What happens in Amsterdam

Today was an early morning. This hostel I stayed at was certainly a party hostel. People woke me at 2:30 with their antics. I didn't mind. I got up a little while later and got ready for the day. I caught an Uber to the airport. Inside I had to wait 45 minutes to even check in. After that it was passport control, TSA and other airport fun. Once through with that I grabbed a quick breakfast and headed to my gate.

I was in the emergency exit on the first plane ride of the day. I liked that. I napped for the first hour of the ride and enjoyed watching the sunrise out the plane window. It was hard to see a lot below as it was cloudy. But I Iove watching out the plane windows anyways and I had a window seat. 

I disembarked the plan and then walked out of the airport. I was warned by the border guards that I needed to have lots of time to get back to the airport. I didn't realize how serious they were. I walked out of the airport to see a beautiful double rainbow over a sign for Amsterdam. 

I grabbed an Uber to get to downtown. I picked the Oude Church as my starting point and Anne Frank's House as my end point. I spent time wandering through the city, enjoying the architecture and taking in the city. There are some truly amazing churches and old buildings in the city. Of course the canals are neat too. It rained a bit while I walked.

The use of bikes is amazing. There are so many there and it seems like all the kids were going to school on bikes as well. There are so many bikes and no one wears a helmet. Everyone bikes fast. It's so cool to watch but I would have a hard time keeping up. 

I wandered for a while. When I got to the Anne Frank house I saw it was under construction so I couldn't grab a picture. Tickets were also sold out so I didn't go inside. It would have been nice but it was for the best. I grabbed food at a local cafe and got my postcards. From there I grabbed an Uber back to the airport.

I got to the airport with over 3 hours until my flight. I was going to need it. I lost my boarding pass and mask along my walk. I went into the airport and it was chaos. Lines made no sense. No signs told you where to go. I ended up in 4 separate lines trying to get my boarding pass printed. The last one was still wrong but they at least helped me. This part took probably 45 minutes.

Then came the long part: the airport security line. It has been in the news but I think one needs to experience it to fully comprehend how crazy it was. The line stretched approximately 4km in length. It left the airport terminal in 2 separate places, requiring people to stand outside. 

Never had I seen anything like this. And it move rather quickly. It took me 1.5 hours to make it though. Finally I did. I had no issue with TSA which was nice. I walked fast to my gate because boarding was supposed to have started. However, I got to the gate and the plane was a little late coming in so I had some time to spare. Thank goodness. 

The flight from Amsterdam to Reykjavik was uneventful. I slept or looked out my window while listening to my music. I had the seat right by the entry door which was kind of cool. Of course I took the opportunity to take some more photos. 

Once I got to Iceland I grabbed a snack and catch the bus to downtown. The bus was great and I sat next to a gentleman who lived in Iceland for many years and he gave me pointers. The bus ride took about an hour. 

I checked into my hostel and met my friend. We put our stuff away and headed to get groceries. We wandered around several streets and went to the grocery store called Bonus. It's like Icelandic Aldi. It was great. 

We went back to the hostel and hung out. We got to meet lots of interesting people and chat with them. We had a guy from the UK we talked to who was fantastic. We also chatted for a while with a guy from Canada.

We chatted with lot of people for a while and met the rest of the people staying in our hostel room. This is a very lively hostel. We ended up going down to the main floor where they had music, a bar, and other activities. We played foosball and people watched mainly.