Oh how Google Maps has failed me. Apparently I can’t drive to Holland. 🙁
So, earlier this evening, but not before a delicious dinner by dot-Mom (stir-fry of some yummy sort), dad an I went to Handa Travel and made travel arrangments for me to go to Amsterdam from March 1st to the 20th!
I’m going to visit my sister and brother-in-law in Amsterdam and we’re going to go ski the Alps!
(all times local)
20060301 1330 @ Ottawa Union Station: I board a bus (uhg.) which will take me (and my skis!) to CYUL, Montreal’s PET airport
20060301 1800 @ CYUL: KLM Flight 672 whisks me directly to Schipol… 7 hours later
20060302 0650 @ AMS: Land at Schipol
20060311 early @ Amsterdam: Drive to Les 3 Vallees in France for a week of skiing in the French Alps!
20060318 early @ 3 Vallees: Drive back to Hampsterdam, no more skiing 🙁
20060320 1420 @ AMS: KLM Flight 671 to Montreal
20060320 1610 @ CYUL: Arrive, customs, luggage… blah
20060320 1745 @ CYUL: Board bus back to Ottawa
20060320 1945 @ Ottawa Union Station: Hopefully get picked up by someone who loves me!
You’ll notice a gap between my arrival in Amsterdam and our departure to France… I’ve booked my trip this way so that I can be fairly certain that my luggage (read: Skis and accoutrements) arrive before we go. ‘Course the direct flight should mitigate any risk of lost luggage anyway. There’s two other reasons though; jet-lag recovery – I’m slow to recoup from previous experience, Holland is almost exactly opposite my sleep-cycle.
The final reason is that I want to meet (up) with some of my European aquaintances!! UFies! #SPORKSers! Other random people who I know! Speak up! I’ll probably take the train from Amsterdam to Germany somewhere, then maybe fly to London… but this leg is purely dependant on people telling me they want to meet up… and made easier by those giving me a place to crash for a night or two, I ain’t made of money. Sadly.
E-Mail me, leave a comment here, PM me on #SPORKS, IM me on ICQ or GTalk…
A checklist of things to get & do before I go:
-> Pickup tickets
-> Passport
-> Find some poor pleb to carry my pager
-> Check that my Credit-Cards will work in Europe
-> Investigate renting a European SIM for my Razr… potentially getting it unlocked
-> See about using the Razr for BlueTooth Internet access
-> Buy more SmartMedia cards for my camera… hope the pile of batteries gets here soon
-> Buy a another set of ski-poles
-> Prepare ‘blog posts for travel tracking (I’ll have automated ‘blog posts as I travel telling people where I am and how I can be tracked)
I’m just a little excited right now 🙂