6/1/19 - Amsterdam

I was not supposed to stay in Amsterdam, but they had a wind storm that shut down one of the runways. I knew I was going to miss my connection to Seattle when we sat on the tarmac in Krakow for 4 hours, then circled the Amsterdam airport for almost an hour waiting our turn to land. It was fascinating to watch as there were at least a dozen planes circling below us. Every couple of minutes we would drop a thousand feet.

The re-booking process was miserable as most of the flights into that airport were delayed. Waiting in line for another 3 hours proved that misery loves company. It is really easy to make friends in that situation. First, there was a French woman named Marianne who I met up with for a late dinner in Paris a few months later. We still keep in touch on occasion. She became my ally in calming the nerves of a few of our neighbors in line. One was a young man from Brazil who was moving with everything he owned somewhere in Europe. I cannot remember where. He had checked six bags and he was really worried about them. Marianne and I had traveled quite a bit in the past so we set his mind at ease. Then there was young Orthodox Jew who was returning to New York. His father was a prominent rabbi in New York and he did not allow his son to have a cell phone. WiFi was very slow in the airport so my calling was not working. After an hour of trying to figure out how to contact his Dad, I was able to email him. It worked out. I cannot remember the kid’s name, as it was something I had never heard before. Finally, when waiting for the shuttle to the hotel a super precocious seven year old kid from Kansas started asking where I was from since I talked ‘American.’ He was with his parents and his six month old sister. He explained to me that last time Mom and Dad went they left him home because they were busy making his little sister. At dinner I heard him yell my name and let me know they saved a seat for me, since I was they only friend they had in Amsterdam. That was kinda cool.

And it seems fitting that I am typing this out while I am stuck in Istanbul since the same damned thing happened to me today.