Off to Amsterdam

Of course we got to the airport too early. I always do that. I don’t like missing flights and I’ve never arrived at my originating airport too late to make a flight. I read something recently that said that on the basis of cost-benefit analysis, if you never miss a flight then you are getting to the airport too early. On one hand, my family is consistently annoyed that we get to the airport and are then sitting around for up to an hour. On the other hand, on the occasion that we hit traffic or a long line at security, we’re always happy that we had the cushion.

This time, we definitely got to the airport too soon. Maybe it was the time I decided to leave, maybe it was the total lack of traffic, maybe it was the Jesus-loving fast-driving cabbie, who so doused the cab with odorizing spray that you could see the droplets hanging in the air and forced us to ride the whole way on the expressway at 70 miles per hour with the windows open. Or maybe it was the fact that, in spite of all people’s bitching, airline check-in is much quicker and more efficient than it ever was in the so-called good old days. Bur we got to the airport and through security an hour before your flight began boarding.

This really wasn’t so bad. It gave us an opportunity to sit in an unused and uncrowded gate area close to our actual gate and consider our food options. We bought sandwiches at a place called Guava Java, a nonsensically named airport stand that I’ve never seen anywhere else just to ensure that we didn’t starve to death between here and Amsterdam.

Our flight, which was mercifully not very full, left right on time and will deposit us in Amsterdam just around the time we would normally go to bed. This is always a difficult problem with overseas travel and I’m surprised more hotels have not taken advantage of the opportunity to make rooms available in the morning. Only one hotel I contacted had that kind of thing, and we opted not to stay there. Hopefully we can find a place to lie down at the hotel we’ll be using. I may try to sleep a bit.