On our way back to the hotel, we noticed a boat crammed full of partiers
passing by on one of the canals. They seemed to be having a wonderful time.
Party Boat on Zwanenburgwal Canal
But for us, the party was over. It was time to go home. We were a little
nervous about the procedure, remembering our surprise layovers from the previous
couple of years. As it turned out, our return from Amsterdam ended up being
complicated as well, but this time we only had ourselves to blame. First, when
we were making reservations there weren't many flights available from Amsterdam
to LA, and we ended up with a flight that left Amsterdam at 7 AM. Doing the math
(time to wake up, get put together, check out, get to the train station, ride the
train to the airport, check in, go through security, etc.), it didn't seem like
we'd have much time to sleep at the hotel that night. So we didn't. Before
going to explore churches in the morning, we'd already checked out, and our plan
was to head for the airport in the early evening, spending the night there. This
would save us many Euros. The hotel agreed to hold our luggage for us, and on
our return from the day's exertions, we reclaimed it and found a bus for the
train station. Things seemed to pretty much go according to plan. But an
airport (even Amsterdam's Schiphol, which is pretty nice) is a very boring place
in the middle of the night (nearly all the shops are closed, and the place is
full of half-awake people), and an uncomfortable place to try to sleep.
Connie and Luggage in Hotel Lobby
Amsterdam Main Station
Nella and Connie Waiting for Train
Connie and Nella at Schiphol Airport, 3:30 AM
Would we do this again? Hard to say. (How many Euros?) Eventually
there was an announcement of which gate our flight would be leaving from.
We'd long since exhausted the short list of amusements in our present
location, so we headed for the gate. We seemed to have beaten the rush.
Connie and Nella at Gate Area, 5:15 AM
But eventually people started showing up, the plane arrived and we all
boarded. We had a nice view of the Dutch sunrise through the window, and
we took off on schedule.
Pre-Dawn, Schiphol Airport
Sunrise at Schiphol Airport
Farewell to Amsterdam
Which brings up the next complication in our getting-home procedure. In
looking for a good fare, we found a deal with Swiss International
Airlines. The catch (besides leaving at 7 AM) was that we would have to
fly home by way of, well, Switzerland (Zurich to be exact). This wasn't
exactly on the way home and would involve more sitting around in an
airport, but it seemed like a good idea at the time.
The flight to Zurich took about an hour and a half and gave us some views
of some interesting clouds, but was otherwise uneventful.
Flying to Zurich
Flying to Zurich
The terminal building at the Zurich airport (Flughafen Zürich) was
pretty nice and had a decent selection of shops, selling things like watches
and Swiss chocolate.
Zurich Terminal Building
Lindt Chocolate Shop, Zurich Airport
Sprüngli, Zurich Airport
Toblerones at Zurich Airport
All the chocolate reminded Nella that she still had a little Belgian
chocolate squirreled away, so we finished our Belgian chocolate,
surrounded by Swiss chocolate.
Finishing Belgian Chocolate
But our marathon continued, with the time between flights being another
four and a half hours (before even starting to cross the Atlantic). But
eventually a plane taxied up to our gate and started loading up with
luggage and supplies.
Connie and Nella Waiting for Plane
Zurich Airport
Plane at Zurich Airport
The plane took off on time, and at no point during the flight did it have
to turn around and go back to anywhere, so we didn't really have anything
to complain about (a little frustrating when you're tired and grouchy).
We arrived back at LAX and called Philip to come take us home. I'm not
sure what we looked like by this time, but it didn't keep Philip from
asking questions about the trip. He seemed to have missed travelling
with us, on some level. Maybe next trip.