July 19, 2013
Day 1: Night Flight to Amsterdam
The ferry that takes us off our Island at the start of each trip always affords the opportunity to look back on what we are leaving. Sometimes the "Salish Sea" and the Gulf Islands that surround Vancouvert Island are misty and cool, and sometimes they are bright, blue and green. Always they are beautiful, and always they (at least) seem clean and unspoiled. This is a good place to come from, and we always leave it with a twinge of regret.
Another source of regret is in the prices charged by the Ferry Corporation, for instance $2.35 for a small bottle of water. Fortunately we are still in North America, and unlimited ice water can be had for free from any cafeteria.
Once on the mainland at the Tsawassen ferry terminal it is a simple matter to motor over to the airport, about 20 km away. Bicycling would not have been simple, though, because the 20 km way uses a tunnel that does not permit bikes.It's about 50 km the bicycle way.
Though large, the Vancouver airport is well organized, and again it was easy to drive to departures, unload our stuff, and kiss Sandra goodbye. There are carts provided free at the curbside and we rolled easily to the Air Transat couunter. Here again people were kind and polite, and we were early enough for our flight to avoid any crowds. Although we had gone ahead and wrapped our bikes in plastic mattress bags, we had a look at the bags that Air Transat provides. Though not as sturdy, they were certainly acceptable. We grabbed a couuple and stashed them in our luggage. They will be there when needed for the return flight.
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
To this point everything was going swell, too swell perhaps. Now we ran into the "glass wall". This is not the "glass ceiling" identified by feminists, but a wall on either end of the long row of airline check-in agents. On the other side of the wall sits a CATSA security agent, in front of the conveyer belt that hauls away oversize luggage. We were instructed to carry our bikes to this side of the glass wall, and wait.
We did that, and waited ... and waited. Finally we were instructed to lean the bikes on the other side of the glass wall, and wait. OK, now we were getting somewhere! The CATSA agent on the other side of the wall was very nice, but was not the man we were apparently waiting for. Finally, an Air Transat employee appeared. His job was to hand carry our bikes "downstairs", since they would not fit on the belt, nor apparently fit the xray machine. But before man 2 could take the bikes, man 1 now had to spring into action. He asked us to cut holes in the bike bags, to give access to his sniffer swatch. Properly sniffed, bike 1 was carried off by man 2. While man 2 was gone "downstairs", man 1 went off shift and was replaced by CATSA agent - man 3. Man 3 was not happy with the sniffer holes in bike 2, because he wanted to sniff inside the zipper closed water bottle holder behind the seat post. A lot of scissors and tape work ensued.
A discussion also ensued between Dodie and man 3 as to whether he was or was not giving us a hard time. It was fairly amicable, though. I know because no one was injured. Man 2 (remember man 2?) then arrived and carried off bike 2.
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
This now freed us to go through actual security. This gave me cause to reflect on whether I would prefer to submit to their "nude scanner", or would I prefer a clandestine rub down with a CATSA agent up against some nearby wall. Dodie and I also spent some time asking ourselves if we could remember what was actually in our carry-on rack top bags, and getting our story straight about who had packed them.
Fortunately, neither of these topics came up. What did come up were our camping stove lighters - folding models, much researched and prized for their ability to fit in our tea pot. The airline website said you can bring lighters, but not in checked baggage. Rather they needed to be brought through security, and separately bagged.
Security had me fire up one of the lighters, and darn it, the flame length setting must have been on "long", because it jumped to life like flame thrower. The agent recoiled slightly, and said she needed to check with her supervisor about any limits to the amount of fuel in a lighter. She came back and reported that the lighters were banned because they were refillable.
A discussion ensued between Dodie and three burly CATSA agents, about what the CATSA and/or the Air Transat websites did or did not say on the subject. Dodie lost. Now we get to research compact stove lighters in Amsterdam. With small BIC lighters or with matches, you risk BBQing your hand - with our stove, anyway. Sorry, no photos of the three CATSA agents. We did actually want to eventually get on the plane.
Released at last into the departure area, we could appreciate all the amenities on offer. One truly was great - a floor to ceiling very wide salt water aquarium - a really nice touch.
I remember in the airport at Georgetown, Cayman Islands, an area set aside as a "Wave and Cry". This is what came to mind as I noted this sign:
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
Sorry Canadians, but one service in the departures that is not so great is Tim Horton's. Actually, the coffee and the Maple danish is not bad, but the muffins and smoothies suck!
On board the plane, they offered an eyePad for very cheap. Here Dodie models it. It does not get wifi or play iTunes. At the price, though, it's OK.
So here we are, somewhere over the Arctic, or Greenland, or somewhere, finally on our way. Next stop, Amsterdam.
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 0 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |