Day 7 travel back to England

Day 7 An early rise in order to ensure we got to our taxi on time. This time 24 euros for the same trip we paid 18 for 2 days before. We figured extra was charged to it being so early. Lyndsay had also read that it was so difficult to get a taxi license in Charmonix that there were very few taxis and they charged whatever they wanted. We settled our bill at the hotel and caught our taxi to the train station where we had to wait for about 20 minutes for our train to arrive. After a 45 minute trip we arrived back in St Gervais for a quick change of trains to Anacy where our ticket said we needed to change trains to continue to Lyon. As we got off the train we saw 5 different trains in the station so we approached an official and asked for assistance. The official informed us that our train was the one we needed to be on so we lugged our luggage back onto the train and caught the same one to Lyon. Once in lyon we the adventure began as we did not have an idea of how we were going to get to the airport as we did not know where it was in relation to the station. Fortunately I spotted a sight with an aeroplane on it and we followed it to find a tram station which said airport. 45 euros and we were on the tram. I was thinking maybe it would have been cheaper to catch a taxi. Thankfully we didn’t as the it seemed as if the airport was in a different city we were on the tram for so long. Lyon did not offer the beauty of the rest of France it seemed to be the more industrial side of the country, a lot of factories and graffiti everywhere. It definitely seemed be more slum like with no painted walls, Obviously we only saw certain parts of the city as we were following the tram line however. We made it to the Airport thank goodness as this was the one worry of Lyndsays. Once there we caight our flight on Easyjet to Standstead where we caught a train involving three stops to Bushy station where Sandra was going to fetch us. 85 pounds later and our most expensive train ride yet. We finally made it back to Sandra and Joes, 15 hours of train, tram, plain, and automobile rides later and we could finally put down our combined weight of 60kg bags and settle in with nice hot drink.

Day 6 Ski day 2 sadly no pics for now

Day 6 Lyndsay discovered she had lost her beanie the day before and so we had to head out early to try and buy her a new one. We soon discovered that Charmonix doesn’t open that early. I remembered there was a ski shop across from the gondola so we decided to get the bus in and we would buy one there. We arrived back at the mountain and bought a very pretty beanie for Lyndsay and decided to purchase a small breakfast at a pastry shop. Jono had a small pizza, Lyndsay had a baguette and I had a small custard tart I wasn’t going to leave France without a pastry being eaten. There were no seats outside this shop so we sat at a table next door, where a lady came and asked us if we would like anything, when we didn’t order she told us to push off of so we figured as it was all in French and we pretty much looked at her blankly. After our small breakfast we made our way up the mountain. Again the beauty astounds you, we thought Gail would be terrified at this point as the cable car was moving slightly. Jono and I agreed that we were not yet ready for the blue runs but rather that we need to practice some more on the green slope. This time however we knew what we needed to practice. I soon became a lot more comfortable with skiing from side to side as opposed to attempting to snowplow may way down the mountain which was simply not working. I finally felt like I was learning to ski and was gaining my confidence back. It was time to tackle another blue run. Lyndsay and I asked Jono if he was keen but he still felt he was not going to be able to do it. He said we should go and come back for him once we had done one run. So we did, this time was much different I finally had control of what I was doing. No I was not the expert, so I took it slow but I was in control and feeling far more like I was actually skiing then simply trying to stay alive. Lyndsay and I completed the blue run with only one or two falls between the both of us and we went over to fetch Jono. When we got back to Jono too was feeling a lot more confident. He had found an instructor teaching some other English people and followed them around for a bit and picked up some tips. Jono was styling down the mountain and Lyndsay was finally starting to have some fun. It had been quite boring for her to stand around constantly having to wait for us beginners. We completed a run together of the blue and we were all alive. Then we found a new way to get to the run. This didn’t seem to suit me as I fell into thick mounds of snow every 3 seconds it seemed. Not only that when I fell my glasses got covered in snow and I could not see a thing through them. Never the less we persisted and got through another couple of runs. Lunch was in order by this stage and we enjoyed a quick drink and a small plate of chips to share on the mountain. Then back to the slope. I just couldn’t seem to get the trail to the slope right and this was the easy part. But on the slope Lyndsay and I were getting it waxed as we zig zaged in and out but still staying with each other which allowed you to actually ski with your partner. This was a real highlight for me as I was finally starting to feel the enjoyment Lyndsay had gotten out of skiing six years previously. Jono was really starting to get quite good now and was also enjoying himself as he had his confidence back as well. We had a great day on the slope sadly it was our last. When we got back down the mountain we had to wait for the bus for an hour before it arrived. We were freezing! When the bus arrived there was a large crowd waiting and we all rushed to ensure we all had a place, it was like hyena’s scrabbling towards a kill. Pushing and shoving, but we all got on and again enjoyed a 25minute trip back into town feeling like squashed sardines. As we got back to the hotel we quickly headed straight for the Jacuzzi to warm up. We met and English man and Palestinian women there who were skiing in Italy for the day as it was only 25minutes from where we were. We then go dressed and took the long walk to return our ski’s and gear as we were leaving early the next morning and could not afford not to return them that night. Fortunately the ski shop was open and within three second our gear was retrieved at it was time to find some food. Skiing clearly makes you quite hungry. I was after a fondue as Lyndsays was so good the night we arrived. We seemed to walk for ages till we finally found a nice looking restaurant where Jono and I both enjoyed a fondue alas not as good as Lyndsays but good never the less and Lyndsay enjoyed what looked like a potato hot pot which she said was delicious. After that it was surprisingly a quick walk home and straight to bed.

