Kit and Carol on the Road

I envy people who can sleep on airplanes. How do they do it? I can think of nothing more uncomfortable than an airplane seat. Our flights went smoothly enough but in the best of circumstances 9 hours sitting is not fun. There are no more check in people at the airport--you have to deal with a machine to get your boarding passes. Luckily it's not too difficult. You still need to stand in line for a real person to check in your bags. Coming home there were only 3 people ahead of us in line but the 2 Mexican ladies with too much luggage took about 20 minutes. Luckily we were VERY early. The security lines weren't TOO long--either in Seattle or again in Amsterdam. It is always a surprise getting off the plane in Sweden, collecting your baggage and walking out into the real world. It's much more hassle getting back to the US. Double passport control and security in Amsterdam. Passport control and customs again in Seattle. But the lines were so unbelievably short we only missed the 5 pm shuttle by 2 minutes. (We were booked on the 7pm shuttle, got to the ferry at 9:30 and home at 10:30). We flew into Stockholm and home from Copenhagen. We vote the Copenhagen airport (Kastrup) one of our least favorites for a long wait. It is mostly one giant duty free shop. When you do get to the gates there is NO where to sit. You can't get into the waiting room until you are checked in a few minutes before your flight. On the other hand. Amsterdam (Schilpol) is among our favorites. There are plenty of places to sit and wait--including some really nice comfortable spots. If you are inclined--there is a machine for water massage. There is also the art gallery (Kit sent a photo) and a few scattered shops and restaurants to spend your Euros. This trip we only had to wait a few minutes to get through the US interviewers and security to our gate.