours. A few of the friends had volunteered to drive north from the cabin for a full hour to pick us up at the train station in Örebro.
This was now the plan. All we needed now was a place to sleep and some food. But we were almost out of money, and needed cash for the train tickets the next day. We set out to find a place to eat. What we hadn't calculated into this was the fact that it was the easter weekend. In Sweden, everything is closed over easter. They take the easter schnaps very seriously up there. We walked for several hours, trying to find something that was open. No luck. Even the McDonald was closed for the holidays.
Eventually, we gave up, and set out to find a place to sleep. After walking for a few more hours to the outskirts of the town, we found a small motel. An old lady was smoking on a small patio. Cigarettes, that is. She was not on fire or anything. She didn't look like the owner, but it was quite clear she had been here for a while, so we figured she might know something. We asked her if there were any available beds, and she told us she would call the owner down to help us out. She then disappeared into the first room on the left
Shortly after a young man came down from a dark, narrow driveway. He introduced himself as the owner, and asked what he could do for us. We explained the situation, and that we only needed lodging for a few hours before we had to catch a train. He was happy to help, and showed us to a tine cabin, with just two small beds and a table. We paid him, and thanked him for the help.
My friend now opened his bag, adn revealed that he had some dinner for us. A bag of mixed candies, a can of salted nuts and a bottle fo rum. In a pinch, that counts as dinner.
The next morning, long before the sun was showing, we had packed our things, what little we had, and was on our way. At seven in the morning, we boarded the train, and set off towards Örebro.
Shortly after the train pulled out of the station, an old lady came up to where we were sitting, and said something in Swedish. Although both me and my friend speaks Danish, which is similar to Swedish, the old lady spoke too fast and too mumbly for either of us to understand. We tried asking her to speak slower, and she responded, "Jag pratar inte danska". We tried again, slower this time, but she kept repeating the same sentence, which means 'I don't speak Danish'. Then she continued to say something completely incomprehensible, and pointing angrily at my friend and his bag. It took us a almost 20 minutes to understand that she wanted his seat, because that seat was facing the driving direction. At no point did she make any effort to understand anything we said, nor to make herself any easier to understand.
Before you say anything, we did try in English as well, but that only made her talk louder. She didn't switch language.
As you can imagine, it was a long train ride, with her sitting next to us. Luckily she got of just a few hours later, and we had the seats to ourselves for the rest of the trip.
After a five hour train ride, we arrived in Örebro. As soon as we gout out of the train, our friends greeted us and guided us to the car. We were on time, but now we had a three hour car ride ahead of us, and a ferry to catch in exactly three hours. One of my friends who used to drive a cab took the wheel for the ride. There was no time to waste and no time to spare.
The car set off, going south, and as soon as we were on the road another of our friends pulled out a picnic basked and thermos. She had spent the morning preparing and packing a great lunch and fresh coffee for us, to enjoy on the ride.
The whole car ride was very enjoyable. Real food, hot coffee and good company. And we bade it to the ferry, with 15 minutes to spare.

Now, you may think this was a horrible experience, being stuck in northern Sweden, not knowing how we would get home, where we would sleep or when we would get real food again. And during the trip, we definitely didn't find it very funny. But looking back at it, I think it strengthened me. I learned that when your plans fail, you have options. Even when it all seems impossible, there is a way forward. I learned that no matter the struggle, I can persevere, and grow with it. And I learned that the best trips are the ones where you are a little bit lost along the way. They make for better stories.
I also learned that you can live on candy, nuts and rum, if you have to.