I was getting ready to go. Ken was in the Netherlands. He had left our home in Ajijic, Jalisco, Mexico near the end of August. I was thankful for having good friends in Ajijic. They were such a good support while he was looking for our new boat in Holland. I had not arranged my own airline tickets nor flown by myself in many moons. After attempting ticket purchases on-line and with travel agents I was frustrated, not finding the perfect match for me. Finally I used an app my friend Phyllis suggested and found what I thought was the ideal flight, leaving Thursday, October 4, 2018 for Amsterdam. After the hurdle of ticket purchase was cleared, the next hurdle was actually readying myself for the trip and making my way to the airport in Guadalajara.
Being a seasoned traveller I had my carry-on suitcase packed and ready to go. Slight problem was encountered, however. I managed to procure a relatively inexpensive flight with the now defunct WOW Airline for part of my journey. They were quite adamant that you bring only one piece of luggage that would fit under your seat - what! In fact, you had to pay a hefty sum, almost as much as your ticket, if your luggage exceded a certain weight or was bigger than a specified size. Now my ticket that was a “perfect match” did not seem to be that. I did manage to find a smaller bag which meant much of what I wanted to take with me was to stay in Mexico.
The day before I was to leave I ran into a slight snag. I was up early, raring to go, finishing up all my tasks before I was to leave. First things first, I was washing clothes. While making breakfast I heard an odd sound coming from the hall where the washing machine was housed. Water was rushing out from under the washing machine. My landlady was going to let me finish my wash in her home. Very commendable of her! That was just one of those unexpected incidents that sometimes seem to inevitably happen when under time constraints.
Kindly, my friend’s Janet and Paul said they would drive me to the airport in Guadalajara rather early the next morning. It was so nice to have them come with me to the airport as I was nervous about flying by myself all the way from Guadalajara to Amsterdam. Paul even carried my suitcase around the airport. We had a farewell breakfast, hugged and said our good-byes. I was so happy they joined me as long as they could that morning. It really put me more at ease.
I took Interjet from Mexico to Los Angles in a plane where I was likely the only extranjero. I felt a bit odd at first but realized the people in my row were very friendly as were the flight attendants. I should have known. LAX was not as scary or as big as I had expected. I was only there about five hours or less. I spent time looking for a restaurant with a vegetarian option and in a line up at the WOW boarding gate. By this time my bad case of anxiety had passed and I was well on my way to enjoying my flight experience.
By the time I left Los Angles it was evening. When I arrived at my seat I was lucky and did not have to share my row with any other passengers. That way I could stretch out and sleep once it was dark.
Next morning we landed in Reykjavík, Iceland. I had been at that airport previously so I was not nervous about that part of the journey. Janet had wanted me to send Her pictures of Iceland. Here are a couple of those pictures.
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The flight into Amsterdam or Schiphol Airport was exciting. This is a huge, world class, European airport with may airplanes coming and going constantly. I had a window seat so I had a good view of what was happening. Once we landed safely and disembarked it took what seemed like forever to walk through the arrival hallways and out through customs, out to where the pick-up spot was for arrivals. Ken was there waiting with a big smile and hug. It was so fantastic to see him after so long being apart.
Schiphol is south of Amsterdam so Ken had found a wonderful room for us in Katwijk aan Zee, Netherlands. It was a tall skinny, old building with a stairway that was more like climbing a ladder. Our room had a functional, small kitchen. It was called Hotel Steeds aan Zee. Wonderful place!
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