After this we decide we might as well stroll up to the station and make our way to the airport. It’s only a short walk to the station, and just outside, we find what we’ve been looking for all day – a postbox! We’ve been walking around with the postcards for our families in my bag all day, trying in vain to find a postbox to put them in. It turns out we’ve walked past several without realising that’s what they were!
At the station we find a desk selling train tickets to the airport. Strangely enough they don’t take cash and will only let us pay by card! Fortunately the FairFx card is working fine now, so that’s no problem.
We walk through the station past some small shops and cafes, to platform 15b where there’s a train leaving in a few minutes. We sprint up the stairs, very thankful not to have our suitcase with us, and manage to catch the train in time.
It’s only a 10 minute train journey, and soon we’ve arrived and are negotiating the huge and confusing airport. Our first job is to find the left luggage office, which is downstairs. No-one is around, so we ring the bell. There’s no answer, so I go over to the door and try the intercom. Sure enough, a man opens the door. Once he sees our receipt he confirms that yes, our case is here (hooray!) and we pick it up and head over to bag drop. I would definitely think about using this service if you’re going to Amsterdam. It is so nice not to have to take your luggage to the airport with you!
As before, we’ve checked in online last night, so that’s one job less to do. Once our case has been dealt with, the lady checks the details on our phones and prints off our boarding cards, and then we head through security. As ever, this seems to take an age, but eventually we’re free to explore airside. Unfortunately Hall 2 is in the middle of refurbishment, and we don’t seem to have that much to look at in Hall 3. We start off in a café called ‘Bread’ where we pay over the odds for a sandwich and a drink. We browse in a few shops – notably called things like ‘Books and Magazines’, ‘Perfume and Cosmetics’ and ‘Gifts and Souvenirs’. I wonder if there’s a special law requiring shops at Dutch airports to have boringly literal names? Anyway, we manage to get some small souvenirs for our families, and then wait for our gate to be called for our 10pm flight.
Our gate is D24, and it turns out to be right across the other side of the airport! Cue some anxious power walking, stopping briefly to grab a glass of water from a coffee shop to take my travel tablet with.
We arrive at the gate to an announcement that they are trying to speed up boarding as they only have a short time before take-off. They get us all through as quickly as possible and we are rushed down to the entrance to the plane. As usual, I ask for an extender belt and I’m passed one straight away.
And this is where I discover that our seats are exit row seats! We hadn’t realised this when we chose them online last night, but hey, it’s a nice surprise and means Peter will get a great view out of the window for filming. However, our pleasure turns out to be short lived. One of the flight crew, a lovely lady called Denise, comes over and explains that unfortunately they don’t allow extender belts to be used in an exit row, as the long end could trip someone up. She apologises profusely and says I will need to sit somewhere else. So we ask if there’s any way we can stay sitting together. After a few minutes she’s back, and says she has spoken to another couple further down the plane, who are happy to swap seats with us. So we move to our new seats (not bothering to move our luggage, as the lockers are all full by now), and settle down. The other couple are both very tall, so they are delighted with the extra leg room in the exit row. It looks like Denise has done a great job at discreetly dealing with what could have been an awkward situation. I’m impressed.
As before, the 40 minute flight barely gives us time to eat our snacks, and soon we are landing at Heathrow. Because of the time difference, it’s only 10.10 when we land, but unfortunately it takes an age to get our luggage and get through passport control. We grab a lift and head down to the tube. Once at our local station we get a bus home, and stumble exhausted into our welcoming living room at just past midnight. We’ll regret this when the alarm goes at 5am tomorrow, but for now we fall gratefully into bed, glad to be home.
So, that’s it – our first trip to the Netherlands. It’s been thoroughly enjoyable, with a great variety of things to do. We would definitely visit again, but for now, we need to start saving for our next trip – which might possibly be Rome. Watch this space!
And so goodbye for now, or tot ziens as they say in Amsterdam. We’ll see you again on our next adventure!
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