After a late night visiting with friends and family, we left our apartment with a minute to spare before our morning check-out time.
We played a little basketball in our nearby park cage while we got a game plan for what to do until our 16:30pm flight. Sitting at the airport that whole time wasn’t appealing, so we were looking for a hang out spot that didn’t mind our 5 Adventures ‘pile o’ luggage’.
The weather has been challenging all week – mostly cloudy and low 60s with light wind – really not bad for traveling the city by bike. Occasionally we’ll get a blustery cool wind, some rain showers or even nice warming sunshine. But this happened only briefly – so the time we are spending outside has been a little limited. This morning’s lovely sun quickly disappeared. We decided to head for a restaurant nearby that looked interesting, affordable, and a good launching point for getting to the airport later.
We chose a local place with some pretty kid-friendly chicken and waffles, some lobster croquettes for Brian, and a traditional Flammekueche for Tiffany. The Dutch version of a flatbread pizza, it’s lighter made with Puff Pastry for the crust and some crème fraiche instead of sauce. We also got served an accidental order of bitterballen, which is a traditional Dutch snack on every list of “foods to try in Amsterdam.” So we were happy to try it since we hadn’t yet.
It’s fried crispy and inside of it is a creamy roux with small bits of beef or veal. It became popular as a way to use leftover meat and now is just popular. The 5 Adventurers had mixed opinions on whether this should make it into the rotation at home.
We extended our lunch long enough that we were ready to go to the airport afterward – leaving by way of an old medieval gate that used to mark the edge of the city.
Flying from the Netherlands to Greece is traveling within the EU, so it doesn’t require immigration in the exit or entrance – basically a domestic flight. We tried a new feature at Schiphol airport – scheduling a time slot to go through security. Essentially it’s a skip the line pass open to anyone who plans ahead. It was fantastic. It only saved us 15 minutes today since the airport wasn’t busy, but it would be a game changer if you’re flying economy on a busy day. Now afterwards, two of our Adventurers got their bag searched after X-ray and Tiffany was questioned about her bag’s whereabouts the last 24 hours but we’re are pretty sure the extra search wasn’t related to skipping the line.
The discount airline was a perfectly acceptable experience.
Although Brian was seated next to a couple of young women who spent the first 10 minutes in their seats shooting selfies for social media. We gave it a try but only managed to take one shot of ourselves before we were over it.
Just as darkness fell we landed on the Greek island of Crete, our first stop and first time in Greece for all the Adventurers.
It’s a small airport but by the time we got our bags it was full on dark outside. When we got out there to get our shuttle, we were greeted by a jumbled array of lighted signs stretching about a 1/4 mile wide. It looked like a carnival midway. As we looked closer, it became clear they were all for different rental car companies. Every single sign. Jeez.
We didn’t see any of the island or even much of the resort we are staying at so we’ll share more in future posts. We grabbed a small bite to eat at the restaurant with no crowds to worry about at 11:30pm.
And we’re hopeful we’ll have a good view from our room. Tonight, we just have trees, but we think the bottom of the black part of the photo is water, so keep your fingers crossed for Aegean Sea photos tomorrow!
5 Adventures Together 