Today has been a long day so far, and I am only in Newark yet. I still have over two hours until my flight back to Orlando and until then I sit and eat Chinese food.
I woke up earlier than any other day this trip so far: 7:30am. I looked out my window only to be greeted with rain. I guess its not that bad as it meant that it didnt rain as I explored the city. I did not make much of a rush to get out of the door, as I wanted to get two blog entries uploaded, but I finally left just around 9PM. There was the tram ride to the train station where I bought a ticket with some of my remaining euros to Schipol Airport outside of Amsterdam. Its a fairly quick ride, only 15 minutes and luckily there was a train waiting on the tracks as I got to the station.
I entered the airport hall and with my luck, continental was in the farthest area from the station. Check-in probably only took 10 minutes and then I headed to passport control. The lines were a mess and were crowded to the max. Somehow this even only took about 15 minutes of my time, and I didnt even have to ask for the exit stamp. After I made it through I still had euros left and after walking past a few places I decided the only way I could possibly afford anything was to visit McDonalds. I tried the Big Tasty, which compared to the Big n Tasty they sell in America was actually big and was actually tasty. Only downside was it was a little messy for some reason.
It was now time to head to my gate and so I prepared to clear security at the end of the terminal pier. Only thing was that there was no security here. In Amsterdam they do security screenings at the gate. Of course, like in Italy I was given a barrage of questions in order to be able to pass through the checkpoint and get a sticker on the back of my passport to prove this.
The flight boarded quickly, and for the most part was very similar to my flight over the ocean, just about an hour longer thanks to headwinds. I had chicken again for the meal, which like last time I had no choice even if I was going to get it anyways. The entertainment options were essentially the same as well, with only some different movies. This mean the same three CSI episodes, the same episodes on the comedy channel, and the essentially the same movies. However, what I can say is that the film Space Jam, which is a kids film from the 1990s involving the looney toons and Michael Jordan was on. Sadly it was the best movie option on. Somehow I think I convinced my seatmate as well as he turned to it shortly after I did. 7.5 hours later I was on the ground in Newark, approximately 20 minutes early.
Immigration was really quick, and likewise so was customs, but thats because I did not check my luggage and I put down that I had nothing to declare. Honestly, I was a bit surprised how quickly it was for me to get through. I even have another US stamp in my passport, even if it looks somewhat sloppy and you cant see EWR on it at all. After that I have just been waiting around, and Ill continue to do so until my flight to Orlando. My next post will be an attempt at summing up my trip, lessons learned, etc.