The Prologue.
I know that most of you are probably sick of my wittering on about the flood (oh, make that floods, as we were hit for the second time exactly two months to the day after the first one but with lesser damage) but it did have a massive knock-on effect. For those not in the know I suggest to look up my trip report to SFO in June of this year. Suffice it for me to say that I left on that trip thinking all I had lost was two carpets but returned to find that my house was almost on the point of collapse from wet rot, dry rot, woodworm and any other thing you can think of and the timbers holding up my (very old) house had the consistency of Weetabix! This of course meant that I had to move out while the builders removed the stairs, replaced wobbly walls and excavated the floor to a depth that I wouldn’t have been surprised if they had found Roman coins - well I would actually, as the Romans never made it to Ireland. Make that the Vikings then. Hang on! I don’t think they made it to Cork. Oh well, perhaps some Bronze Age treasures. Alas no such bounty revealed itself and so it was back to the insurance company who coughed up, although perhaps not as much as some Bronze Age artefacts might have yielded. Sorry, I got carried away! So, I moved out to a holiday apartment which was sufficient for some basic needs for the six weeks or so but did not provide internet access. I occasionally visited a friend to use hers but we were both busy people and so that time was limited; I got a PAYG dongle which had a week’s free trial but after that it ate up credit faster than a hungry lion after a kill and so I was reliant mainly on my iPhone which was great for keeping in touch but not as good for researching holidays. Oh, and in the middle of this mix, at my advanced age, I took on a new part-time job which step was totally unexpected and unplanned! So there was I with minimal time and minimal internet access and a holiday hoving into view at what appeared break-neck speed.
Those of you who have followed my jaunts in Israel and Jordan and throughout SE Asia will know that I have a travel buddy, Chris, who I was meeting in Buenos Aires and who was even busier than I was so that with less than a fortnight to go, all we had planned was the hotels in Buenos Aires, a side trip to Mendoza and the hotel there plus the notion of a ferry trip to Uruguay. We had no idea of what to do when there and very little time to plan. In addition I was begging for a trip to Iguazzu Falls but the air fares were through the roof. It seemed like it was going to be an uninspiring trip and indeed at this stage we were totally uninspired! Slowly the mists of uncertainty began to clear; Chris was able to use his Alaska miles for seats on LAN to Iguazzu and moreover heard from a friend about a travel planner who, for an introduction fee of $100 would deliver the goods - and indeed he did. Within 24 hours he came back with an itinerary which was interesting and challenging and included transfers, hotel recommendations, trips and in some cases a private guide. All of a sudden the trip was exciting! We accepted and bookings were made. All that was needed was to pay. Some of the reservations needed cash payments so it was agreed that we would split it with Chris using his credit card and I would send the cash amount by Paypal. Twas done and I’ll say nothing about the fact that my contribution never arrived and was somewhere whizzing around in cyberspace leaving me wondering if I had been conned/swindled/scammed and that it was not located (and refunded) until after my return. As this had happened overnight Chris had covered the cost so we were good to go but it was a worry I could have well done without but I was determined not to let it impinge on my holiday if I could. And at this point, I shall say I succeeded. After all, what else could befall me? What else indeed! But then you shall just have to read all my trip reports to find out, won’t you?
OK, back to the trip report. As I posted in the link above I had a perfectly acceptable flight to AMS, overnighted in the Citizen M hotel and after an indifferent check-in experience and a lacklustre stay in the busy BA lounge headed on the long trek to the gate. AMS had changed since my last visit there and instead of having security at the individual gates, had now installed a central security area to the D gates which has reduced congestion at the gate area. Boarding was just commencing as I arrived there and I was quickly ensconced in 2A was fortunate to have the row to myself. The flight was very full and we pushed back on time. I was fully expecting the long trundle I have come to expect at AMS whereby you think you are travelling to LHR by road but after a couple of quick turns the engines were powered up and we were in the air.
Shortly after that the service began. I heard the cabin crew passing plates to the passengers in the row in front and telling them what was on it. It sounded like something with cheese but when she came to me she all but flung the plate at me saying, “Smoked chicken salad, that OK?” and passed on without giving me a chance to reply and then started to hand out more of the something with cheese to the row behind. Her manner was very offhand but it was more than made up for by the crew coming behind her with the drinks trolley and I had..........
…...... champagne! Well it had been woefully absent in the lounge.
The flight was very quick. I no sooner had finished the smoked chicken and champagne when descent into LHR began and soon we were on the ground. I must say it was rather nice not to have to collect bags and to follow the signs to Flight Connections within T5 and after a quick stop in Duty Free I was soon was in the South Gallery Lounge with a glass of champagne and some cheese awaiting for my South American adventure
Read on, dear people, read on...
. Yes it is quick and it's also a relief that a centralized security has been installed at AMS, those gate level scanning etc. set-ups were really inconvenient.
