I had to wait to find a café that hosted free wi-fi as our hotel wants 22 euros for 24 hours. But I will try to catch you up on the past two days.
We were really lucky with our flight schedule. Our flight was scheduled to depart at 7:30pm which means we didn’t have to be at the airport until 5pm at the latest. On top of that it was a direct flight to Amsterdam. The only downside to that being we were going to be exactly eight hours and two minutes trapped on a plane. And not just any plane. A plane with families, children, and babies leaving Disney World and most likely screaming, shouting, crying in a variety of languages (hopefully only the babies and children).
We came prepared with a variety of movies downloaded on to our travel laptop, I brought two books (after a lengthy justification of why I had to have two), and some headphones and ear plugs to block out our fellow travelers rambunctiousness.
We guessed right as when we were checking in for our flight there were teams of roaming children in front of us, and only several bewildered looking adults accompanying them (maybe a school?) And of course there was one already screaming baby being carried in a baby sling by a 12 year old girl in tube socks and converse shoes.
Check in and security were tolerable, Chris got randomly searched while going through security, and I had my bag searched and water tested before boarding the plane.
Once we got seated in comfort class and the menus started getting passed around with the food that would be served and the additional activities you could purchase, I realized just what an awesome upgrade comfort class really is. First of all, to comfort class only, they pass out these free miniature PC’s which offer a variety of movies to select from 2009 as well as popular television shows, documentaries, music, etc. In addition to this, along with the hot meal you were given the choice of a free wine cooler, beer, or soda (not like either of us went for the latter). And may I just add there’s a lot to be said about having a bathroom up front that the rest of the plane has no access to. Even with those two bathrooms, and the set of two behind us occupancy was always full so you kind of had to seize the moment at the soonest opportunity.
The weird thing about being on the flight was at a certain point you lost all sense of time. While most people slept, the insomniac inside me enjoyed several movies (500 days of summer, the blind side, etc.) and some serious people watching. But really it was only by counting the movies I had seen and tv episodes I had watched that gave me a clue to how close we were getting. During the first three to four hours of the flight they had the screens showing you where your plane was on the map. Once we hit New York and it got a little later, they turned off the screens and the lights in the cabin, and most people had their windows shut. So for a few hours it had a Twilight Zone feel. I really do need to get the batteries in my watch changed.
Another bonus about comfort class is you get to eat first. And yes I was excited about that since our last U.S. meal was at 1:00 with my parents, and it was getting close to eight-thirty nine-o’clock. Dinner was pretty standard stuff, but really good. They gave everyone a small caesar with a fudge cake dessert and a roll with the option of a beef dish or tomato cheese pasta. I’m sure you can guess who ordered what. Breakfast was really interesting. When they were coming around with the cart it looked like they had a ton of croissants piled on top. However, when the flight attendant got to us, she asked the question “Turkey or cheese?” I was kind of confused but I went with cheese and I got a croissant with a stack of cheese in the middle. And when Chris said turkey, he was given a croissant with a pile of turkey in the middle. My question is, why not both?
We landed soon after on time at 9:42am (Amsterdam time). Our suitcases were not lost, we made it through customs fine and Chris got a friendly reminder to renew his passport since it expires December 2010. Luckily, we didn’t get banned from any countries and I remembered to sign my new one before reaching Amsterdam, and here we are…
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