I got to thinking that each time we had been picked up by the City Airport Taxi, they had been late. So I decided I wanted to move the time to 6:30 instead of 7. So I called the various numbers and all I got was answering machines in Dutch. The desk girl at the hotel tried and she had no better luck. So I found the website and emailed them and got an email back about 2330 which said that they would send us another contract. But they didn't.
We set the alarm for 5:30 and packed (except for nightgown and toothbrush) the night before. We got up and I ate some string cheese and a piece of bread that was in a packet that I had picked up at breakfast the day before, but hadn't eaten, and Bob had a croissant and some cheese that he had saved from lunch the day before. We went down in the elevator at 6:30 and the City Airport taxi was not there.
Bob at the hotel waiting for a taxi
So I called the emergency number and got an Dutch answering machine. Ten minutes later I called again - same thing. So the hotel called a taxi for us. They did not return my call until 6:55, by which time we were well on our way.
Leaving Alkmaar at 6:45
So my POV is that they did not come in time to pick us up and I should not have to pay them (and I didn't). The taxi that they called charged the same amount (80 €) He had an ap on his phone that told him where we should check in at Schiphol. I didn't try to get a wheelchair - I just went in on the scooter. Check-in was relatively painless. We went through security on our own and eventually got to the gate without going to the club first. Here they took the scooter away and I thought they would give it back to us at Heathrow and Bob thought it would be checked through. As it turned out, we were both wrong
After Boarding -From the plane
Leaving the Netherlands
Breakfast on the plane
The flight to Heathrow was relatively short although there was a delay taking off and a delay in getting a gate. We flew right over London
Tower Bridge and City Hall
Tower Bridge and The Shard
Millenium Wheel on the Thames
The London EYe and Golden Jubilee Bridge
Westminster Bridge
Westminster and on the left St James park
The Harrodian School and Leg o' Mutton
English countryside near London
Fairgrounds
We got a wheelchair to the 'assistance area' and after a bit another wheelchair (with the same guide as before)
Same wheelchair guy
to take us through security again (again they gave Bob's bag an special inspection) and to the lounge.
Gate check tag
The scooter was not given back to us at the plane the way I thought it would be. Instead (as we found out later), it was taken off the plane and sent to baggage claim, because it was Gate Checked but it was just Gate Checked to Heathrow. I do not know why it was not given back to us as it should have been. I suspect they didn't want to admit that they had damaged it.
Our gate was not on the board as we have several hours to wait. We eventually ended up in the lounge. I used the computer for awhile, and also went to the bathroom. Bob got me some juice, and he got himself some cookies.
Although I asked to leave the lounge at 3:00, they did not even start moving us until 3:30, and then when they were to transfer us to a cart, they couldn't open the back door on the cart for us to sit there. So the little Indian lady with us got into the cart, and Bob walked with a man pushing me in a wheelchair to gate A10. This proved to be a gate where we had to take a bus to get to the plane. They asked me if I could climb steps and I said I could if I had to and they decided that I should not have to and put us in a lift van with several other people
Getting to the plane - Heathrow
So we got on the airplane. This time we had center seats - neither of us had a window. I just didn't take any photos. A man came and said that the scooter had been checked through. But that was just our luggage which was checked through. The flight attendant came to me about an hour before we landed and said that the scooter was still at Heathrow. He was most upset about it (more than I was). They say that the scooter will be on tomorrow's plane and will be driven down to us in Leonardtown. They also wanted to loan us a wheelchair, but I really don't need a wheelchair at home. So the Country Inn & Suites came and got us - without a scooter. Batteries, but no scooter.
We drove home on Sunday after breakfast,vand looked at the mail and had dinner. About 10 they called from the airport and were going to bring the scooter down that night, but I said Monday morning would be better as it would have been midnight before they got here.
So it came Monday morning, and they had BROKEN THE CONTROL HEAD off of it. Actually two tiny Phillips head screws had been removed and the head taken off (breaking the electrical connection) and then put back. I don't have any photos of the broken scooter
The airline (BA) wanted me to give them an estimate on letterhead of the price to fix. But there were no people down in the country who could fix it who had letterhead to write a price on. So Bob just fixed it himself
How many of the Goals for the trip did I accomplish?
We set the alarm for 5:30 and packed (except for nightgown and toothbrush) the night before. We got up and I ate some string cheese and a piece of bread that was in a packet that I had picked up at breakfast the day before, but hadn't eaten, and Bob had a croissant and some cheese that he had saved from lunch the day before. We went down in the elevator at 6:30 and the City Airport taxi was not there.
