Today was our last day abroad with a flight from Amsterdam to Minneapolis and another from Minneapolis to Saskatoon. We started off the day by sleeping in a bit this morning in preparation for our 32 hour day and getting all packed up for our hotel check out at noon. From there we left our bags at the hotel and took the tram downtown to visit Sara’s Pancake House, which was recommended to us by our Contiki rep in the Netherlands. Dutch pancakes are a bit different from the variety we’re used to in Canada. They’re kind of like a crêpe with a selection of sweet or savoury toppings cooked right into the pancake. I had mushrooms and cheese while Alix elected for mushroom and bacon.
After eating we went to pay only to find that the restaurant only accepted cash despite showing no signage to that effect. I was left to run down the street, while leaving Alix behind as collateral so I could get some cash from a grocery store ING ATM. From there we crossed the street and shopped for some famous Dutch cheeses before catching the tram back to the hotel to collect our baggage and catch bus 69 to the airport.
The Amsterdam airport (actually located in Schiphol) uses a layout that most of us in North America would find unfamiliar. In combination with it’s size we were left searching for some time to find all of the appropriate terminals, counters and gates that we needed to find our flight. In Amsterdam each gate has its own security to pass through so we tried to delay our arrival at the gate for some time so we could keep ourselves somewhat entertained. We ended up timing it pretty well, arriving at our gate in time to grab ourselves some seats. A lack of power outlets though left some of our devices a little undercharged for the long flight. I saw one girl near the bathrooms using the only outlet I’d seen to charge her phone before the flight.
Our flight to Minneapolis was largely uneventful. There was no seat back entertainment on this flight but they did show four movies on general displays in the cabin. I also had some videos on my tablet and phone and Alix read some books to help pass the time. We’re now sitting in the airport in Minneapolis waiting for our Saskatoon flight to begin boarding. We should be back in our house around midnight tonight.
I caught a little bit of a cold yesterday and have a sore throat tonight so I’m grateful to have tomorrow off to get some rest. We both return to work on Wednesday.
Have a good night everyone!
Jason