Yeah, we wanted to pack light. The ambition is always there, but so are the excuses!
-20 degrees yaar! we need loads of wool.
God knows if we will get good vegetarian food, lets take half a suitcase of MTR stuff and go. I guess it might be lighter to carry a chef from MTR with us the next time!
We didn’t pack an extra pair of sneakers to reduce weight (Not a good idea in hindsight)
Things to do before you go on a holiday
- Make a checklist
- Make sure you check the checklist
- Make sure your bags are packed
- Be sure to book the cheapest fare, who cares if that airline is going bankrupt.
- Take the day off and check to see if your flight will take off before the airline goes bankrupt.
- Wear your shoes and leave
- Oh yeah! Make sure your wearing them right 🙂
They have body scanners, they have x ray machines and they have metal detectors, they can tell you if you have cancer for god sake, but all this equipment still doesn’t stop the security at airports to ask you to remove your shoes and belts! After the security check your gymnastic abilities by trying to wear your belt and shoes and putting your laptop and phones and purses in place all at the same time. The wife wears her boots wrong and hurriedly heads to the duty free before I get to tell her its all a a scam!
After public displays of unhappiness and scowling, the wife relents and we head to the lounge to have some frozen food, we can’t go anywhere else but the lounge you see. Its free! so whether you need it or not, and whether the food is good or not, you have to help yourself. Oh, and between all of this you notice that something ain’t right with your shoes!
Our Jet airways flight to Amsterdam is surprisingly is on time and all the anxiety was for nothing. The service was superb on the flight and the food was the best in our entire trip. You see all you need to impress a south Indian is to give him Idli and Pongal with some good sambar and we are all set.
The sun just kept rising through most of our trip, I wasn’t complaining
She may be an old Airbus 330-300 but her wings are as elegant as ever. Although going a little faster than the pedestrian 850 kmph would have been nice.
We landed on time at Schiphol airport and were greeted with a stiff breeze at 3 degrees Celsius. My wife’s exchange with the immigration officer was as follows
IO: What is the purpose of your travel
Wife:To see the northern lights (as if its a matter of fact!)
IO: Looks quizzically
Wife: Oh yeah, visit friends also.
IO: Okaay, You are here for 12 days?
Wife: Yes, sounds right.
IO: 9 days in Sweden and 3 days in Denmark?
Wife: Hmmm, maybe. I guess so.
IO (Looking at me in the line): You are together, he says with a wry smile
IO: Where will you be staying.
Wife (Irritated): Wait, I will be give you all the documents. Labelled and organized.
IO (Excitedly): Wow, everything is here. Ordered very well.
Me: Nodding
He clears us both having a good laugh at all the vague answers that were given.
Small things like immigration officers can never worry my wife, especially if he stands between her hitting the duty free again. This time searching for fridge magnets and souvenirs. Her endeavors were successful, our fridge is proof of that
We had a good laugh about everything later as we were waiting for our next flight to Gothenburg
From the gate to the bus to the aircraft take off, it took them 10 minutes. All passengers boarded the Embarer 190 and we were off in 10 mins flat. Impressive, these Europeans.
We saw our last bit of sunshine for the rest of the trip before landing in Gothenburg and settled in at our friends place enjoyed a long conversation after some nice Thai food and a good walk!
To be continued….Next Page
Musings of a wanderer 
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