Bob at the hotel waiting for a taxi
So I called the emergency number and got an Dutch answering machine. Ten minutes later I called again - same thing. So the hotel called a taxi for us. They did not return my call until 6:55, by which time we were well on our way.
Leaving Alkmaar at 6:45
So my POV is that they did not come in time to pick us up and I should not have to pay them (and I didn't). The taxi that they called charged the same amount (80 €) He had an ap on his phone that told him where we should check in at Schiphol. I didn't try to get a wheelchair - I just went in on the scooter. Check-in was relatively painless. We went through security on our own and eventually got to the gate without going to the club first. Here they took the scooter away and I thought they would give it back to us at Heathrow and Bob thought it would be checked through. As it turned out, we were both wrong
After Boarding -From the plane
Leaving the Netherlands
Breakfast on the plane
The flight to Heathrow was relatively short although there was a delay taking off and a delay in getting a gate. We flew right over London
Tower Bridge and City Hall
Tower Bridge and The Shard
Millenium Wheel on the Thames
The London EYe and Golden Jubilee Bridge
Westminster Bridge
Westminster and on the left St James park
The Harrodian School and Leg o' Mutton
English countryside near London
Fairgrounds
We got a wheelchair to the 'assistance area' and after a bit another wheelchair (with the same guide as before)
Same wheelchair guy
to take us through security again (again they gave Bob's bag an special inspection) and to the lounge.
Gate check tag
The scooter was not given back to us at the plane the way I thought it would be. Instead (as we found out later), it was taken off the plane and sent to baggage claim, because it was Gate Checked but it was just Gate Checked to Heathrow. I do not know why it was not given back to us as it should have been. I suspect they didn't want to admit that they had damaged it.
Our gate was not on the board as we have several hours to wait. We eventually ended up in the lounge. I used the computer for awhile, and also went to the bathroom. Bob got me some juice, and he got himself some cookies.
Although I asked to leave the lounge at 3:00, they did not even start moving us until 3:30, and then when they were to transfer us to a cart, they couldn't open the back door on the cart for us to sit there. So the little Indian lady with us got into the cart, and Bob walked with a man pushing me in a wheelchair to gate A10. This proved to be a gate where we had to take a bus to get to the plane. They asked me if I could climb steps and I said I could if I had to and they decided that I should not have to and put us in a lift van with several other people
Getting to the plane - Heathrow
So we got on the airplane. This time we had center seats - neither of us had a window. I just didn't take any photos. A man came and said that the scooter had been checked through. But that was just our luggage which was checked through. The flight attendant came to me about an hour before we landed and said that the scooter was still at Heathrow. He was most upset about it (more than I was). They say that the scooter will be on tomorrow's plane and will be driven down to us in Leonardtown. They also wanted to loan us a wheelchair, but I really don't need a wheelchair at home. So the Country Inn & Suites came and got us - without a scooter. Batteries, but no scooter.
We drove home on Sunday after breakfast,vand looked at the mail and had dinner. About 10 they called from the airport and were going to bring the scooter down that night, but I said Monday morning would be better as it would have been midnight before they got here.
So it came Monday morning, and they had BROKEN THE CONTROL HEAD off of it. Actually two tiny Phillips head screws had been removed and the head taken off (breaking the electrical connection) and then put back. I don't have any photos of the broken scooter
The airline (BA) wanted me to give them an estimate on letterhead of the price to fix. But there were no people down in the country who could fix it who had letterhead to write a price on. So Bob just fixed it himself
How many of the Goals for the trip did I accomplish?
- Do a canal tour of Amsterdam with Bob. Not completely satisfactory so Half Done
- Revisit Volendam Originally the ship was to dock at Volendam and it did not - the changed schedule really short cutted the visit - Goal Not Done.
- Revisit Antwerp (railroad station, Rubens house and the zoo) I got to see part of Rubens house and took photos of the railway station like my father did, so it was Checked.
- Show Kinderdjik to Bob Bob was under the weather and the boat did not dock close to Kinderdjik like it was scheduled to do. Not Done
- See the tulips in Keukenhof - Checked
- Revisit the Alkmaar cheese market - Checked
- Next entry in the series 'Go to Amsterdam First (1950, 1965, 2009, 2016, 2018, 2022)': Stopover in Amsterdam 2018
- Previous entry in the series 'Go to Amsterdam First (1950, 1965, 2009, 2016, 2018, 2022)': The Afternoon in Alkmaar - 2016
