Leaving on a Jet Plane

I was so surprised…that Caroline and I are actually in Europe!

After a rough night’s sleep, we rose early yesterday morning and headed for the airport. Separately, of course, since she lives in Phoenix and I do not. Strangely enough, we showed up at almost the exact same time, meeting by chance in the ticketing line, with me just one person behind her.

Just so you know, I stuffed all of my monthly belongings into one suitcase, weighing in at exactly 48 pounds (the limit for a free checked bag is 50!), and Caroline has two suitcases. Typical.

So anyway, we had a fairly uneventful flight to Minneapolis—my “homeland.” We hustled to the next gate, with just an hour before we shipped off for Amsterdam, and had to wait in a very long, very stupid line to try to change our seats. (Apparently reserving seats through KLM when you’re flying Delta doesn’t work?) After waiting behind some woman that would not give up on her own problem, we eventually had to board and hope that Caroline’s seat buddy would trade me.

After a lot of waiting for someone to show up, then just stealing the seat, finally redirecting its owner, and eventually switching to the two furthest back seats possible to let a husband and wife sit together, we got situated.

And now we’ve completed our flight to Amsterdam, enjoying a hearty lunch, several snacks, and a strangely spicy breakfast on the way. Once we got here, however, it was amazing. First, we got to watch a very red sunrise over the ocean. Gorgeous. Especially since we saw the crescent moon glowing the same, magnificent red only a few hours before (cause we seriously saw only a few hours of nighttime). Second, we landed in the foggy farmlands. Awesome. And third, we found out the Amsterdam airport is like a giant Ikea. Seriously. It’s insane. Caroline went on a rampage and took pictures of everything. And then she made me walk up a scary spiral staircase and into a glass room full of art. We also found a casino and a library inside. Craziest airport ever.

I indulged in some McDonalds, being that I’m pretty sure we missed a meal somewhere in the 2923476 hours of flight time, while Caroline ate a Lunchable. We sat in strange, colorful chairs, watched some birds flying around inside, and then hustled to go through security. We got to the other side and voila! A normal airport, complete with black furnishings and white walls. What a letdown. We’ll see what Madrid has to offer once we get there, but for now it’s time to chill in the boring part of Amsterdam airport.