My First Day

I am in Amsterdam!!!!

All bags arrived safely!  I met my friend just outside customs, and we were off to their house for an early lunch.  After lunch comes the 'reset nap' for about 3 hours. This is the key to avoiding jet lag.

 I'm loving the art in their spare room



After naptime, we went on a bike tour of Amsterdam.  My first official Dutch bike ride!!

We had dinner at this delicious tapas place:

...and I promptly passed out once we got home.  Not too bad for the first day  ;-)

Déjà Vu

The benefit of reliving the same day twice is that you can plan for it a little better ;-)

Bags repacked, items forgotten the first time around were packed this time, and everything went off without a hitch.  Flight left on time and I was finally on my way :-D

                                                         

A quick stop over in Chicago with just enough time to snag a chair massage (GENIUS!) and take a quick walking tour of the terminal.

Hopped onto another plane and it was bye-bye USA!!


Enjoyed several glasses of free champagne and an 'amenity'.

Apparently this is what they're now calling the goodie bag you get when you fly Business Class.  Most useful item included in the tin?  Socks with sticky pads on the feet.  Those will definitely come in handy.

I think I was most impressed with the food offering.   All very delicious!


    


I'm going to sleep well tonight in my fully reclining seat  #humblebrag  Lol!

Today's the day!

After months of eager anticipation and two weeks of hurried packing...today's the day!  In just a few hours I'll be enjoying business class on a one-way ticket to Amsterdam.  I'm so excited!!!

***UPDATE***

So...I'm still here. It's 1pm in the afternoon, and I'm still here.  My flight was supposed to leave at 9:52am.

I had a nice little send off at the airport with my parents.

A good friend dropped by with my favorite breakfast sammie to start my trip off right. I got to hang out with all of them for a good hour before we parted ways and I went through security.

Frankie reminded me to make use of the United lounge (good call!) and I spent the remainder of the time prior to my departure relaxing in a leatherbound seat, eating free food and sipping free coffee.  Felt a lot like Google! Haha!!

9:20a rolls around and I wrap up the call Frankie. A few more 'miss you's, 'love you's, and 'sending hugs' and I was finally ready to walk to the gate and step on the plane.

Except, United had other ideas.

Turns out my flight out of SF was now delayed 2 hours.  This meant it would now arrive in Chicago at 5:57p. The problem?  My connecting flight to Amsterdam was scheduled to depart at 5:50p.  Only a minor inconvenience.  The woman at the ticket desk directed me to customer service around the corner...me and about a hundred other people impacted by this change in flight schedule.

 

This was only half of the line. The other half extended behind me and on through a zig-zag maze making its way to the customer service desk.

Luckily, the line for 'Premiere Access' was much shorter.  I KNEW it had been a good idea to book business class for this trip!

While waiting in line I also called United customer support, just in case that went more quickly.  Turns out it did! By the time I got to the customer service agent in real life, I'd already spoken to one on the phone and gotten my flight rebooked.

The only challenge is that flights getting me to Amsterdam for the rest of the day were pretty full already.  The only option was a 1p flight on Delta out of SFO connecting through Detroit (oh yay :-p) and traveling on to Amsterdam.  Ok fine, I'll take it.  I just want to get there already!

Rebooking on a different airline required several steps on my part. I had to go down to baggage claim and submit a request to reclaim my bags.  I ended up packing 2 suitcases, with 2 backpacks as carry-on.  I loaded everything onto a trolley and schlepped that all the way from Terminal 3 to Terminal 1.  Nowhere near each other.  Then I had to check in with Delta and recheck my bags.

Done and done and I'm on my way through security for the second time that morning when I noticed my tickets.

I was now sitting in the MIDDLE seat of the BACK ROW of both flights on Delta.  Hold up!   I went back to the ticket agent and asked about my previous business class tickets on United.  Turns out, business class doesn't transfer when you're rebooked on another airline. You automatically get put in economy.  Gee, thanks United agent for informing me of all the implications of changing my seat to a different airline.  #customerservicefail

This was a special trip and there was no way I was going to fly in anything other than the business class I'd paid for.  How do we fix this?  Delta agent:  we can't help you, you have to call United.  At this point, I almost cried. I'd been awake for about 29 hours by then and just wanted this next chapter to start already. Exhaustion and frustration were competing for control of my tears.

On the phone for the second time that day with United customer service. After 20 minutes on hold, finally got an agent and explained the situation.  He offered to rebook me on a flight the next day (same flight I was supposed to have left on that morning). Ok fine.  Business class?  Yes.  Great!  But now I had to reclaim my bags yet again, and schlep them BACK to Terminal 3 for United.

