Egypt: flying to the sun, part 1

(The next couple of blogposts are written over the past few weeks. So I’m back as I post these, but wrote it over there.)

It’s 18.52 PM, about 16 degrees (celsius). I’m sitting in a comfortable chair on the balcony. Not wearing a wintercoat. I can hear the ocean, I can smell it. It’s dark, so I can’t see it. But at daytime, the ocean is my view.

I’m on vacation in lovely Egypt. Hal-le-luja.

My hubs and I try to go to a sunny place every Christmasbreak. We are not good winterpeople. I hate rain, cold, storms… Snow? Like it one day. After that day, get the hell outta here!

But the wheather doesn’t do as you say.

So I get outta here.

With my lovely husband.

Packing my bikini.

Enjoying the sun.

Getting a tan in December.

Christmas in a sundress.

No work, no emails, no stress.

What’s not to love?

Oh right. The plane.

 I HATE flying. Not more than I hate rain, so I do it every time. But boy, do I hate it.

It begins with the check in. Lines and lines of angry people, ‘cause it’s not going fast enough. Every minute we move an inch closer to each other. As if it helps. And if you don’t move that inch, there’s always someone behind you pushing his suitcase against you ankles. Little kids are yelling and crying.

At the counter, there’s the new girl, who doesn’t know how to put the labels on right. The annoyed stewardess next to her chews gum and (sort of) helps. Little kids are yelling.

Frank and I can, luckily, always see the humour of everything. If you’re going on vacation, why be annoyed all the time? All those cranky couples and families… lighten up! You’re on your way to sunny Egypt for heavens sake!!!

Then comes the fun part. Shopping and eating! We usually fly from Schiphol Amsterdam, which is a very large airport. Lots of nice shops and you can eat everything you like! We chose a freshly made pasta pesto.

And then we moved to the gate. Where we discover that our flight is delayed for 45 minutes. Ok. More shopping. Some Starbucks.

Second time we moved to the gate. Where are all the people…? Gate change. And another hour of delay. Kids scream and yell.

I’m starting to get annoyed, but I refuse to. More shopping and sitting on colourful benches with integrated Ipads to listen to music helps.

 And then we finally get to the plane.

Well, if you don’t count the handbagcheck. Everybody coats off, jewelry off, shawl off, liquids in a sealed bag on top, laptops out of the bag (which kinda freaks me out. What if someone on the other side takes my Apple?). Kids are yelling and screaming. If you’re lucky, you don’t have to put off your shoes and have to be body searched. I’m not lucky.

Ok, onto the boarding. “First row 33 to 28”, says a womens voice through the speaker. A minute later she calls the next rows. And two minutes later the next. Everybody is again in a line of angry people. This is not really efficient, is it?

Anyway, so after a half an hour we finally get to the plane. Kids are yelling.

My husband prefers to sit by the window, and I don’t want to look outside, so that’s fine. But that always makes me the one sitting between him and another person. The other person is usually a large guy.

Men don’t sit still. And they usually take a bit of my chair too.

I prep myself with earplugs and chewing gum. Everybody struggles with the bags and coats. Kids scream. I leave my bag under the chair in front of me, so I don’t have to get up all the time.

And finally, after a short, but never understandable chat from the purser and the safety instructions (done by bored stewardesses), we’re on our way.

Let’s fly.

Curious how my flight went? Read it tomorrow!