Day 5 Time to go Skiing

Day Five Time to go Skiing I have never been so frightened in all my life. What a fool I was attempting this crazy persons sport. So we started the day a bit later then we wanted and we missed the first bus. Hence we took a small walk around town purchased another fridge magnet and a few postcards. Back to our hotel to get our boots on and take the 5 minute walk to the bus stop where we met up with a bunch of English people. Oh I forgot to mention this town blows your mind with beauty. The French definitely know how to display food in the windows of their stores, especially sweets and puddings, every time I pass a store my mouth begins to salivate at how good all the food looks. So we chatted to some English people while we waited. When the bus arrived we all crammed ourselves in, to endure the 8 stops we had to go through as the bus driver slammed his breaks as if he had never used breaks before. Of course is creates some chaos as the bud was grossly over loaded and we all had to hold on for dear life. Squashed sardines came to mind. So we made it to the mountain, first order of business was to purchase a ski pass. 3 euro 30 was the special price which was 7 euro cheaper then we saw on the internet so, I was pretty happy that was the one thing we did not pre-book online. We took a cable car up to the top of the mountain. 1850 meters up. We had to then fit our skis and in Jono’s case a snow board and make our way to the first slope. We opted for a green or nursery slope just to get our bearings which was perfect as before I had even reached the ski lift to the slope I had already fallen. When I say fallen I had somehow found myself speeding down the hill and flying into fortunately a think mound of snow which complete submerged me. Cold on the face but otherwise no pain felt at all. After finally making it to the to the ski lift which took us to the actual slope. I finally got to have my first run down real snow. Yes I ended up submerged again in the same spot, only to have some no older than 4 year old girl point at me and say he’s fallen again. Lyndsay found this green run very boring as she remembered her old skiing like it was yesterday, Jono and I on the other hand were quite happy as we were both battling to get the hang of it all. Yes Jono too was seeing the ground a few times which is no surprise as snowboarding looks far more difficult then skiing. At about one thirty we stopped for lunch and decided it was now time for a blue run. This is the lowest level other then nursery and the level Lyndsay learned on. Well it was bloody terrifying. It was steeper then the green run which meant you go faster and I was battling on the green run. Jono to found this to be very challenging. Other than being faster the run was mostly ok due to the fact that we had really good snow but then a section of snow which was no longer powder but rather ice arrived. Lyndsay had no issues at all, she finally looked like she was enjoying herself Jono and I on the other hand… well we were struggling. I finally thought I was getting the hang of it when I am not sure what happened but I found myself heading straight down the slope. You are supposed to go from side to in order to slow down. Well I picked up speed fast and it was terrifying. I heard lyndsay shouting turn! Turn! As I wizzed passed her then she shouted fall fall! I managed to find snow that wasn’t ice and turned 90degrees which slowed me down. Then I fell to my side to a reasonably soft landing. I don’t think I have ever been so scared in my life. The rest of the run was far less steep so other then that I continued down the slope without a hitch. Jono however being on a snow board which is far more difficult, had a bit of a fall at the bottom of the slope and hit his head. Fortunately he was wearing a helmet but he seemed to be concust so we took the shortest route off of the mountain, this involve a freezing ski lift ride back up but then we still needed to ski to the gondola to take up back down. Jono didn’t look good. We were early for our bus so we stopped and had one of the best cups of hot chocolate I have ever had in my life. When our bus arrived it was early and we had to rush to squeeze on. Jono had about four sugars with his hot chocolate which seemed to bring him back to life. We got off at the wrong stop from the bus station which meant walking about 2km to our hotel not fun carrying skis and walking in ski boots which are fitted at an angle, Jono had no issue though as snow board boots are basically comfy shoes. There after we hit the Jacuzzi which was awesome just to relax the muscles and recover. Not to mention talk about an eventful day skiing. We went to a different restaurant, only to find their prices were crazy so we opted to go back to the one we went to the night before, and we weren’t disappointed. Then back to the hotel and straight to bed for a well deserved night’s sleep.

