Continuing on from previous post. You’d think that spending the night in an airport would be the worst of it…not so.
Wandered over to the transfer desk just after 4.30am and found that there was already a fair sized queue. Well, it wasn’t really a queue, just lots of folk parked on the floor in front of the counter. So, I decided to join them and parked my own bum around where I thought the end of the queue was. Actually, on the third attempt I think I found the end of the queue as it wasn’t until then that nobody shouted at me to tell me that there was a queue
The desk was supposed to open at 5.30 so there was almost an hour to wait.
At around 5.40 one guy turned up, but looked like he was only there to switch on the computers. About 10 minutes later a few KLM girls turned up….they looked positively intimidated by the crowd awaiting them. Over the next 3 hours ( the time I had to wait before finally getting served) service was painfully slow. The staff appeared to come and go regularly and at times there were only one or two of the counter positions actually being manned. There appeared to be no urgency whatsoever to the service. This apparent couldn’t-care-less attitude didn’t really help the frustrations and rising tempers of those waiting in line (and it was a long long line).
Anyway, I managed to get standby on the next flight to Edinburgh and just before boarding started got a seat allocation. Next, that flight got delayed and during the delay we were forced to standing in the transit bus for about half an hour with the doors open and sub-zero temperatures outside. And then, predictably, my checked baggage didn’t arrived on the same flight!!!
Posted by weehaggis on Saturday, December 22, 2007
It’s about 4 am and I’m slumming it at a fog bound Schipol Airport. My KLM flight from Oslo was delayed by just over 3 hours - fog there too - and so I missed my connection to Edinburgh. On arrival at AMS the transfer desk was about to close and they were refusing to assist any more passengers. Handed a card with 24 hour KLM help line number and told to call or come back when the desk opened again in the morning (at 5.30am). Put simply, your on your own….”its the weather you see“….”not our fault “. What you do between now and then…..we don’t care!!!
Decided to stick it out inside the airport (airside). It was 11pm and the hotel booking desk in arrivals was probably going to be queued up and any rooms left would likely be miles aways and not too cheap.
Of course, that number on the nice blue card….it was out of service due to “exceptional circumstances”.
I always thought Schipol was one of the better hub airports, a decent place to spend a few hours waiting for flight connections. Of course, a few hours during daytime is quite different from 8+ hours through the night As you can see, looks quite different in the wee small hours and everything is shut.
Its is bit like that really bad Stephen King TV movie, the one set in a deserted airport (The Langoliers) .
No tannoy announcements, no footsteps, no chattering voices…..very quiet…..kinda creepy.
Posted by weehaggis on Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Got an sms from Karla on Sunday morning to join them on a visit to the Christmas markets in Oslo. Decided to try the Julemarked på Rådhusplassen - do some traditional Christmas shopping. Supposed to be one of the biggest and best. Lame….lame…..lame…..what a waste of time that was. Lots of stalls selling nothing very much….all looked quit sad actually. I visited the Christmas market in Tivoligardens, Copenhagen, a few years back. Now that was a Christmas market.
But not to worry, all was not lost. Had lunch at Hard Rock with a £17 burger and a £7 beer. Then after getting all depressed at Rådhusplassen, headed off to the Dubliner for some more beer (only £6 this time). Before getting the train home decided to try the other Christmas market at Youngstorget….. ok….Oslo isn’t quite there yet in the Christmas market league.
So, that was Sunday. Spent nearly 50 quid (including train fares) on a Christmas shopping spree. There wasn’t much shopping, but the beer did help along the “spree”side of things
Posted by weehaggis on Saturday, December 23, 2006
The makers of Irn-Bru have outdone themselves again, with their latest TV ad for the festive season. Its a Scottish-ised (hmmm, that probably isn’t a real word) take on Raymon Brigg’s classic, The Snowman. Instead of somewhere over the south of England, we get some well know Scottish sights. Once again, pure dead brilliant
I just love the way whoever makes these ads keeps coming up with something different.
