5 hours early and still queuing!

It could only happen to us! We arrived at Belfast International Airport 5 hours before check in having somehow missed the clearly sign posted bypass and made our own way to the airport by driving through village after village. Despite the fact that at one point we thought we were the only people on the Amsterdam flight, we still managed to find ourselves at the back of a long queue!

Thankfully we weren’t kept waiting for long and the check-in ladies were hot enough to pass the time. We were somewhat late for check-in because we found a bar serving at 4am. We must’ve been on our 4th pint by time we stumbled upon the check-in area! We boarded the flight and waited eagerly for the drinks trolley to come along! Even though we were flying through the air at 570mph, we still drank away, oblivious to the fact that it was still only 7am!

Needless to say, we were absolutely hammered landing in Schipol Airport and asked every single person in a high-vis jacket for directions, even the builders! What struck me straight away was that almost everyone has great English, and to think that I was going to bring a dictionary! While most people were happy to help, some people wanted money in exchange for the directions. It may have only been €2, but I didn’t want to pay for the privilege of being sent 5 miles in the wrong direction!

So you’ve probably guessed that I’ve arrived safely, which is always a good start to a holiday. No matter what way we leave the hotel, we have sex shows and coffee shops waiting to take our money… I can’t wait!

Getting to Amsterdam via Belfast!

During the week I decided it would be great to go to Amsterdam, y’know, to see the tulips and what not. Aer Arann now do flights out of Waterford airport direct to Amsterdam… but we’re flying from Belfast instead because the got them for dirt cheap and I didn’t complain because I wasn’t the one driving!

We left at 9pm and made it up to Belfast for 1am, in plenty time for our flight. Unfortunately we have a bit too much time on our hands and we find ourselves in an empty airport 5 hours before check in opens! It was beginning to seem a bit like Dawn of the Dead until people started showing up! The first sign of life was watching two porters having a wheelchair fight!

I spotted a Bank of Ireland ATM up here so I decided to take out some money here as I’m not sure my card works abroad. Here is where fatique becomes apparent because I simply assumed that because I was at a Bank of Ireland ATM, I was in Ireland! A naive assumption it was because I soon realised that I had just selected £200 in sterling!

In the middle of an empty airport with nothing to keep me occupied, I took my new found wad of crisp £20 notes and went straight into an arcade to try spin it up. I won £5, but that was after putting £20 into it! I’m such a degen!

Thankfully I’ve found Wifi which should keep me entertained until check in opens in a few hours. The only minor gripe I have about it is that I have to keep searching for signal by walking around holding my laptop open. This isn’t a problem now, because the place is empty and I could probably take off my clothes and start thinking about what’s going to happen in Amsterdam!

I’ll keep you updated!