Day Four travelling to Charmonix

Day Four Well time to leave Paris. It had been a wonderful city to us barring one or two incidents, but then again what city doesn’t have one or two incidents. We had an early train to catch so we had to leave at the crack of dawn, Jono after a night of having a sore stomach needed to be woken up, so I took a walk down to his room and got him out of bed. Then I rushed back to my room to get packed and ready. After packing as fast as we could we walked back over to jono’s room to see if he was finished, when he opened the door he was still in his boxers and looked surprised that we were there at all. We told him we would meet him down stairs and. Miraculously he arrived in ten minutes just after we had settled. We set off for the station early in the morning the sun had not even come up. So it was probably around 0630. We had a about a kilometer walk, which carrying 35kg bags was not the greatest. As we walked through the streets we saw some party animals returning home from a night out. Very drunk looking and struggling to maintain a straight line. One of then made a funny noise toward me as I passed which immediately put me into stressing about Lyndsay mood, but they were just two kids having a laugh. Jono on the other hand had a beer bottle thrown in his direction, but what can you expect on a Sunday morning in Paris.

We arrived at our station far too early. The blame for this was put onto me. So we had to wait for two hours till our train arrived. Fortunately this was marked properly on electronic screens and an information lady was able to assist us in explaining where we needed to be. Then the long train ride to St Gervais, which allow us a great opportunity to get to see the French country side. At St Gervais we were briefly joined by a Korean girl who took a liking to Jono although I think she was just happy to talk to someone English. The mountains and towns were beautiful all covered in snow. All the houses had at least 6inches of snow covering them which made the town look like a fairy tale.

Finally we arrived at our destination! The most beautiful little town, now just to find the hotel. I asked a bus driver if he spoke English and he responded with do you speak French? This didn’t help me much but he seemed to be very helpful as he told us our hotel was only a 10 minute walk. We opted to get a taxi anyway as we had the bags with us. 5mins and 18 euros later we were at our hotel. Thank goodness we had opted for the taxi, I doubt we would have found it walking the streets randomly. The hotel was stunning. As opposed to our so called three star in Paris this three star felt like a four star and we felt very comfortable and very happy. We then walked the town to go and fetch our ski’s and snowboard. Which was quite an excursion as we took a few wrong turns and ended up walking the whole town flat. This did give us a nice opportunity to explore the place however and it was tremendously enjoyable. We fitted our boots which was very quick for Lyndsay and Jono but due to my enormous and abnormal feet it took about an hour to fit my boots, with theski shop having to go backwards and forwards fetching more and more boots. When I finally got a pair that was comfortable the guys at shop looked stunned as if they had never given out a pair of boots that big. I was stoked as I got to wear brand new ski boots which looked really cool.

We then needed to find some food. We found a lovely pizza restaurant where we all enjoyed a good meal. Jono and I both had a pizza and Lyndsay enjoyed probably the best cheese fondu I have ever tasted. Belly’s full we decided to call it a night as we were all pretty bushed and very excited for the next day. But before that we got back to the hotel and decided to make use of the Jacuzzi, we enjoyed glass room surrounded by snow covered ground whilst in a warm Jacuzzi. Then it was time for bed.

