Wednesday, 12 October, Amsterdam, the Netherlands (disembarkation and home to Tallahassee)

Written 18 March 2023

Schipol Airport, in Amsterdam, had for weeks and months been having great difficulty moving people in and out, to the point where the director had to resign. Dire reports of travellers queuing outdoors on the sidewalks for hours, just trying to enter to check in with their airlines, led Viking to add lots of extra slack to the time they allowed for getting us and our fellow passengers from the boat to our planes.

Accordingly, we were warned to have our luggage outside our staterooms well before the crack of dawn and to board the buses promptly thereafter to be sure of catching our midmorning flight. As a result, we arrived at Schipol bright and early, and the bus rolled right by over a mile of linear white tents set up over the sidewalks to shelter the queues from the sun and the rain, all standing empty at that hour. The bus dropped us at the door, we waltzed in, checked in, and proceeded. We did have to queue indoors, at the foot of an escalator, for maybe 20 minutes, waiting our turn to go upstairs and pass through security, but that was the extent of the delay.

We first verified the location of our gate, then strolled over to the KLM lounge for this nice breakfast off the free 24-hour buffet—hot chocolate, a mild sausage, and chewy little round pancakes with butter and a yellow pouch of syrup.

It's all arrayed on one of the little white three-legged tables scattered everywhere, each provided with a leather loop handle in the center so that it can easily be picked up and moved to any location you find convenient.

At the left is a display case filled with the little ceramic houses that form the main theme of the lounge's decor. I think they're collectibles that KLM has issued for years. I don't know whether they hand them out, or you have to order them, or even whether the program is still in operation.

We moved on to our gate in plenty of time for boarding and once again settled into our cushy Delta One flat-bed seats.

Breakfast started with choice of hot drink. I got Earl Grey tea, brewed in this cute little china pot, together with a cup of dried fruit and little wedges of cheese.

That was followed by this entirely satisfactory second breafast of British bacon, grilled mushrooms, grilled tomato, pork sausage, and cheese omelet. On the side, a heated (heated!) croissant with butter and jam. The fruit cup was cubes of papaya with a wedge of lime. In the little dish at the top right were sun-dried tomatoes and I forget what else—I have the printed menu somewhere.

And then ice cream. It's the only way to fly!