February 24, 2012
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Schiphol Amsterdam Airport, Netherlands
At first sight this day was a bit of a repeat of Tuesday. Against previous intentions, I did go to work this morning, and I worked till shortly after lunch. Then, in the mid afternoon I took a train from Zuid station, just outside the office, towards the airport and... well, that's where the similarities end, really. I didn't meet my sister and nephew there and I didn't fly to Barcelona... but I did see the lovely sight that you see in the picture above. An easyJet flight to Glasgow!
EasyJet flew from Amsterdam to Glasgow some ten years ago, when I flew on that route many, many times. Then, they reduced the number of daily flights from two to one, and somewhere in 2005 they stopped flying AMS-GLA altogether. For a brief period of time a low cost carrier called FlyGlobespan took over, but they too abandoned the route. Transavia, a Dutch low cost and holiday airline subsequently tried flying Amsterdam to Glasgow Prestwick Airport (as opposed to Glasgow International used by easyJet and FlyGlobespan) but also closed down their single UK destination some two years after starting it. In the meantime, easyJet continued their Amsterdam to Edinburgh flights so those were the ones I used most in recent years. Then, in the middle of last year came a very nice announcement: easyJet were starting up their AMS-GLA flights again from the end of October 2011. And lo and behold, here is an easyJet flight ready to depart to Glasgow!
Andy and Colin were very kind to come and pick me up from Glasgow airport, and the drive to their apartment was much shorter (despite the fact that it was Friday evening rush hour) than when they came and picked me up in Edinburgh. Naturally (and I know I always say this, and believe me I always mean this) it was absolutely great to be back in Scotland. It sounds melodramatic, and that's not how it's intended, but Scotland is the country that never happened for me... but probably should have. Certainly given the current difficulties with the house and the fact that I'm financially tied to Amsterdam for the foreseeable future, it is easy to start dreaming about 'what if I had dared to make the jump'. But... I didn't dare, I didn't jump, and, again for that foreseeable future, the book of Scotland stays closed. But that doesn't take away the fact that being in Scotland always makes me feel very happy - and much of that happiness of course is due to Colin and Andy's wonderful hospitality.
A perfect example of that hospitality was tonight's home made Scottish dinner, with haggis as its star attraction. Delicious! We ate it, accompanied by real ales, and it was simply yummie. Andy and Colin had bought me Christmas presents - a Banksy T-shirt, whisky, chocolates and biscuits - and despite the fact that I had also bought some presents, those weren't Christmas presents. I have had some tremendously austere months (at least compared to how I used to live) and with Christmas a while ago, buying Christmas presents had been a bit difficult... which was unfortunate tonight... But I will make sure to compensate soon. After dinner we walked into the west end and we had some whiskies, real ales and half-and-halfs in The Doublet. The bar was full, and despite the fact that I felt exhausted (house worries had kept me awake a bit too much last night), I simply felt very happy, looking around me in this wonderful pub, and chatting away with my friends.
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