I arrived in New Amsterdam yesterday morning. \u00a0 Tuesday morning rather. \u00a0 I am a bit confused on what time or day it is. \u00a0 The redeye was crazy from LAX to JFK. \u00a0 It was supposed to be “wide open” and it wasn’t. \u00a0 Lots of last minute travelers got on that flight. \u00a0 So, my stand \u00a0 by for Business Class ticket rapidly turned into a coach ticket. \u00a0 Luckily, the gate agent took pity on me and left the seat next to me open so I didn’t \u00a0 have to squeeze. \u00a0 The flight was on a Boeing 757. \u00a0 Those are particularly long planes but not generous in width. \u00a0 I did look at the bathroom on board and decided it would be best to just wait the 6 hours. \u00a0 It was fine. \u00a0 The flight attendant graciously brought me a seatbelt extender and we were on our way. \u00a0 I didn’t sleep much on that flight. \u00a0 The seat in front of me was barely inches away from me. \u00a0 I was fortunate that no one was sitting in the seat in front of me so I didn’t have someone’s head pressed against my belly for the flight. \u00a0 The snack was pretzels, or peanuts or cookies. \u00a0 I had club soda.<\/p>\n
We landed in NY at 7:30. \u00a0 I wandered around the terminal for a little while. \u00a0 I found a food court and got a little breakfast and a bottle of water and planted myself. \u00a0 I made some calls. \u00a0 Then I realized somewhere along the way I lost a prescription. \u00a0 It is possible I left it at home but it is also likely I left it on the plane when I was searching my bag for something else. \u00a0 I went to the Delta customer service desk. \u00a0 They called the gate to find out the plane I had been on had already left for San Francisco. \u00a0 If the meds were left on the plane it is doubtful I will ever see them again. \u00a0 I then went to the Delta SkyClub and bought a day pass. \u00a0 It was a lovely place to sit and relax for my very long layover. \u00a0 I was hoping for a couch or a loveseat so I could have gotten more comfortable but the big chair was fine. \u00a0 I dozed off and on throughout the day and then got the shuttle from the terminal to the new Delta terminal to catch my international flight.<\/p>\n
I did get Business Class from JFK to Old Amsterdam. \u00a0 It was very nice. \u00a0 The seats aren’t that wide and the arms don’t move so I did find it to be a snug fit. \u00a0 I had to get out of the seat to pull out the remote for the TV and I did have to get up to plug in my headset. \u00a0 But once in the seat it was mostly comfortable. \u00a0 There is at least 3 feet between the seats so you can recline fully and not be bothered by any other passenger. \u00a0 There was no one sitting next to me so I was able to use the seat for my purse as well as use the tray for my meals. \u00a0 I was envious of people who slept on the sides in the chairs. \u00a0 I suppose I could have figured out the logistics and done it myself but I never did get fully comfortable.<\/p>\n
The meals and service in Business Class is night and day from coach. \u00a0 They brought us menus before we took off and the champagne and beautiful wine choices flowed throughout the flight. \u00a0 I didn’t drink on the plane as I was so confused and tired from travelling for so long and from not sleeping. \u00a0 I didn’t want to add alcohol to the mix. \u00a0 The food choices ranged from crab cakes with pasta to beef tenderloin with lemon risotto. \u00a0 Amazing!<\/p>\n
I think one of the flight attendants thought I was pregnant. \u00a0 I was sitting in my seat with my arms folded over my belly. \u00a0 As she walked by she patted my hands and said something in a very sweet tone.<\/p>\n
We landed at 5:25a this morning, Wednesday. \u00a0 We taxied for what seemed like an eternity to the gate. \u00a0 Customs was a breeze here. \u00a0 They asked why I was here and for how long then stamped my passport. \u00a0 My luggage was some of the first pieces off as they were the last ones on. \u00a0 My bags didn’t get on the flight until my stand by seat was approved. \u00a0 It worked out perfectly. \u00a0 Then there were two lines to go to. \u00a0 One was for people with goods to declare and the other was for those with nothing to declare. \u00a0 There was no one working the line for people with things to declare and no one was there to ask if you really didn’t have anything to declare. \u00a0 I walked right through with my bags on a cart. \u00a0 My sister and BIL were on the other side of the door.<\/p>\n
From there we took a train to the city and then walked around 10 blocks from the train station to the boat. \u00a0 It was interesting to be walking in the dark at nearly 7a. \u00a0 the sun didn’t start to warm the cold sky until around 8a. \u00a0 Then the sky started to glow a beautiful light pink. \u00a0 The air this morning was very cold. \u00a0 It has since warmed up to a lovely 50 degrees.<\/p>\n
To say that it is beautiful here is a ridiculous understatement. \u00a0 It is absolutely breathtaking. \u00a0 The boat is gorgeous. \u00a0 We opened the windows on the boat and fed ducks on the canal. \u00a0 Their cat sits up top in the sun room (what would be the steering room if there was a steering wheel.) \u00a0 I have taken pictures and will post them over time. We are going to go venture out and do some shopping today.<\/p>\n
I am very tired. \u00a0 I haven’t lied down since Monday morning when I got up at 7a. \u00a0 It is now noon on Wednesday here which means it is 3a at home. \u00a0 It is funny to think my husband is home sleeping in our bed and I have already showered and started my day. \u00a0 I am sure I will sleep like a stone tonight. \u00a0 I brought my own pillow which will make sleeping anywhere easy.<\/p>\n
Let me know if there is anything you would like to know or any pictures you would like to see.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I arrived in New Amsterdam yesterday morning. \u00a0 Tuesday morning rather. \u00a0 I am a bit confused on what time or day it is. \u00a0 The redeye was crazy from LAX to JFK. \u00a0 It was supposed to be “wide open” and it wasn’t. \u00a0 Lots of last minute travelers got on that flight. \u00a0… Continue reading New Amsterdam to Old Amsterdam<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[11,14,16,26,27,40,53],"class_list":["post-16","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-trip-to-amsterdam","tag-amsterdam","tag-bbw","tag-blog","tag-fat","tag-fat-girl","tag-lisa-brounstein","tag-travel","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lisabrounstein.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lisabrounstein.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lisabrounstein.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lisabrounstein.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lisabrounstein.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lisabrounstein.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lisabrounstein.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lisabrounstein.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lisabrounstein.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}