Normally quite a boring and ignored procedure, British Airways has taken a new spin on the in flight security procedure, a
fresh take on something quite banal. [For a giggle, take a look]:
The
flight from London to Amsterdam was choc ‘n block and people took their time to
get to their seats; there was an announcement asking passengers to please
rather take their bags with them to their seas as the overhead lockers were
full. I nestled into my window seat; my
hand luggage on my lap, as it was just a bit too big to fit under the seat. Fueled
on only a couple of hours’ sleep I nodded off as the last passengers dribbled on. An agitated air hostess woke me up rather abruptly, terribly annoyed
that I had not put my bag under the seat. I explained to her that it didn’t fit
and that I was following the announcer’s request of keeping my bag with me. She
was hugely frustrated, so I passed my bag to her to make a plan with it. She then shoved my bag under
the seat along the aisle seat just in front of me, and started kicking it in! I
asked her to please not kick my bag, to which she snapped that she was just pushing
it in with her foot! Seriously uncool British Airways!
Within
an hour we were in Amsterdam and I made my way to the train station; got my
ticket and directions to the platform number and was told that it was a direct
route. Checked the signage and saw Nijmegen, got on and engrossed myself in my
book for the next hour or so; I knew it was about an hour and a half journey, so
didn’t really look at the train station stops. Then there was an announcement
saying that we all had to disembark due to an accident on the tracks (from conversations on the platform, I heard that someone had apparently committed suicide!). I asked the security on the terminal what train I should take to get to
Nijmegen, they looked a bit confused, was rather unhelpful so I went to find a
ticket office. The lady was very confused, and said that I was on the wrong
train! It was going in totally the wrong direction! [I realise what had
happened, when I had looked at the signage earlier at Schipol on the platform, I
saw Nijmegen at the bottom of the screen, assuming that it was the final
destination of that particular train, not that that was the next train. Aaaanyway
finally got onto the right train; a double decker one! [There is free wifi on the
trains and most public places. Thank goodness, there is no longer a real need for
international roaming; my MTN bill racked up in Dubai years ago, still sends me
into a cold panic (R50 000!)].
I
have no idea where I was travelling from, but I knew that I had to change
trains at Utrecht, then all the way through to Nijmegen. I was meant to arrive
in Nijmegen early on Wednesday morning, with the visa / wrong train debacle, I
arrived in an already dark, wet Nijmegen at 19:00.
I forgot how much I enjoyed
the European winters, the crispiness in the air, and the wonderful warmth that
envelopes you when you go inside buildings.
Boutique
Hotel Straelman where I was booked in was about a kilometer away from the train
station, I initially thought that I would walk, but after what felt like the
longest journey ever, I hailed a cab. Got very excited when we drove past the
venue, and I saw the YoastCon banner.
The hotel is in an old house and
beautiful, if anyone ever visits Nijmegen, I highly recommend this hotel.
 |
| Obviously not taken late at night, but it gives you an idea of the beautiful architecture; absolute joy of safely walking at night and super early in the morning. |
I
won’t lie, I was quite ready for bed but an evening dinner had been organised,
and I thought, jeepers, I didn’t traipse half way across the globe to sleep. The
restaurant was about a block away from where I was staying. The other thing
that I really like about Europe, is that I feel perfectly safe to walk alone at
night…late at night.
It was my first
interaction with the Yoast crowd; this is what I absolutely love about
conferences, meeting new people, making new friends. Exciting times!
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