I slept fitfully the night of departure from Ireland; I think a mixture of staying up too late and being concerned about the next day and ensuring I made my flights on time. I only had two hours in Amsterdam, and I’d never been through the airport before.
I’ve had a few different experiences with airports over the years going from Country A to Country B while having to stop off somewhere else along the way, and it’s always been a mixture. Some countries, England included as I headed to Ireland, simply pass checked bags through the airline system, and I didn’t see my bag when we stopped in Heathrow, but it arrived safely in Cork Ireland. It even passed from airline to airline without me, starting with United and ending on Aer Lingus. Other trips of the same nature have had me collecting my bags, walking them through customs, and even moving between international terminals at one end all the way to the other side of the airport, just to keep moving and make it to the next leg. This can sometimes take hours, and a two-hour layover for me meant I’d likely be rushing through the airport and maybe even running to make the flight.
I finally gave up on sleeping about a half-hour before my alarm, cancelling the wake-up call I’d asked the hotel to put in place in case the beer kept me sleepy, and double-checked the room again to ensure I hadn’t left anything behind. I headed to the lobby, checked out, and climbed in the cab to the airport. The flight to Amsterdam was uneventful, and we stepped off the plane not into customs or the border guard (a sure sign you’re about to have to pick up your bags typically) but directly into a massive, bustling airport terminal. I was advised by the representative at Aer Lingus before leaving Ireland to “see the transfers desk” about a boarding pass for my Jet Airways trip to Bangalore, and I saw signs overhead for “transfer services” (which has a cool logo of a plane flying into an airport, then flying out again) advertising them in section “T” with nine total desks. I wasn’t sure if I could go to any transfer station, but I figured this would become clear along the way. I walked at a hurried pace, pushing past other passengers on ground escalators and generally trying to ensure I had time to spare. Along the way were some “self-service transfer” machines, and after passing three of them I decided to stop and give it a try. The machines didn’t recognize my passport, or my reservation with Jet Airways, so onward I went towards the “T”’s. It felt like I walked forever, Amsterdam is by far the largest airport I’ve ever been in I think, but as I approached the first “T” stations, I saw a “Transfers” board and found my flight to Bangalore. Next to it, in bright yellow, was “T9”. Perfect, I now knew my destination! I walked on, and on, and on some more. We turned corners, walked the length of the whole terminal more than once, but eventually progress was made and I found T9. They asked for my luggage tag, which I’d kept, and took down some numbers. After this, I was given a boarding pass and sent to the gate. There was not another trip through security, or border control, or anything like it… Amsterdam knew I had flown in to fly out, and just like that… I was on a plane to Bangalore, India.
The flight was ten hours, and it wasn’t fun. There was plenty of space in my row thanks to sitting with a family with two children who were probably four and six and their mother. The space came with a cost, however, and the older boy kept trying to pull me into the games he was playing on the screen. When that failed, he would throw a fit for a time until his mom paid attention to him enough for him to go to bed. I remained disinterested in being his entertainment and did my best to read my book and ignore the tantrums that went on from time to time. Whenever a child began crying on the flight, so would the boy, grabbing his mom for attention. Not all kids are this way, I kept telling myself, but if I was ever worried about not having kids in life yet… this removed those notions entirely. I will gladly wait a few years!
The flight mercifully landed, and I was on my way. I do want to take a moment to say that while entry into India is extremely professional and their border groups and laws well thought-out, their security standards are not. After gaining access to the country and through border processing, passengers were herded into a security area where we were again screened for security… before going to baggage claim. Yes, it was a full screening (not American screening, think of a rational one) with metal detectors and x-rays, except that the x-rays weren’t staffed, and nobody cared if you set off the metal detector. I know, because this is exactly what happened to me.
I put my bag on the belt, realized I still had a pen in my pocket and tried to give it to the attendant. “Just carry it,” he said, and so I did. I set off the metal detector with the pen (or maybe my belt buckle), but nobody was on the other side to prevent me from continuing. I glanced around for someone, even looked beyond the luggage line thinking someone would come since the machine alarmed… but there was no one there watching the line, and further glancing around revealed that the x-ray machine was also unmanned. I grabbed my items and left the empty security checkpoint confused on why I was made to go through it in the first place. I collected my checked bag, found my driver (my company provides a car for airport and work transit), and headed to my hotel: The ITC Gardenia.
This hotel is also pretty fancy…
I was too tired when I arrived to realize just how big the hotel complex is (we got here around 1:00 AM local time and once again I hadn’t slept on the flight), but there are four restaurants in the shop including one sushi restaurant that looks amazing named Edo. I went right to bed, awoke around 11:00 AM local time on 5/27, and meandered downstairs to find lunch. It was my first meal since leaving Ireland (again, I don’t eat airplane food) and it consisted of entirely vegetarian options of tofu in a very spicy chili sauce (Japanese-inspired, I think) and French fries covered in masala spices with a green dipping sauce that set my mouth on fire. I thoroughly loved both the fries (which I’d ordered as a starter assuming they were something else but not at all disappointed) and my main course of tofu, rice, and chili sauce.
The setting for lunch
After lunch/dinner, I went back to my room, caught up on my blogging, stopped quickly by the in-house chocolate shop for some caffeine and dessert, and am now wrapping up my evening before preparing for the week ahead. Work begins early here, so my car is coming at 5:00 AM and I have clothes to press and things to get ready. I hope to post more-regularly this week, but if last week was any indication we’ll have to see just how that goes with work!
Dessert at the local chocolate bar in the hotel
