02 October 2009

I've arrived!

I've touched down in Amsterdam!

The travel felt a little long...my first leg was from SFO to Chicago.
I was in a window seat next to an elderly couple (there we A LOT of
older people sitting near me...i think it was a tour group); the man
reminded me of my grandfather. When we took off, he made up a song to
carry us into the air, and the singing/comments came up at different
points in the flight, enough so that his wife needed to shush him. I
thought it was funny.

When we arrived, the taxi to the gate took more than 15 minutes.
Ridiculous, really...and when we arrived, we sat on a hot plane for
another 15 while they waited for someone to drive the skyway out to
us. I had a tight connection and was worried...

With reason! My second flight started boarding before I got off my
first, and it was in a completely different terminal. When I finally
got off the plane, it was a sprint to the next flight. Glad I've been
exercising a lot!

I arrived at the gate just as my group was boarding. Whew! I had the
great fortune of sitting next to a couple who decided to have a tickle
war for the first little while of the flight, and behind a woman who
turned, looked right at me, and tilted her seat back as far as she
could...her head was pretty much in my lap! This was really great for
my legroom...I don't know how people taller than me handle steerage;
I'm short and barely have any room!

I'm off now to find my hotel. Later tonight I'll meet my friends that
live here, the Qs, to celebrate Stacie's bday. I've got a few other
friends in town, too, so will try to hook up with them.

No comments: