UK Trip 2009 - Tuesday 7th April 2009
Woke up again early, this time 2am. At least this time I was able to get back to sleep, even if it was only for a couple of hours.
Check out provided to be a problem, the difficulty with my account that had occurred when I checked in was still causing the system lots of problem. I had to leave them to sort it out and I headed into the airport to check in.
There were already a few people waiting when I arrived, but it didn't take too long before my bag was sent packing and was free to wander the halls of Schiphol Airport, which is a lot larger than I first expected.
It took me a long while to walk from the check in area to the gate (although I did stop to look at several shops on the way). I was thankful that I was early at the gate, as there wasn't much room in the waiting lounge.
The security is very different in Amsterdam, instead of one central area dealing with all travelling, each gate has it's own security team and scanners. They were very thorough, although I wasn't asked to remove my shoes this time.
Although there wasn't much room in the waiting lounge, the plane felt virtually empty, by the time we had all boarded. The flight itself was over very quickly, although I think BMI Baby might want to think about getting some smaller planes (and newer ones too!).
Took a while to pick up the car, apparently it wasn't ready when I arrived and I had to wait half an hour for the car to arrive.
Again there maybe something wrong with the charges for the car, as they tried to add the one-way fee that is mentioned in the voucher as being free, although they waved me off when I questioned it. I'd not had this kind of “service” from any of the car hire company's in Australia.
Thankfully the Nav4All application on my Nokia worked fine and directed me most of the way (the Navmii software didn't work, I'm very glad I didn't pay for that).
Got home and it's really like I'd never left. My parents are following the same routine and keep make me cups of tea. They don't show much emotion, but I'm sure that they are both very happy to see me. Dad's questioning is beginning to get on my nerves again, but I'm trying not to let that show.
Chatted to one sister and left a message with the other about catching up. Plus sent a text to a friend to see if he is free this week. Heard back from the friend and will be having dinner with him on Thursday.
Discovered some small scratches around the lock on the drivers door that I'm sure that I haven't made but I didn't notice on the inspection when I picked it up.