As usual before a major trip, I get very little sleep. Getting all my stuff ready, collecting documents, work material, making sure the apartment is in a decent state before I leave.
On Friday morning, after a short 3 hour sleep, I take my two large suitcases down in the elevator from the Tower Flat and wait for the taxi to the airport. Spend some time in the Leeds-Bradford Airpor Business Lounge before I board the plane to Amsterdam. An uneventful flight, I actually sleep most of the time.
In Amsterdam Schiphol airport there is a small dependence of the Rijksmuseum: in one room there are actually several paintings by Rembrandt! I take the opportunity of my wait for the next flight to visit that room - free admission. A little oasis of quiet and art, in the midst of the busy traffic hub.
In Schiphol, there are 3 KLM "Crown" lounges. The last two times here I had been in lounge #41, but this time I want to try the #52. It is larger, and quite empty. I use the opportunity to satisfy my thirst with a few Heinekens and a glass of Cava (Spanish sparkling wine, like "Sekt"). Great that all this stuff is for free! A little reward for my frequent flying. They also have a bowl of soup here, and I get an appetite - it is lunch time. But the person ahead of me empties the last bit of it. So I just take one of those warm rolls, add some cheese and sliced white ham, or whatever that cold cut that is. Unfortunately they do not have that nice noodle salad that I got last time in #41... and nobody seems to refill the soup bowl... So I decide to move out and go to the lounge #41 in the remaining minutes before boarding my next flight. But what a disappointment there: the small lounge is very crowded, I just find one empty table to sit next to, and they do not seem to have the noodle salad. And no soup either. But after a few minutes, as I check again, I find the bowl with the noodle salad, and I take a few spoons.
Today I will be again in a total of 3 flights. As I ask at the transfer desk why I did not yet get a boarding pass for my 3rd flight, they do not know the answer to that, but I end up with an upgrade on my trans-atlantic flight - for the first time in quite a while I fly transatlantic in business class! And it is even a window seat. So I will have lots of space, many movie programs to watch, and I will get a nice decent meal. The noodle salad now sits heavy in the stomach...
A quiet flight to Minneapolis. On the approach, our plane goes in circles and in loops, to avoid hitting thunderstorm clouds.
At the line for immigration at Minneapolis airport, I realise that I ended up with a true bureaucrat: he gives a hard time even to US citizens. When it is my turn, he keeps questioning me. Since my green card has expired, I already had expected trouble. I point out that I already renewed it, and that I do have the appointment for the biometric data capture. So after he asks me about my profession, he finally lets me go. Ok, I had expected more trouble, and I am relieved that this went so easily.
The next flight, to Los Angeles, has a slight delay. It rains outside. The first hour goes through "bumpy" air, but then the flight continues to be smooth. We land in LA on time.
The usual traffic at the driveway through LAX, as I wait for my car rental shuttle. Just after midnight, I arrive "home" in Thousand Oaks.
