You are delaying your flight

We had quite an auspicious beginning to our adventure. First, Bob came in with us to take pictures in the airport. Apparently she was away from her car for longer than 3 minutes because when she looked up from the snapping, she was getting a ticket. She never came back in, but was out there talking to the guy for a few minutes. I can't wait to hear what happened and if her connection to the head of the airport police got her out of it.

We got all checked in (Chris' bag weighed 36 pounds, whereas my bag weighed only 23. The counter guy was quite amused that mine weighed less!) and proceeded to security, whereupon we were hereded back out of security. We still don't know what was going on, but men with guns told everyone to exit the area, and they shut all of the doors. The TSA agents said they didn't even know what was going on, but that they'd let us in as soon as possible. Some people had to leave all of their stuff on the conveyor belts - including their shoes! Holy cow! Let me just say, I can't believe the nerve of some people. They were so extremely rude to the TSA guys (who were surprisingly pleasant). On woman was virtually yelling at them to find out what was going on and inform us, and some guy was going off on rants about how the airports are publicly funded. I never figured out his point, but let's just say he was a pain in the you-know-what!

We really didn't have to wait that long and finally headed to the gate. Which, I promise is the worst gate in the history of gate-dom. I pronounced it the redheaded step-child of gates. Cracked myself up! I'm pretty sure it used to be the smoking lounge. Needless to say, I couldn't wait there. Our flight to Memphis was uneventful. Always a good thing. Had a little layover, and ate some barbeque. We decided, "When in Memphis....." Chris got a 1/2 rack of ribs. I thought they were awesome. He said they weren't the best ribs he'd ever had. (counting these, he's had ribs 4 times, all within the last month). I can't remember the name of the place, but I'd seen it on one of those travel channel shows. Jim sombody's Interstate barbecue. Yum!

So right now, we are in Amsterdam. Over the loudspeakers we keep hearing, "So-and-so, you are delaying your flight." Cracks us up. Our flight from Memphis was OK. It was definitely better than the Air France flight! Not too hard to do, though. We sat next to a nice gent, Bruce. Chatted with him a bit. The seats seemed to have more room than most, but it still wasn't enough. Chris and both squirmed our way through the night. I'd say we each got about 3 hours sleep. We're both suprisingly pleasant for so little sleep (and no coffee for Chris). We watched The Incredibles on the way over. NWA (that's Northwest Airlines, not the rap group that I first thought of) has the handy personal selection system. So, we tried to watch the movie together. Somehow I kept stopping mine and having to restart the entire movie from the beginning and then fast forward it. Grrrrrr!!!! Finally, mercifully, I just fell asleep.

I'd forgotten what a nice airport Schipol is. Tons and tons and tons of shopping. There's a "deli" that is really a true deli! They had samples of salmon and cheese out. Yum!! We kind of wanted to buy some cheese, but really, what's the point? Being here reminds me just how much I loved the Netherlands. I wanted to tack on a couple of days here at the end of the trip, but there just wasn't a good way to do it. Guess we'll have to come back. I think we should do one of those apartment rental things. Very cool.

Another funny over the loudspeaker, "Attention. Smoking is prohibited in Schipol Airport....except in bars and restaurants." Cracks us up...the bars and restaurants are all open air, right out in the middle of everything. Chris really wants to try one of the sushi bars or check out the Casino. We shall see.