Day Three

Day Three Years and years of anticipation finally came true when the Palace of Versailles was on the agenda. It was not located in the city center of Paris but on the out skirts. That meant a whole new metro and train station for us to navigate our way through. Once through the metro we had to board the RER C train to take us there, as we got to the train station we saw a train waiting there so we ran towards it to jump on when some French person standing with his accordion yelled at us to stop. We abruptly turned around and he politely told us to catch the next train. All I can say is that we really must have looked like true tourists for him to know that we were going to the Palace of Versailles and that train was not headed there. Sitting on a double decker train we managed to see the beautiful country side which consisted of a completely different style of buildings and houses while being serenaded by our accordion player. We arrived at the Palace of Versailles train station, hoping the Palace itself was close and that we could find some English speaking person to direct us there. Our prays had been answered when we stepped off the platform and into the station, there was this giant sign with an English speaking lady standing underneath a sign board that said Palace of Versailles tickets. Her directions were perfect and her English was the best we had heard so far, another magnet was bought and she charged us twice without us even realizing what she had done, Thankfully she told us and reimbursed us for the second magnet and we were on our way to find the Palace of Versailles the home of King Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette before France became a Republic. The sheer size and detailed features on the palace walls were exquisite and the gold was everywhere. Seems to me that no matter where you go the Kings or presidents houses are worth billions and the people of the country are poor. Pictures were definitely a must and this time we were given an Audio translator for each room so we had a clear picture of the entire Palace. It began as a hunting lodge and ended up when King Louis XIV had about 20 000 staff members for his Palace so you can imagine the size of the Palace. It was filled with amazing paintings and some of his paintings were in the Louvre that we saw yesterday. The Hall of mirrors was spectacular with its chandeliers hanging from the ceiling surrounded by the sun bouncing off all the mirrors. His bed chambers that over looked all of Paris and that the palace was all symmetrical. If we thought that the palace was gorgeous the gardens were 10 times better. We gave ourselves the exact amount of time to see the palace as once we were complete with the tour we had to make our way back to our hotel where our city tour would begin when our driver named Philip would collect us. True to our form we got back to Hotel Batignolles a little early so we decided to walk down the street in search of the Moulin Rouge. Looking like a true tourist standing on an island in the middle of the street taking pics of us in front of the Moulin Rouge. Philip finally arrived and gave us a whizz tour of Paris in the comfort of a luxury car, we saw: Louvre, De la Concorde, Champs se Eleese, arc de triumph, courts where Marie Antoinette was sentenced to the guillotine. We got out enjoying taking pictures of the Eifell tower, Notre Dame Cathedral and Mamaete hill where all the famous painters lived. I am really glad we did that tour and got the history of Paris as we whizzed around in our luxuary car. That evening we were headed to the eifel tower to go up it but Jono got a touch of the French Belly so we were delayed and by that time the rain decided to join us after a gorgeous sunny day in the middle of winter. Brian and I set out towards the Champs se Elesse at night. The lights were spectacular and the Christmas vibe was very different to what we are use to. Christmas carols, little stalls decorated aligned the Chaps se Elesse the only unfortunate thing was the rain. Everybody crammed next to one another which the Franch seem quite happy with, weather it is on the metro or standing under a stall. We tried some of the Vin Chaude (hot wine) and some hot chocolate to keep us warm as we were soaking wet from head to toe. The Eifel tower idea quickly fell through as the weather was against us, so we decided to go up the Big wheel and still get our view of the city with its shiny lights and the Eifel tower glowing and sparkling with all its beauty for everyone to see.

Day 2 Part three. Well after arriving at our hotel we decided to go to the Louvre. How to get there was the challenge. We had taken a taxi to the hotel, now however we were going to have to use other forms of transport. This meant Lyndsay had to find out how to get there, which stops and lines we have to take. She was the guide after all. After asking these young girls how the Paris metro worked and standing in front of many metro maps to figure out where to go and hoping that we had gone the correct direction on the tube as you have no Table mountain to help guide you, we managed to leave from the station 1 km from our hotel named Palace de Clichy. We arrived at the Louvre station which took us into a huge shopping centre below the Louvre. Alas they did not have eggnog Latte’ at Starbucks.

