On The Road Again

ChesterQuest rolls on...

I'm on my way to Lisbon, Portugal for the Forum Fantastico convention this weekend, flying in via Amsterdam. However, the trip did not get off to a good start. We got delayed out of JFK for three hours as they were transporting race horses on the same flight. The horses were so heavy and agitated that they kept shifting the weight balance of the plane so they had to keep adjusting cargo to compensate. And they can't drug them due to doping concerns or some shit. Grrrr... Then we're finally ready to leave the gate and the pilot comes on with this gem of an announcement:

"Well, the horses are settled and the cargo doors are closed, but it seems we're having trouble with our electrical system now, which doesn't look good. But we're not going to worry about that too much. We'll just start the engines and try to get the plane in the air."

Way to instill confidence in your already tired and annoyed passengers! But we made it...


I got my preferred emergency exit window seat and slept most of the way. The few times I did wake up, the plane seemed more like a party than an international flight, with people all standing up, hanging out in the aisles, drinking beer, mingling... I guess they were just getting ready for good times in Amsterdam. One thing I do have to say though, this being the first time I flew KLM, they had a couple of the hottest stewardesses I have ever seen, but also some of the most homely ones as well. And I'm not talking homely as in those old lady flight attendants you see on some flights, I'm talking young women who were just butt ugly! I know that sounds crass, but it's just something I notice as I travel so much. I thought airlines had restrictions about this kind of thing in their hiring policies?! :)

But anyway, six hours later we had made it over the pond and started our descent into the Dutch capital...


I was actually the first person off the plane which also meant I was the first to get the bad news... most of us had missed our connecting flights. KLM was great about the situation though, more professional and prepared than any other airline I have ever flown on, and they had all our new connections and boarding passes ready as soon as we got there. However, I'm now stuck here in Amsterdam Airport for 7 hours!! They gave us nice layover packages with vouchers, phone cards, comps towards our next flight, and 2000 free miles, which ain't bad, but I still had to shell out for wireless internet. Oh, well, I'm here and I'm set up and I'm working...



And compared to what I see out my window back in NYC everyday, the view here is pretty cool...


I'll be updating the blog daily from here on out, so keep checking back!