We ended up staying awake from 830AM Thursday to 11PM Friday. It was brutal. We can tell you the whole glob of stories later, but we basically would get bored waiting in one queue and go to another one. After the end of the day we ended up back in the same queue we started in - trying to get a hotel room. (Another lady we were in front of Friday said she waited in the hotel line for 7hrs, so we actually didn't miss anything.) So we got a free hotel room, dinner, 2 drinks each and a little overnight bag with a shirt, socks, and various toiletries that have been serving us well since we still don't have our bags yet. So that was Thursday night. Then Friday morning we arrived at the airport around 9AM and spent about an hour wandering around trying to figure how where to go. Then we waited in an extremely long (possible 6 mi) queue for 6hrs before re-booking a flight for 810PM. At about 845 they started kicking people out of the airport that had not rebooked. So we are extremely grateful we got that flight.
Meanwhile in queue, people were getting quite restless. One dude thought another one was cutting and another guy called him a dick but the guy wasn't cutting, he actually already had a boarding pass and had been waiting for 4 hours for nothing! It was by far the funnies thing I had heard all day. We had been all lighthearted and laughing the whole time and finally someone asked where we were from and we were all shocked that we're Americans! Look - we're finally getting a good name! And we chatted w/some Scottish guy, Colin the whole time. We have some stories about him later. But he was really fun. After about 5hrs he finally asked what I did and I said I was psychologist, specializing in trauma. He said, OH! Well no wonder this isn't bothering you! I guess your work really puts things into perspective! LOL :) Yeah, I guess so. I must admit that my entire perspective on queues as now been permanently changed. Then while waiting for our luggage some guy asked another lady how long she had been in Amsterdam and said he got in that line at 6AM and when he finally got to the front of the line he told the lady, "you get me a seat on a flight or I'm going home with you tonight. I guess she didn't want me to go home with her! HAHAHA" So, the lady asks him where he's from, and he said, "Oh I'm from Georgia." And she just goes, "Ah." Oh my gosh... STOP TALKING! No wonder people hate Americans.
Today was relaxing. We slept in til 1 and then sat around the house. We went to downtown and there was an outdoor market going on (maybe b/c of Christmas?) which was not normal so that was fun. We ate a hole-in-the-wall place and spoke all italiano. The funniest part was that I didn't look up what 1/2 liter of wine was so I thought it was litre e mezzo, which was actually a liter and a half of wine. We really wanted mezzo litre. Pssh. It was only an 8 euro mistake and we were able to finish it w/o problem :)
Adam & Heather have 2 cocker spaniels that are quite energetic. They are not bothering my allergies too much yet, but they have all tile flooring, so I know that helps. I know I'm glad God provided that for us for the two days of being awake (36hrs straight) and then 16hrs in queues. It was quite remarkable how calm I was which helped keep S calm. We still don't have our bags, but Adam & Heather's clothes are making do so that's a praise.
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