Day 17 (July 22, 2018): All good things come to an end

The original plan had been to get up with the sun, check out of the hotel, head back to Amsterdam, store ou bags at the station, sightsee for a few hours, and then head to Schiphol Airport. But yesterday really “did us in”, so we desperately needed a slight sleep-in before the trek home. 

And that’s exactly what we did! A leisurely breakfast, a 10:30AM checkout, and then off to Rotterdam Central Station by Tram for our Dutch Rail journey to  Schiphol. By 11:30AM we were in a brutal queue to check in for the flight, which lasted an hour. 

A quick lunch at an overcrowded business lounge, and off to the gate for an on time departure. A three-hour transit at Keflavik’s crowded airport, and we boarded a sparkling new Icelandair Boeing for home. 

What an incredible trip this has been.  Poland, Slovakia, Netherlands;  12 cities. Everything went like clockwork, the sights, food and people were wonderful. 

Thanks so much for sharing in our journey!  Happy trails. 



Enroute to Schiphol Airport on Dutch Rail:  Endless greenhouses - likely where a lot of those millions of spring tulips are grown. In the distance, modern wind turbines have all but replaced the traditional Dutch windmills used to grind grain. 


The schools just got out for summer break, so Schiphol Airport was an absolute zoo!  Our routing home is via Iceland on Icelandiar.  Flight #1 was aboard my favourite airplane: the Boeing 767. 


Upon descent into Iceland. It looks a lot like Newfoundland. And at 9 Celsius (versus the high 20s in Holland), the weather is similar to Newfoundland’s, too. 


If Schiphol Airport was a zoo, Keflavík Airport in Iceland was a nightmare! Talk about an airport well beyond capacity. Nowhere to sit, long loo lineups, chaos. Anyway, the payoff was a ride “over the pond” aboard a brand new Boeing 737MAX. Pam met a former student - small world. 




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