Europe Trip Commentary Part II

I really should be sleeping right now, but as the morning of my second Europe trip in a month is nearing, I feel that I really should write about my last trip before I forget everything.

I will call this blog: The joys of flying airplanes

We booked this trip with Air Transat because they had a great last minute airfare sale to Amsterdam for $590 CDN (taxes included). So we were pretty excited about that. When we got to the airport we found out that we were only allowed one carry-on bag, so we had to check our second knapsacks (on this trip we did what I like to call, pseudo-backing). We were sitting at the gate, waiting...waiting ....waiting.....for the announcement for boarding. Didn't come. What's the hold up?? An hour after boarding was supposed to start, we learned that they accidentally spilled the fuel as they were getting the plane ready. So we had to wait 1h45min to finally board the plane (and who wants to board a plane after they spilled the fuel???). This only stressed me out a tiny bit, since we had a connection to make in Amsterdam with only a 3 hr window (now cut to 1 hr or less t claim baggage, go through customs, go outside, re-check in, and go to the gate). Not to mention that the seats on Air Transat are clearly made for midgets with no arms, as that is how small their seats are. People who are claustrophobic don't ever book with this airline!

Anyways, so we made it on our second flight alright, and even though the planes were probably 10 years older, they were much more spacious. Ahhhh, smooth sailing. Never let your guard down though until you've actually reached your destination. Cause who knows when Smart Wings will lose their next bag of luggage? Oh wait...what? That was my bag? Dang! I've never had my luggage lost before, and this was certainly not a good time to do so (I guess it's NEVER a good time). Fearing the worst, since all of my clothes were in there, I figured I'd just buy some clothes and make the airline pay for it (that's what it said on the website). The Czech people at the Prague airpor weren't really helpful either. They basically said well, if it doesn't turn up then you're out of luck. Luckily it arrived some hours later and we had to go back to the airport to be reunited. My beloved backpack was fresh off the plane from....Budapest. Yes, that's right. My bag has been to more European countries than I have. Interestingly, I just found out yesterday that a classmate of mine, who was flying from Amsterdam to Prague just around the same dates that I was flying, lost his luggage too on the same airline. Lesson learned - do not fly Smart Wings. Stay tuned for more stories.