Getting to Amsterdam proved a bit unpleasant.
We arrived at the Naples airport to find our flight had been delayed due to bad weather in Frankfurt where our connection was. This was not a concern, the check-in desks day told us, because all flights in Frankfurt had been grounded. Hmmm....
We waited in the Naples airport. I played my 3DS (gameboy to you mom) and Dan napped. I went on a mission to find peanuts and discovered that the Naples airport does not have any sort of food establishment that just sells snacks. I could buy some sort of fancy chocolates, an actual meal, or balls of mozzarella, but no snacks. This was irritating. Anyway, some two/3 hours after we arrived at the airport we boarded our plane to Frankfurt.
We wait for half an hour on the tarmac because we have again been delayed. I continue to play my 3DS while Dan pokes his Kindle.
We finally land in Frankfurt with much confusion. Not enough people on our flight are connecting to Amsterdam, so we don't know where our connection is, if it is still here. Our connection has departed, so we head in the direction of the gate for the next flight to Amsterdam. On our way we pass the Lufthansa customer service desk. It has a line probably a quarter of a mile long. No joke. Dan is pleased that there is a line instead of the expected Neapolitan mob that we are used to. He gets in the line and I go off to find the other Amsterdam flight.
I find the desk and manage to get a standby ticket for the flight. They will not issue a standby ticket for Dan because I don't have his ticket information. I walk back to find Dan, who has moved maybe 10 feet since I left him. I get his ticket info and head back to the desk. Of course I can't get the same person I spoke to last time and the new person is much more concerned with IDs and proper verifications (the other person did not ask me for any ID). I go back to find Dan who has moved about 15 feet this time and tell him to go talk to the gate desk. I will wait in the long line.
I wait and continue to play my 3DS.
Dan successfully acquires a standby ticket. The flight is supposed to start boarding in 20 minutes. There is no way we are getting to the end of the customer service line in 20 minutes, so we take our chances and head off to get a snack and to see if we can get on this flight.
We manage to make it on the flight, Dan even gets and emergency exit row seat (woo leg room). Unfortunately, when we land, it becomes clear that our luggage has not made it out with us. This is mostly of concern because my winter coat is in my checked bag. Dan wanders off to find the lost luggage office and returns with two overnight kits from the airlines.
We grab a taxi to our hotel, because by this time, about midnight/1 am, the free shuttle service has stopped running.
We are amused at the differences between the Male and Female overnight kits. The Male kit has a toothbrush, brush, and razor that are all black and shaving cream. The Female kit has a toothbrush and brush that are white, no razor nor shaving cream, but it has lotion. Each has an XL or XXXL plain t-shirt inside.
So concludes our adventure for today.
I end with the first verse of a song my mom used to sing with my brothers and me when we were kids and is the only thing I really knew that had anything to do with Amsterdam for a long time:
Once there were three fish-e-rmen.
Once there were three fish-e-rmen.
Fish-er, fish-er, men men men.
Fish-er, fish-er, men men men.
Once there were three fish-er-men.
We waited in the Naples airport. I played my 3DS (gameboy to you mom) and Dan napped. I went on a mission to find peanuts and discovered that the Naples airport does not have any sort of food establishment that just sells snacks. I could buy some sort of fancy chocolates, an actual meal, or balls of mozzarella, but no snacks. This was irritating. Anyway, some two/3 hours after we arrived at the airport we boarded our plane to Frankfurt.
We wait for half an hour on the tarmac because we have again been delayed. I continue to play my 3DS while Dan pokes his Kindle.
We finally land in Frankfurt with much confusion. Not enough people on our flight are connecting to Amsterdam, so we don't know where our connection is, if it is still here. Our connection has departed, so we head in the direction of the gate for the next flight to Amsterdam. On our way we pass the Lufthansa customer service desk. It has a line probably a quarter of a mile long. No joke. Dan is pleased that there is a line instead of the expected Neapolitan mob that we are used to. He gets in the line and I go off to find the other Amsterdam flight.
I find the desk and manage to get a standby ticket for the flight. They will not issue a standby ticket for Dan because I don't have his ticket information. I walk back to find Dan, who has moved maybe 10 feet since I left him. I get his ticket info and head back to the desk. Of course I can't get the same person I spoke to last time and the new person is much more concerned with IDs and proper verifications (the other person did not ask me for any ID). I go back to find Dan who has moved about 15 feet this time and tell him to go talk to the gate desk. I will wait in the long line.
I wait and continue to play my 3DS.
Dan successfully acquires a standby ticket. The flight is supposed to start boarding in 20 minutes. There is no way we are getting to the end of the customer service line in 20 minutes, so we take our chances and head off to get a snack and to see if we can get on this flight.
We manage to make it on the flight, Dan even gets and emergency exit row seat (woo leg room). Unfortunately, when we land, it becomes clear that our luggage has not made it out with us. This is mostly of concern because my winter coat is in my checked bag. Dan wanders off to find the lost luggage office and returns with two overnight kits from the airlines.
We grab a taxi to our hotel, because by this time, about midnight/1 am, the free shuttle service has stopped running.
We are amused at the differences between the Male and Female overnight kits. The Male kit has a toothbrush, brush, and razor that are all black and shaving cream. The Female kit has a toothbrush and brush that are white, no razor nor shaving cream, but it has lotion. Each has an XL or XXXL plain t-shirt inside.
So concludes our adventure for today.
I end with the first verse of a song my mom used to sing with my brothers and me when we were kids and is the only thing I really knew that had anything to do with Amsterdam for a long time:
Once there were three fish-e-rmen.
Once there were three fish-e-rmen.
Fish-er, fish-er, men men men.
Fish-er, fish-er, men men men.
Once there were three fish-er-men.
