Berrycakeness

Another post drafted (and completed) in February yet…I didn’t post it. D’oh.

I’m not sure why airlines bother with a food/drinks trolley on a 45-minute flight. Well, I do actually – some people really can’t face a plane without booze.

So I flew to Amsterdam for work and saw lots of people buy wine 20 minutes before the plane landed. I cannot drink aeroplane wine as it is vile, so to down it in 20 minutes is vomit-inducing.

Note, if you need to drink wine on a plane as no other beverage is available, NEVER drink the white. It is always disgusting. Whereas red wine is at least palatable over about an hour (it’s not good either, but it’s better than the white). If you have water, feel free to dilute, it’s much better. My long trips in Economy to Australia and Asia have taught me well.

Also, I still do not understand why fish is served on a flight. That should be stopped. Smelly food in recycled air = vomit-inducing.

Anyway, back to Amsterdam. We stayed at the Hilton next to the Airport, as the client site was a short walk away from the hotel. That means I do not have any photos as really, they would have been photos of a business park. We did go to the city for dinner (a part I had never been to before – the business district). It did look great, but with no time to explore, I can’t really give a genuine opinion of it. I think I need to start planning work trips better – extend my trip a couple of days and have a holiday. I guess once I have my finances balanced out (Expenses are killing my credit card at the moment), I can start treating myself every now and then. Was quite nice to stay in the Hilton, posh hotels do at least have a good breakfast selection…

Omelette stations seem to be popular in posh hotels. They can also make pancakes, and eggs any way you like em. Except scrambled, those are always in their own hot dish for self-service. I opt for scrambled because I am lazy, it’s too early, and for the first 10 minutes, I don’t wish to speak to anyone about how I like my eggs in the morning (I like them fertilised). Ok, that’s a bit of a running joke I have, please ignore. I am also very fussy about any eggs that are not scrambled (even with scrambled I get a bit tetchy), so it really isn’t worth the effort.

Back to the story: I have been to Amsterdam before this work trip, I was 18 when we ventured on our “we’re in-between waiting for A-Level results and potentially getting into University” Summer exploration of the world. I went to Amsterdam for a long weekend, followed by two weeks in Croatia. Earlier that year in (I think the first term break), a few of us ventured to Iceland, so it was a year of travel for this young Berry. My opinion of Amsterdam as a late teen was that it was a beautiful, clean and very open city. My opinion of it today is very much the same, despite a different experience. I’m glad that younger Berry was sober enough to understand that a city with its vices on display was not the only attraction. They were, of course, the main attraction, but whatevs.

Loves xoxo