Olympic airplane!
We flew from Rotterdam The Hague Airport (what a mouthful) to London Heathrow, and from there to New York. I've only been to Heathrow once, and I remember check in was quick, security was quick, and I was at the gate in no time. So I didn't expect it to be much of a hassle this time. Boy was I wrong, the stopover at Heathrow was horrible.
From the plane, we had to take a long bus ride and an express train to get from terminal 1 to terminal 5. At the terminal, we had to wait in these neverending queues for a) boarding passes (our first flight was booked with Iberia but operated by BA, so the ground steward in the NL couldn't check us in for both flights at the same time) b) passport check c) to go upstairs to the security check and d) the security check itself. So many people. So hot.
The guy checking our passports told us we had to take another express train to get to the terminal. I was like wut? I thought we were already at the terminal?
After security we figured out there was a terminal 5A and terminal 5B. They don't mention that on Heathrow's website, and it wasn't mentioned on the flyer with directions the ground steward gave us. So we had to walk to the other end of terminal 5A, get on that train, to then walk to the other end of terminal 5B. I was already so tired and I think we definitely walked for about 30 mins.
We had approximately 3 hours for our stopover, and in my mind that left us with enough time to get some brunch somewhere (eggs benedict anyone?). Silly me, we barely had enough time to buy a sandwich to go, because we barely made our flight. We were absolutely exhausted by the time we were in our seats.
Fortunately it was one of those new airplanes, so even economy class was quite comfortable.
From the plane, we had to take a long bus ride and an express train to get from terminal 1 to terminal 5. At the terminal, we had to wait in these neverending queues for a) boarding passes (our first flight was booked with Iberia but operated by BA, so the ground steward in the NL couldn't check us in for both flights at the same time) b) passport check c) to go upstairs to the security check and d) the security check itself. So many people. So hot.
The guy checking our passports told us we had to take another express train to get to the terminal. I was like wut? I thought we were already at the terminal?
After security we figured out there was a terminal 5A and terminal 5B. They don't mention that on Heathrow's website, and it wasn't mentioned on the flyer with directions the ground steward gave us. So we had to walk to the other end of terminal 5A, get on that train, to then walk to the other end of terminal 5B. I was already so tired and I think we definitely walked for about 30 mins.
We had approximately 3 hours for our stopover, and in my mind that left us with enough time to get some brunch somewhere (eggs benedict anyone?). Silly me, we barely had enough time to buy a sandwich to go, because we barely made our flight. We were absolutely exhausted by the time we were in our seats.
Fortunately it was one of those new airplanes, so even economy class was quite comfortable.
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I'm one of those few people that usually enjoys airline meals (I know I know, so weird). We had asparagus risotto (the chicken was already gone) which was really quite tasty for an airplane risotto. For dessert was a chocolate mousse with caramel sauce by Lily O'Brien. It was so good!!!! Hands down the best airplane dessert I've ever had (fyi: best meal ever? Grilled salmon with Turkish Airways in '10/when Cathay Pacific celebrated its 60th anniversary and had all these famous Chinese restaurants prepare their meals. Worst meal ever? Something that used to be salmon(?), was pureed, and - get this - shaped again like a salmon with Aeroflot in '10).
And then we finally arrived at JFK. Excitement and happiness immediately replaced our tiredness.
Paul wanted to get some cash from an ATM and I said I would wait with our luggage in the arrivals hall.
All of a sudden this crowd of screaming girls run in my direction.
A bunch of paparazzi followed.
I was SO confused.
Then this boy walks out the arrival door. Everyone starts screaming.
Everyone was taking pictures, so naturally I started filming as well, even though I did not know what was going on. :')Then 4 other boys walked out.
I thought, are they famous? Do I know them? I'm not that old right?
They weren't young enough to be One Direction (in my mind 1D are like, teenagers or something), so I figured they could be the other boyband the Wanted. I know some of their songs, but really didn't know what they looked like. For a second I thought of taking a picture with them as they were so close to me, but immediately figured that was stupid as I a) am not a teenager and b) wasn't even sure who they were.
After some googling later that evening I deduced they were indeed the Wanted. So hey, I saw some celebrities! Yay!
Paul wanted to get some cash from an ATM and I said I would wait with our luggage in the arrivals hall.
All of a sudden this crowd of screaming girls run in my direction.
A bunch of paparazzi followed.
I was SO confused.
Then this boy walks out the arrival door. Everyone starts screaming.
Everyone was taking pictures, so naturally I started filming as well, even though I did not know what was going on. :')Then 4 other boys walked out.
I thought, are they famous? Do I know them? I'm not that old right?
They weren't young enough to be One Direction (in my mind 1D are like, teenagers or something), so I figured they could be the other boyband the Wanted. I know some of their songs, but really didn't know what they looked like. For a second I thought of taking a picture with them as they were so close to me, but immediately figured that was stupid as I a) am not a teenager and b) wasn't even sure who they were.
After some googling later that evening I deduced they were indeed the Wanted. So hey, I saw some celebrities! Yay!
Then it was another hour of struggling with our suitcases through the New York subway.
This view was totally worth it though!
This view was totally worth it though!