Starting the second round

It’s a good thing I like airplanes so much. A few days after crossing the Atlantic to come home and recuperate from my first month of travel, I make the same flight back again to set off on another expedition.  That’s about a 9 hour flight each time for anyone curious.  I used to joke that I make a terrible passenger because I’m so used to walking and standing in the galley during flights, but I think I’m getting the hang of it!  

I don’t know about a ‘good’ passenger, but I sure was a lucky passenger this time.  I somehow ended up with my own middle row to myself all the way to Gatwick, and I took full advantage of those 3 seats to stretch out – ignoring the looks being shot my way from the less fortunate around me.  And unknown ahead of time, I also had friends (plural!!) on the crew working the flight who came to chat with me when they had a spare minute so those 9 hours evaporated before I knew it. 

That luck ran dry after I arrived in London though (…knew I shoulda shared the row! There’s my karma) as I ended up spending another 9 hours trying to get from the London Gatwick airport over to the London Heathrow airport and onward to Prague.  After 3 train transfers, 4 flights too full for me to get a seat, 2 times cancelling/rebooking/cancelling again the third leg of my journey I finally was able to leave London, but with a new plan.  Standby travelling on passes is great but sometimes this happens.  Roll with it all with a smile, fake as that grin may need to be!   Maybe it was all fitting, because in my exhaustion my small spacey smile and glassy bloodshot eyes meant I could fit right in with the crowds in Amsterdam! Ha!   Sorry, couldn’t resist that bad joke…

The next morning I checked out of my airport hotel and made my way to central Amsterdam to wander around with my camera.  I had the whole day to see what I could see before boarding my overnight bus to Prague.   Here’s what I saw. 

—  I call that black & white compilation “sitting and smoking and me the creeper.”    I have more of those shots if you feel like seeing them! 😏 —