[ Main Index ] [ Previous Day ] [ Next Day ] [ Photo Gallery ]
There’s a direct flight from Portland to Amsterdam and you’d think we’d take that. But as luck would have it, we were originally booked on that flight, but the cruise company got my middle name wrong on the ticket and by the time we worked that out, the flight wasn’t available. So we got a bonus trip through Chicago.
After many pages and many questions on the United web site, they *then* informed me they couldn’t generate a boarding pass because they’d have to see our passports at the airport. Information that might have been useful *up front*. But ok. And to top it off, it wouldn’t allow our mileage numbers.
And as one added bonus, Tyke got himself locked in Marion’s studio and likely would have starved to death if I hadn’t thought he might have gotten outside when we loaded the car and went to look for him.
We got there in plenty of time and got checked in. And asked about the mileage numbers while we were at it. “Oh, these numbers are old. New numbers were generated when we merged with Continental”. Again, information that might have been useful to receive. But they got that worked out too.
The best part was on the flight when they announced that *if* we were happy with their service, could we fill out a survey for them. So what if we’re not? Keep it to yourself I guess.
The flight to Chicago was a bit bumpy in places but not bad. There was supposed to be Wi-Fi on the flight but it didn’t work. Much to the chagrin of the woman sitting next to me who was *incensed* that it didn’t operate. “I can’t believe they can’t do Wi-Fi on a plane”, she said. I said, “it’s actually pretty hard” (speaking as someone who worked with Boeing back in the day on the original implementation). She didn’t comment after that. But as Marion said, if you can’t make it work, don’t advertise it. Which is a good point.
This same women was sniffing through the whole flight. I’m really hoping it’s allergies…
We have almost a 4 hour layover in Chicago. Which is unfortunate. But we took the opportunity to get some lunch (sandwiches at Zoot’s). Which was not bad for airport sandwiches. And there was an Edy’s ice cream. Edy’s is a common NY Times crossword puzzle clue (“First name in ice cream”) and I’d never had it. So we gave it a try. Chocolate chip. Pretty decent.
Then we settled in for the 2+ hour wait until the Amsterdam flight. That turned into an almost 3 hour additional delay. I got back from walking down the concourse for something and said to Marion “why did they turn all the lights down”? Turns out they didn’t. A *big* thunderstorm had come over the airport and was dumping rain as well as lightning on the area. I guess they don’t like to fly in thunderstorms (wimps) so there will be a bit of a delay while the storm passes. So now we’re departing at 6:30. Make that 7:00. Did we say 7:00? We meant 7:30.
At one point there was even a flash flood warning in the area. There’s an automated system that sends those alerts (and amber alerts and other emergency alerts) to your cell phone and makes it beep. When the flash flood alert came out, it was like someone hit the jackpot in Las Vegas. With all the people in the boarding area waiting and all the cell phones they carried, the beeping just rolled through the boarding area. It was a bit disconcerting until we figured out what all the alarms were for.
At 7:30 they did actually board us, but then we sat there awhile. Then we taxied out to the runway and sat *there* for a while longer too. Of course if the world’s 3rd busiest airport is shut down for 2+ hours, there’s likely going to be a bit of a delay while all those planes that didn’t take off now try to. Took us a moment or two to figure that out as well.
So, it was 9pm by the time we left. 3 hours late. But the good news was, it didn’t really matter, other than sitting there forever. Getting in later to Amsterdam just mean there’s a greater chance the room will be ready, a better chance we can sleep on the flight, and a better chance we can stay up late enough to go to bed at local time in Amsterdam.
The flight itself was pretty uneventful. We had two seats in a row to ourselves so we didn’t have to worry about anyone else, which was nice. The planes were a bit old fashioned. They did have TV screens in the seats but they were tiny (maybe 3×3”) and were in a loop showing whatever they were showing. We’ve been spoiled by big screens and on demand video. But the flight passed pretty quickly all in all.
