Wrapping up the trip

Originally written 10/13/11, but just now posting:

We got back a week ago, so I figured I'd do a concluding blog post to report on the trip back home since I haven't written since we left Glasgow.


We flew from Glasgow to Amsterdam and from Amsterdam to Atlanta with a 3-hour layover in Amsterdam. With no direct flights from Glasgow or Belfast to Atlanta, we had to fly the "wrong" direction to get back home. So, it was a long travel day.


So, we started off our day at around 7 a.m. (local time, 2 a.m Atlanta time) and got to the Glasgow airport around 8 or 8:30, where it began to hail while we were dropping off the rental car. Our flight wasn't until 10:50 and there's not as much advanced arrival required when flying between European countries, but we weren't sure of how long it would take to get to the airport, the check-in process, the airport layout, etc., so we figured better safe than sorry. The rental car return took a bit because the family in front of us took forever, but everything else was quick and smooth.


The Amsterdam airport was phenomenal--lots of shopping options, a free mini-art museum, even a casino. We grabbed a bite to eat and milled about for a while. We had to check in at the gate an hour before boarding there, and it's an airport where you go through security again before being let into the glass-enclosed gate area, where you can't get out to go to the bathroom or anything without going through security again. As we waited at the gate for the hour before boarding, I noticed several guys in dark suits all with the same or similar lapel pin follow the pilots onto the airplane, and I thought, "Boy, they're serious about security here!" It turns out they were U.S. Secret Service detail and former President Jimmy Carter was on our flight. He came around and shook everyone's hand before we took off.


The flight back was long 9-10 hours in flight, but it passed rather quickly thanks to the personal TVs on the plane. KLM is great. There were tons of movies, TV shows, video games and such. I think I watched 4 movies on the way back. We landed around 8:30 p.m. (local time) in Atlanta, but by the time we got to the terminal, went through customs, walked to baggage claim after the airport "train" broke down, etc., it was after 10 p.m. And traffic to and around the airport was tough, so it took Scott's brother Tim a bit to get to us after we picked up our luggage. So, we were glad when we finally got home.