Getting There (here)

So I had quite a roundabout route of getting to the Netherlands so here goes.
Phase 1 - Taking a Train from Toronto to Montreal
So this was interesting. Getting on the train at Union Station in Toronto I was all teary eyed as a result of having to say goodbye to my mother and Chris. However, immediately upon getting on the platform a guy came running up to me asking me if I was a McGill student, I said no, though I knew of their improv team and decided to sit with him on the train. Well this guy had a really loud voice and decided to get into an hour long discussion with me over the merrits of freedom of conscience in Canada. On several ocassions people around us had to ask him to lower his voice and it was really quite funny and annoying at the same time. When we arrived at the Train station in Dorval with a little bit of difficulty I found the shuttle bus to Trudeau aeroport. On that bus I met a man who was going back-packing through Northern India (which I thought was really cool) and a man going to Brazil.
Phase 2 Trudeau Aeroport
Normally I wouldn't consider this a seperate phase but I have some interesting stories so yeah. In the line up for British Airway's Baggage check I met an older woman going back to Brittain to visit her family who decided to tell me her life story as many people seem to do but that's ok because it passed the time in the line up. When I got into the line up at 4:45 I was happy because there were only about 10 people in front of me not realising that the Baggage Check didn't open untill 5:30, but again that wasn't so bad because by the time the Baggage check opened at 5:45 there were at least 60 people in line behind me so it was lucky I got there when I did. After checking my baggage I went to have dinner. For dinner I may have potentially eaten the most expensive sandwhich in the World (it was $12.99) and while it was more than likely worth more than the cost my stomach was in such knots at this point that I wasn't even really enjoying it to it's full potential. So then I went and got in the security line up which I can honestly say was more than 200 people long, but thankfully moved very quickly. At the actual security check I had the displeasure of being padded down because apparently I looked suspicious (probably more like nervous) and then went and sat at the spot where my aeroplane was comming. Here I also ran into that lady from the baggage check again and we exchanged pleasantries, she seemed happy to see me.

Phase 3 Trudeau to Heathrow
So inevitably by the time I got on the airplane I had gotten myself into quite a state. The people who were sitting next to me were French and fairly sympathetic but it was very interesting to communicate them. Of course I speak French quite fluently so we chatted for some time. I had a window seat and to ease my nerves I actually watched as we took off. The plane had a complementary bar and when my steward came around I told him that I wanted some water, and then he said in his lovely British accent "Oh come on now wouldn't you like something a bit harder" so I decided on wine. Later when I had finished the wine the steward asked me if I wanted anything else and I said no, he tried to insist that I have some more wine with a big smile on his face, clearly trying to flirt with me, but in any case I declined and promptly fell asleep only to wake up a half hour later and I wasn't successful in doing anything but dozing after that so by the time I got to Heathrow I was quite tired.

Phase 4: Heathrow to Schiphol
Getting off the airplane in London was quite interesting as we were actually quite far out from the terminal and had to be brought back to the terminal by shuttle buses. On the shuttle bus I met another French girl who i had originally met getting on the airplane who was transferring at the same terminal as me. We carried on quite nicely in French untill she heard me speak in English to someone else when she said "Oh, you speak English? You have quite the beautiful accent in French" which made my day, however, afterward we carried on in English. Getting through security to get to my next flight at Heathrow was terrible as we waited 45 minutes for the 20 something people in Front of us to get through. In line I met a Montreal man from my British airways flight who was also transfering to the same flight going to Schiphol (Amsterdam) and we said good bye to my other friend who got stopped at security for a more thorough search of her bag. Once inside terminal 4 departures we actually had to wait untill 20 minutes before boarding for them to announce where our flight was boarding, which is certainly a lot different from in Canada. The man from Montreal was actually sitting next to me on the flight, which was quite interesting but he fell asleep. As a snack we recieved Tuna sandwhiches which among other things had corn on them, I've never heard of anyone putting corn on a sandwhich before and it was really quite disgusting. Anyway the flight only lasted 40 minutes and we arrived on time. It was insanely easy to get through customs in Amsterdam, the man simply looked at my passport and let me go through. I wasn't asked any questions or searched or anything he just said "have a nice day" which again is certainly different from the way things work in other places. Finally. Schiphol is quite different from any other aeroport I've ever been in. It's full of bright colours, vibrant cafés and very little security.

Stay Tuned for My Next Installment of Rotterdam and the Meaning of Life