July 13 - Arrival

My flight to Amsterdam was uneventful but long. The entertainment system wasn't working in the seats starting at row 32. I was luckily sitting in row 30. I really dodged a bullet on that one because even with the entertainment system I was going a little stir crazy. There was an empty seat beside a me which allowed me to expand a little which helped, but I still thought I was going to be sick about halfway through.

The lunch on the plane was predictably bad. Eggplant lasagna which might be good at any other time but not so much when you're not cruising at 30,000 feet. I ate bits and pieces of what I could stomach and let them take the rest.

This flight was different than others I've been on. Granted I was flying Delta for the first time when I normally fly United, but I was given warm towels to do what I don't know with and given an eyemask to help you sleep. I promptly lost the eyemask. It sucked. Still, I made do.

I arrived a bit early in Amsterdam and was able to calm my stomach before getting on the next flight where I was squished into the window seat, my least favorite position. It was a short flight back the way I came to land in Edinburgh.

I found my Spalding peeps right away, and we got on the coach to get to the hotel right away. There was a slight argument between the guide and the driver about when he could drive, but we soon made it to our hotel where my room was not ready. I had lunch with a few other Spalding fiction writers while I waited for my room to be ready.

Finally, I made it up to my modest room with a super tiny hallway/doorway. I started to get my barrings when Kasia arrived. We caught up and unpacked. I took a shower to get the airport grim off of me before collapsing in bed.

The welcome back dinner was at the Amber restaurant at the Scotch Whiskey Experience where there were too courses of fish. I was weary of eating the fish but I gave the salmon a go. It wasn't bad. The dessert course was cheese, grapes, oatcakes, and chutney. Not bad, but not exactly dessert.

It was good to talk and catch up with everyone. By the end, I was ready to leave. We strolled through the streets of wet pavement from the recent rain and I smiled to myself. I felt like I had come home.