We landed in Amsterdam. And one nice thing, no landing cards to fill out. I guess they finally figured out how to pull that information from the chip in the passport. Or maybe the Dutch don’t care. They’re pretty easy going. Our bags arrived (yeah!) although Marion’s had a pretty good dent in it and some of the clothes were wet. Guess it had been out in the rain in Chicago.
Our Viking Cruise people were there to meet us, along with two other couples who we got to talking to while waiting. They were Tom and Debby from Kalamazoo and Dean and Norma from Colorado Springs. If they are indicative, we will be the youngest people on the boat (which is fine).
The hotel (the Movenpick) is right on the harbor and about 200 yards from where the boat is docked. We were able to get our room right away (nice). It’s on the 16th floor with a view of the harbor (very nice). And the tiled bathroom floor is heated! (ultra nice). Definitely doing that in the next house. We took a few minutes to collect our thoughts and get organized a bit, then headed out to wander Amsterdam before we fell asleep (which was a close call).
Having just arrived and getting little sleep on the plane we’re clearly not firing on all cylinders. It took some effort to figure out which way to head out of the hotel (despite the fact that a short distance in one direction the pier ended at the harbor), and to clearly express to each other what we were trying to accomplish (get Marion a Diet Coke, find an ATM). But, without too much trouble we found our way into the older part of town and even found an ATM where we managed to figure out how to work the cash cards we got (and confirmed they were right that our regular ATM cards wouldn’t work).
Amsterdam is pretty, at least what we’ve seen so far. Old 3-4 story townhouses lining canals. The standard layout is canal, bike path, road, trees, and row houses. There’s the occasional larger old (circa 1400-1700) building. Bikes *everywhere* and big bike paths for them to use. No one is wearing a helmet, but they pretty much don’t need to because they are on paths separate from the cars and not going particularly fast. Plus, as we were to learn, Dutch culture is, you’re responsible. Wear one or don’t wear one but don’t come crying to us if you fall off and crack your head open.
There were lots of people out enjoying a beverage at various cafes. A wide variety of restaurants of various nationalities. We had no set plan and just wandered down whatever street looked the most interesting. We found a street market (but crappy stuff) at New Market Square (or I should say Nieuwmarkt) and managed to find a restaurant to have lunch – the Poco Loco. We were initially the only people inside (everyone was outside enjoying the sun) but we were joined by (I assume) a Spanish couple. One of whom was very high maintenance (the guy). He was constantly asking the waitress for something.
The restaurant was playing classic rock. Mostly anyway. But occasionally there was some ‘alternative’ rock that was new to us, including our favorite with the lyric “The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire. Don’t bring any water let the motherf*cker burn”. Catchy tune.
After lunch we ventured into a grocery store to see what the locals like. This is always fun and we try to do it in new countries. Everyone in this market seemed to be in a big hurry and we seemed to always be standing in their way. They aren’t rude about it but neither are they patient. We just kind of got bowled over. Like we weren’t operating at the same speed as everyone else (which was likely true). So it was a bit nerve racking. We got some snack items and got out of there. And by then the sidewalks were really crowded too and it got to be a bit much. So we headed back to the hotel. We did pass our first marijuana emporium (the Jolly Joker) and you could tell from the aroma they had some customers.
Back at the hotel, try as we might, we couldn’t stay awake and had a nap. We stayed in and enjoyed the fruits of our grocery shopping for dinner (cheese, bread, and carrots) and remnants of airplane snacks.
It was Daniel’s birthday so we figured out the Wi-Fi in the room and sent birthday greetings along. As well as some Facebook updates. This is our first major trip of the Facebook age (for us) and there’s additional pressure to ensure our “followers” are kept up to date. No Internet when we went to Africa so it wasn’t an issue then :-).
6/21/14 – 6/22/14
[ Main Index ] [ Previous Day ] [ Next Day ] [ Photo Gallery ]