Day 1 Amsterdam - Vancouver : Money well spent

Traveling in luxury is something I am not typical used too, but it’s something I like very much. BTW just as easy I can travel with almost nothing, did that in the Sinai Dessert with a Bedouin and a Camel for five days. I only had a very dirty blanket, which had been on the camel for ages and never washed, to sleep under during the night. It was needed though with snakes and scorpions all over.

Back to my current trip. When I had to check in online I got the option to upgrade to Business Class. What the heck I said, this is a once in a lifetime visit, I say that of course about each visit J.

Again feeling very privileged to be able to travel like this and to something magnificent, although the weather forecast is not good at all, rain for the coming 6 days at least …

Business Class is very enjoyable and the people in are not the standard business people, but people traveling often and to special places. Great food (the fillet of Hake), excellent wines, even a Dutch one (De Linie 2008), yeah really. But also the one from New Zealand (The Ned, a Sauvignon Blanc from the Malborough region) was a treat. And of course a Vintage Port (Taylors’s 2003) wine with the Cheese platter for desert.

No I did not take the bubbles J as a starter as many did. We are only a few hours flying; I could have been drunk already, so often they come by to fill the not empty glasses.

After a few hours we flew above Greenland. I have done that several times, but what a view this time, clear skies, snow landscapes ending in many glaciers and lot’s of rocky ice in the bays itself. A great spectacle and I think my pictures from above will not be able to describe the real feeling we all had.

 

Arrival in Vancouver, after some sleep, and 9+ hours, is feeling a bit strange, being again so far from home, almost 13.000 Km. The atmosphere is welcoming, weather is good, bit humid 19 degrees Celsius, foreign cab drivers, busy roads, almost like Amsterdam. But at the Horizon I see the Rocky Mountains, or better Grouse Mountain.

The cab driver is from Jemen, we're getting along as Amsterdam is always a welcome subject. He has been there and is the first who is not asking about coffee shops, but mentioning all the cities he visited, from Amsterdam to Utrecht, from The Hague to Maastricht.

It took half an hour to get to the Light Heart Inn Bed and Breakfast. It's a bit far out of the city center, although by metro it's only 10-15 minutes.

I was welcomed by Greg, the owner, who made me a normal cup of coffee, almost strong enough. It was rather lively as two other quest arrived (French) and one of his friends. We already had a good discussion on sports and on the cruise.

I decided not to go into the center, it was rather a long day. But instead went to a street with many bars and restaurants. I just walked, did not eat, the Business Class was still in ...

The area is a mix of older houses, some ugly and not taken care off, some are extremely nice. It is the same with the people I see. It is a rather cosmopolitan mix, many Asians, lot's of other nationalities, many students I guess, but also many homeless. All together a very relaxed bunch of people, as I remembered from last time I was here. 

Now when I am writing this it is actually half past five for me, in Vancouver it is now half past eight in the evening. Tomorrow breakfast at half pas eight with the French, afterwards will go to Stanley Park and will board around four, departure at half past five.

The trip is on!