My Summer Vacation in Europe – Part 3 Copenhagen to
Amsterdam
I love to fly. I
really don’t know how many flights I’ve taken in my life but the first one was
when I was around 4 years old, and my parents and I went to Puerto Rico. All I remember from that trip are a pink
gingham bikini, my friend Elisa (who was double digits, maybe 10 or 12 LOL) and
a particularly interesting swim in the pool and an even more interesting ride
on the resort tram back to our room as I had to, um…oops.
My point is, I’ve never been afraid to fly, and I watch “Air
Disasters” so often that I’ve seen every episode at least 4 times. I’ve also never had a problem being on a plane
until a few months ago when I had a mild panic attack once I got into my
bulkhead row window seat, and I felt like I was suffocating. It’s a long story and no one in my row would
switch (we’d all paid for or used miles to get our Main Cabin Extra seats too) but after I deboarded, and then a couple of
kind gate agents found a passenger who was a “non-rev” (in this case, a
commuting FA who was eligible to ride in the jump seat), I got back on the plane
in a better seat and all was fine.
It's also been a minute since I’ve flown on what I call a
baby plane, or a regional jet like a CRJ-900.
As I’d flowing TATL in business, I was able to choose a seat near the
front of the plane. OK, great, bulkhead, and maybe window. Should be ok. The issue I had in March was on an A319 I think
so I figured even though it’s a smaller plane, I should be ok right? Wrong.
Same thing, minor panic attack but luckily the plane wasn’t full, and another
kind FA asked another passenger to switch with me and was met with “sure thing,
will you be, OK?” I moved to an aisle
where I could breathe freely. (This was
after walking up the steps to get on the plane.
LOL. I forgot how much fun it is to NOT have a jet bridge)
My aisle seat after someone swapped with me 
Legroom was ok but the window seat is too squished.
Luckily the flight to Amsterdam was short but we were
still served a light snack and a beverage.
The crew was nice, the plane, in all its tiny glory was in good shape
and I never even got out of my seat (which in hindsight was kind of dumb but it
was a short flight with only 1 restroom I think and nowhere to really move). Once we arrived in Amsterdam, the man who relocated
his seat, and the man next to him kindly offered to carry my bags down the steps
for me. (Those little regional jet stairs
are steeper than those on the 737 I’d fly later in the trip to Bologna.)
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| I ate the roll and that juice was great! Apple, elderberry and ginger. |
Schiphol airport is HUGE. Let me say it again. It’s massive with long, straight corridors
that seemingly go on FOR EV ER. As I was
making my way to baggage claim and through immigration, I stopped a couple
times to rest and even entertained getting a wheelchair as my legs were cramping. (I should have moved around on the short
flight. I was fine after the long one and while I didn’t consume much booze, I
probably didn’t drink enough plain (plane?
LOL) water. Take my advice, drink
a LOT of water. Always.
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| EVERYONE meets here. It's by Burger King. LOL |
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| Dutch grocery store. The crowd is by the bakery case. Enough said! |
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| The land side part of Schiphol. It's a GIGANTIC airport |
Eventually I called, and located, the rep from the company through whom I’d booked my transfer. I used a company called Airports Taxi Transfers and their price was in line with the others that I’d found (around 60 Euro). Yes I could have taken the train. You read the other parts of my blog where I mention being an over packer right? Plus I knew I’d be too tired to run around finding out where to pick up my transit pass, and then I’d have a long walk in the station to find the train into Amsterdam.
Anyway, the rep was a “kid” in his 20s who didn’t think it was necessary, even
after I said I was having trouble walking fast, to assist me with my luggage
cart. We took what I think is called an
inclinator – it’s like an escalator but without stairs. Did you ever try controlling a luggage cart
on a giant, stepless escalator moving uphill?
DO NOT EVEN TRY TO DO THIS! Yes,
there was an elevator, dude was too oblivious to take that route. Ugh.
Once I finally got into the car it was a short ride,
maybe 20-30 minutes to my hotel, the Park Plaza Victoria. Traffic in Amsterdam is interesting to say
the least. Between pedestrians, cars,
bikes, more bikes, motorcycles, more pedestrians, even more bikes, buses, trams
and crazy drivers, there really aren’t many places for cabs or car services to
stop and unload passengers. Except for
an “island” in the middle of the traffic lanes.
My driver helped me across the street with my bags and a bellman came
out and carried them up the stairs into the hotel (only about 5 steps. There is
a door around the side with a little wheelchair lift and they’ll come help if
you need assistance.)
Whew. FINALLY I
was going to be able to get settled into my hotel. The Park Plaza Victoria Amsterdam is just a
short, 5 minute walk from Amsterdam Centraal Station and it’s truly a perfect
location. You can get trams, trains, buses
and the metro and be anywhere within a very short time. I one hundred percent suggest purchasing a
multi day transit pass before arrival and picking it up when you get there. (It
can be picked up from a ticket kiosk but I couldn’t figure out where to do this
so I got it from a human in the station before I set out to see some sites.)
Watch my Park Plaza Victoria review here:
Coming soon…Amsterdam, the Boss and Frites with satay
sauce? Yes PLEASE!
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