We entered the Louvre from an escalator which took us into an enormous room filled with more escalators. We decided to go see the Monalisa first as this was obviously their biggest attraction. In order to get to the Monalisa we entered the Denon room. Which sent us into a whole world of renascence artwork. The scale was amazing and ceilings were beyond belief with decoration and painting. Really amazing! The Monalisa is a lot smaller then we would imagine, just larger then an A3 piece of cardboard. She was surrounded by guards and 3inch glass. You could not get too close as there was a barrier in front of the painting. The hoards of people especially Chinese were the most hindrance however. Either way we got our photo and pressed on. We walked the halls of the louver for four hours, which left us pretty exhausted, I don’t think I have walked this much in years. The Richlieu room was also fantastic, there were dozens of statues taken from Napoleans palace gardens. This room filled with life size white statues takes your breath away as you experience the artistry first hand, Then we continued to the Egyptian exhibition by this time we were really starting to feel our feet but as this is a once in a life time we pressed on and made sure we saw it all. For there we continued to the medieval exhibition where they displayed the former Louver buildng in almost entirety within the room. I kind of felt like I was staring at bricks at this point, however this was one of Lyndsays most enjoyable. After the Louve we looked at the gardens outside where we saw a lit up Ferris wheel which drew our attention so we continued to walk across the lawns in the rain to the market and wheel.

After purchasing a fridge magnet and some key rings we decided it was time for some supper as the sun had set hours ago and it was now approaching 19:00. Our options were carnival food as we were right there, Fast food or a sit down meal. We decided to get a taste of France as we went to a lovely little restaurant called Bistro Batignolles. Lyndsay decided you cannot go wrong with Pasta and she had what was possibly the nicest meal of all three of us. I ordered chops and two massive chops and chips arrived on my plate. Jono was the surprise of the day however, He chose the beef Tartar which is raw mince with a raw egg on top of it on a plate with some salad. Fortunately for him he was so hungry he ate it anyway. We then walked the few blocks to our hotel in the pouring rain and settled in for the night. Day two was fantastic!

French Connection

Day 2 part 2 Well France lived up to all the stories that we heard from the “English”. Our first introduction to the people of Paris was a French African Gypsy, who tried to convince us to pay him for making us walk from one end of Gare de Nord to the other in search of a taxi. We were in the taxi and ready to go when he tried to pull a fast one on us for 40 Euros for a taxi that should have cost us 10 Euros. Thankfully I have a rather intimidating husband and younger brother when I need them to be! The Gypsy finally gave up on us so we stormed back into the safety and protection of the Train Station and stood in the long queue with plenty of foreign people in the rain and waited for the next taxi that came our way.

The language certainly hindered us at first whereby the taxi driver couldn’t speak a word of Englais and somehow had to get us to our destination. Sitting crammed in the back of his taxi and unsure if he understood us and how the taxi’s meter reader worked was slightly stressful. Watching that meter tick over while we were stuck at robot after robot and not sure if it was every km or every minute that the Euros increased was not good for my heart or my bank balance. Once our non English speaking taxi driver stopped in the middle of the street and got out his black car and opened the boot we assumed that we were here. Setting foot on French soil with cars whizzing past you and looking around for our hotel and not seeing anything that resembled one was daunting at first. He had to direct us and point to a little white door squashed in between some plastic wrapped Christmas trees for us to finally realize that we were at Hotel des Bagingnolles, our first stop on our holiday and thankfully it existed. Nobody warned me about having to lug my 17,8kg bag up 3 flights of stairs with bilsters already on my hands thanks to the London underground. So guess what my wonderful darling husband did? He offered to do a little bit of P90 X in Paris, carrying his and my bags up the flights of stairs. By the look of his face and the sweat pouring off his body, it was a challenge. Walking down the narrow corridor that had no wall paper or paint on them ended at another flight of stairs that Brian had to carry 37 kg up. The joys of having a husband as amazing as mine!

Thank goodness the rooms we stunning compared to the corridor, warm cozy an en-suit bathroom and a flat screen tv. The view was slightly different compared to the internet pics and this is not the first time that this has happened to me. Doesn’t say much for the truth of certain hotel owners.

A day and a Half

So we finally arrived in London! As we walked to border control Lyndsay and I got separated as she has a British Passport so she got to go into a different queue. When it was finally my turn I was told by this old Indian man to go to a specific teller and he pointed in the a direction. So I did, when I got to the teller he promptly told me he wasn’t ready and I should go back and he will call me when he is. I thought yeah the English are great. Then I walked back and the Indian guy sent me to another teller who again sent me away… At this point I was starting to get annoyed and I began to wonder if this Indian guy even worked there as he had no idea what was happening. After a third attempt I eventually was let into the country, to find Lyndsay waiting for me.

