May 22, 2024 The journey home
We were up early for our 8:30 a.m. KLM flight to London Heathrow. Leaving the hotel at 5:15 a.m. was too early to get the included breakfast. We took a taxi from the hotel in Hoofddrop to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. The taxi arrived as requested at 5:15 a.m., even though the clerk said that the other people waiting in the lobby had a ten minute delay for their taxi. Their taxi arrived a few minutes before ours. The clerk said that all the hotels were full and taxis were in demand. The 15 minute ride to the airport was €33 plus tip.
The temperature was 13°C, there was a light breeze and just a sprinkle of rain on the way to the airport.
We could not checkin online yesterday, since the KLM app would not process a phone scanned passport. There was no problem at the airport. Both suitcases were just over 20 Kg, but under the airline weight limit. We could not pay for the baggage charge in advance after numerous tries and it cost €120 for our two suitcases at the airport. There was a short security line. You did not need to remove your shoes or take liquids from your carryon. You just took one tray put your jacket on the bottom and carryon and personal item on top and a separate tray for a laptop, before walking into the body scanner. There was a line for Customs and Immigration to get the stamp for leaving the Netherlands. The officer who checked our passports had to consult with a colleague to find when we had last entered the European Union. We had said we arrived on April 27 but we had flown to and from Dublin after that. Ireland is part of the EU. It only took an extra 30 seconds. By 6 a.m. (11 p.m. Tuesday at home) we were looking for a place to have breakfast. We were in no hurry so we walked around the different terminal arms. We saw a display of Stroopwafels which we first saw on the Magnifique 1. They are small six centimetre in diameter thin waffles with a caramel filling. We decided to have breakfast at Amsterdam Bread Co. which had a variety of salads, sandwiches, muffins and pastries. We had accumulated 4,331 steps, without really trying.
This six week vacation had taken us to eight countries. During the first 16 days, we flew to Fort Lauderdale; then on the cruise we visited four countries, the Azores, Portugal; Brest, France; Portland/Weymouth, England; Le Havre, France and Dover, England before docking in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The next three weeks after a few days in Rotterdam, we took the train to Brussels, Belgium, then flew to Dublin, Ireland, for an Irish coach tour. We flew back to Brussels and had a day trip to Luxembourg, before joining the boat bike tour in Bruges, Belgium, and travelling to Amsterdam.
The 45 minute flight to London on KLM Airline, a partner with WestJet, was delayed almost 20 minutes. Once everyone was boarded the captain announced a few more minutes delay due to a thunder storm at London Heathrow. When we deplaned, we were surprised that as a connecting flight passengers had to go through security again. The line was short but took 15 minutes. There did not seem to be enough staff and two thirds of the carryon had to be inspected. It looked like mainly liquids were the issue, they had not been placed in a one litre clear plastic bag and placed in the tray. We had no problem.
We had a five hour layover before our nine hour WestJet flight to Calgary. Our plan was to spend the wait in an airport Plaza Premium Lounge. I had used up my annual allowance of four passes last fall. We have seen people allowed to buy a visit at the lounge on prior trips, for a US$35 fee, and we were prepared to do that. The Plaza Premium Lounge hostess directed us to Blush Lounge, a subsidiary of Plaza Premium Group. There, we were told that you needed to buy extra passes in advance. So much for that plan. We had accumulated 8,438 steps.
Terminal 4 did not seem really busy. We walked around some more and found the Costa Coffee seating area. We ordered a sandwich with coffee. It was quiet and we could download today’s paper to read. The plane, a 787 Dreamliner, left just before 3 p.m., almost an hour late,(9 a.m at home/8 a.m. in Calgary) for the 7,039 km flight. There was a snack within half an hour of takeoff. Then an hour later close 5 p.m. (10 a.m. in Calgary) a hot meal was served. It was Shepherd’s pie or Ravioli, with a salad, bun and chocolate fudge pudding and optional wine. The lights were lowered until about 90 minutes before landing. Then the crew passed out mediocre pizza wraps and beverages. We were spoiled on the Boat Bike Tour with delicious meals and snacks. We landed just before 4 p.m. in Calgary which was the scheduled arrival time. There had been rain before we landed and the clouds were still quite grey.
The passengers were directed to the Customs and Immigration area and its machines to make your declarations, between us we had less than $300 Canadian to declare. We had a two and a half hour layover before our two hour flight home which arrived about 10 minutes early. Scott picked us up from the airport.
We had logged 11,596 steps for the day.
The forecast for our first days home is for rain up to 50 cm for the next two days, including thunderstorms. Probably no worse than the rain we experienced on May 15 cycling from Bruges to Ghent or May 20 cycling in and around Weesp, but we will not be cycling in the rain this weekend.
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