Arrival in Holland

I awoke in my hostel in Reykjavik at 4am so that I could catch the first bus (4:35) to the airport. Though my flight didn’t leave until 7:55, I wanted to be early to ensure that they didn’t bump me off the flight, as there has been issues with overbooking since the airports opened back up. The airport was extremely busy and I waited in checkin and security for over 1 hour. They had delayed my flight to boarding at 8:30 though, so I still had over 2 hours to wait in the airport. They boarded the flight, but then had us wait at the gate for 2 hours for a connection from New York. Many people were complaining that they were missing connections. I’m guessing that you’re more likely to catch a quicker rescheduled flight in Amsterdam than Reykjavik though. :P

We arrived in Amsterdam about 2 hours late, but luckily Marianne had been watching the status of the flight, so she hadn’t been waiting at the airport all that time. J She and Coert picked me up and we took a drive through the countryside on our way to De Kaag from Schipol. Everything is green and the spring flowers are even blooming here, quite a contrast from either home or Iceland. We stopped on the side of the road a few times to walk along the flower farms and take photos and admire their beauty. It’s a very nice place to take a Sunday drive.

We stopped at the first steam-powered pumping station in Holland, which is now a museum housing the largest steam engine in the world. It even still works as a demonstration device powered by hydraulics. The curator flicked the switch and we saw the huge building shudder back to life as the great engine began pumping water from the low lying water swale to the higher canal leading to the sea. Pretty neat to see the old thing still operating. We had lunch in the teahouse next door and I had a great strawberry pancake and some Rooibos tea. Ahhh, a taste of Holland. J

We arrived at De Kaag where Tante Mia had offered to make Martijn and I dinner when I arrived. We had a cup of tea and visited for a bit before eating Hache, which is like pulled roast beef and onions fried and served over boiled potatoes. It was quite good!

As Martijn needed to work the next morning, we went to bed pretty early after arriving back at his apartment in Delft.