As we walked out of terminal four from Heathrow airport the biggest airport in the world. We realized that Jono wasn’t there. He was supposed to meet us due to his flight arriving an hour earlier. Not only that where was Sandra? So after fretting a bit, and a few sms’s later and thinking about quickly buying a sim card entered Sandra dressed in a big coat with fur round the side of the hoodie. Shew we were saved! But where was Jono? Lyndsay could call out and wasn’t answering his sms’s. Gail said he landed the same time we did, so hopefully we will see him shortly. There he was and we were all together and we could all breathe for a minute. Sandra came alone which was good because we had to put one of our bags on our lap. Lyndsay got the brunt of this as she had the wheels poking into her. So after a good chat, Joe telling me in his very knowledgeable opinion of 35 years guitar playing that all rock guitarists were rubbish. Including Led Zepplin, BB King and Eric Claptin. Who am I to argue. He also let me attempt to play his Gibson R90 000 guitar, I could see the fear in his eyes as I picked it up. Sandra mean while got Jono to work as her washing machine broke and was no longer letter the water drain. Jono promptly started to pull the whole machine apart which clearly stressed Sandra out a bit, however she was reassured when we told her that Jono had done this a hundred times before. Sandra made us a delightful Lasagna so we all sat down and had a meal round 19:00 which was weird because it was dark by 16::00 so by the time dinner came it felt like 00:00. Ryan and Natalie then arrived for a quick visit. It was great to see them again. We a had a good chat and a couple of laughs. Joe told how dodge the government is here hand Natalie informed us that White people were no longer the majority in England. Then Haley Sandra’s Daughter arrived with her boyfriend James, a really nice guy who is self employed as an electrician. Still the night continued and we had pretty good time until all three of us decided we really needed to go bed at that point. Day 2 Day two arrived at the crack of dawn as we needed to catch the Euro star from London to France at 08:30 so in order to do that we had to catch the train from Bushy (Watford) to Euston, then we took the underground ( my first underground experience) to St Pancras Kings Cross. Fortunately Sandra mentioned it was on the North Line because we had to decipher the underground map. If it was up to Jono and I ,we would have been on the wrong road to Kings Cross. Fortunately for us Lyndsay was awake and managed to get us to the Eurostar a bit earlier. This was good because we waited in line for ages to get to the end of the queue only to be told we were in the wrong one and we had to go somewhere else. Now, we went to teller number 4 only to be told to go to number 5 and then back to number 3 where we asked the supervisor. He said wait here, we need to prioritize other passengers first for an earlier train. So we did, then he disappeared and we stood around like monkeys.

Eventually someone came past and said are you waiting for something or someone. So we told him and he helped us get through. This was the first time I really felt like a foreigner. Then I had to go through another border control. Where the teller gave me upheaval about my passport photo saying why isn’t it clear. Blame SA home affairs how am I supposed to know. After a little bit of third degree however he let me pass where I then set off the metal detector and had to be searched. Travelling really isn’t easy for a South African! Well we made it onto the Eurostar eventually for a one hour train ride to France. Let the Holiday begin!

So after 11 hours flying, in a very nice and comfortable KLM Boeing 777. We finally reached Amsterdam!It has been a complete eyeopener already, friendly people, everyone in the airport at least speaks English which has been a relief. Especially as we need to find our next gate as this is just the stop over. In order to do this we had to scan our ticket into a machine which told us where to go. Fortunately I asked the right person what to do otherwise we would have been lost for sure. Lyndsay and I were quite concerned that our cards wouldn't work so we went to draw some Euro's from the ATM. I decided E100 about a R1000.00 would be enough. Two fifty euro notes popped out, which made me realise just how little our money is actually worth. On that note a can of cold drink. 3.5 Euro's about R40 so no drinking cokes for me. It's going to be a struggle but will have to just press through.

Otherwise this airport is amazing. It's really big and there are loads of shops selling all sorts of different things. The cheeses were the order of the day and Lyndsay and I capitalized on free samples. Dutch cuisine check. As we entered the dutch boarding we went through a machine which X-rayed us from head to toe and then we will still physically searched. Guess we looked dodgy. The Plane itself was a good flight hardly felt the landing which is pretty impressive since it holds over 200 people. Food was okay and I managed to get 5 good hours sleep in, and watched two movies so not a bad flight at all. It is -2 degrees in Amsterdam and yes dad, I am in a t-shirt mostly because the airport is air conditioned and with my jacket on I was breaking a sweat. As mentioned the airport here is massive so everywhere we go we get to walk on massive treadmills which take us to either side of the airport. Thus far we have bought our usual magnet which we buy on all of our trips.