*sigh*

So now I have 6 boarding passes, I've checked my bags twice, reclaimed them twice, and been in 2 different terminals....and I still haven't left SF.

Called my mom to come pick me up.  After a quick bite (I hadn't eaten since 8am), I completely crashed at 1:30p.  I'd officially been awake for 31 hours at that point.  Definitely needed the rest.

Let's try this again tomorrow!

The Countdown Begins

My next European adventure is officially one week away.  I'll be enrolled in a Masters program for Management and Leadership at Webster University in Leiden (just south of Amsterdam).   

I've dreamt of this day for well over a decade, I knew it was a reality 7 months ago when I received my acceptance letter, and I've been blissfully unemployed for the last 3 months.  And yet, it's still a mad scramble to get ready to leave.  Who knew packing up the house you've lived in for 10 years would be such a daunting task!

As I attend one farewell/final brunch/drinks/dinner after another, it's getting harder and harder not to cry.  At brunch on Sunday, I outright bawled like a baby.  Today I got weepy just talking about these final hangouts.  

I love my friends.  They're the siblings I never had, but always wanted.  I will miss them terribly.  Much more than any American convenience I'll be foregoing in favor of a European lifestyle.

This post properly kicks off what will be 2 years of blogging from Europe.  Follow my adventures and leave comments as you like!  

Thanks for coming along with me on my journey - I'll try to make it interesting ;-)

Andalúsia and beyond!

Very quick on this one....

Finalized my travel for the next week. From Madrid, I go by train tomorrow to Cordoba for one night. Then to Sevilla for 2 nights. Después, Algeciras from June 11-13. My plan is to take the ferry to Morocco on the 12th :D

On the 13th a long train ride to Málaga, overnight stay and then fly back to Barcelona on the 14th where I´ll meet my friend from Italy.

Ran out of time, so I might make a quick flight from BCN to Granada before I leave. Flights are SO cheap!!

It will be a whirlwind, but exciting I think!

One of these days I´ll do some proper updates for the last few days. Keep an eye out!

Madrid - my walking tour

Heike would be so proud - I used the map I got from the train station to design my own walking tour of Madrid. Today I need to see the rest of what I missed yesterday because tomorrow I leave.

Started off towards Puerto del Sol. Made my way over to the Palácio Real, in front of which is a beautiful park that is surrounded on the opposite side of the palace by the Opera and some other beautiful buildings.

Took the palace tour. Very nice. Back towards Plaza Mayor, then around about near the Plaza de la Independéncia. There is a fountain in the middle with a statue of a lady in a chariot pulled by two lions, Castille and León.

Through the botanical gardens (though really I payed the $2 entrance fee just so I could use the bathroom). Was supposed to go to the Museo del Prado, but I was enjoying the day too much. So I walked passed it, enjoyed it from the outside, and continued on through the Parque del Retiro and found something new - a Crystal Palace.

Found a nice shady spot to sit down and watch life go by for awhile. There was music everywhere in the park. People everywhere in the park. And yet it was still possible to find your own little piece of relaxation. I think this is hands down my fave park so far.

Madrid - my first bullfight

I was amazed to see 1) how big the stadium was, and 2) that every seat was filled. I later learned that the royal family were in attendance that night. Probably why it was packed.

So I read up about bullfights before I went - the bull has never seen an unmounted man, there are guys called picadores and banderilleros, each of whom come out and weaken the bull before the matador has his way. First they have horses that the bull rams (don´t worry, the horses are padded, but blindfolded which i thought was unfair). The guy on the horse then pokes a spear in the back of the bull.

Then the second round of guys come out, the banderilleros. These ones are responsible for stabbing the bull in the back-shoulder area with 6 barbed spears, stabbing 2 at a time.

Then the matador finally comes out and starts ´controlling´the bull with the red cape. Bulls actually only see black and white, the red is for tradition.

After awhile, the bull gets tired. Thats when the matador stabs him with a sword over the top of his horns, supposedly through the aorta. What I found is that most of the time he misses and the bull is still alive. Thats when the assistants come out and do more capework to make the bull dizzy. When he finally sits down, another assistant comes out and stabs the bull in the head. Then he dies.



It all quite cruel, gruesome and horrible, but there definitely is a certain skill and artistry to the bullfight. The way the matador works the bull with the cape, and the way the banderilleros have to jump up to stab the bull as it charges them, and then get out of the way in time..... its cruel and horrible, but fascinating at the same time.

No way in hell you could pay me enough money to get out there in a ring with a huge angry bull though. No. Way.