KLM is ready when you are 03/30/2024

 It is time to go home.  Our hotel was within the airport area.  We walked to our terminal and checked in at the KLM desk. Our flight was scheduled to takeoff at 12:45 PM to Amsterdam.  We had a layover of a couple of hours to change planes for our final leg to Atlanta.  We received a notice from KLM, our flight was delayed to 1:25 PM.  No problem, we had time to spare.  We received another notice from KLM, our flight was delayed to 1:45 PM.  At this point we began to be concerned.  Do the math.  When we get to Amsterdam, we have to disembark at one terminal and go to the next terminal.  We also had to go through customs.  Time is of the essence.  Will we make our connection?  We finally took off from Rome around 2:30 PM.  If the Amsterdam flight left on schedule, we would not make the flight.  We began exploring our alternatives to get home.  They were not attractive.

When we landed in Amsterdam, we were told our Atlanta flight had been delayed.  We got off the plane and went at a rapid pace to our departure gate.  They were almost through loading when we got there.  It reminded me of O.J. Simpson running through the airport.

We had a great flight into Atlanta.  The KLM crew went out of their way to take care of the passengers.  When our flight attendant found it was our 50th wedding anniversary and our children were with us, she brought us some champagne, chocolates, a card, and a KLM bear that one of the other flight attendants had quickly assembled.  I was impressed, to say the least.

We arrived into Atlanta on the international side of the airport.  We needed to catch a shuttle for the Marriott (where my car was) on the domestic side of the airport.  There were hundreds of people needing to get to the domestic side.  We were way back in line.  We were faced with waiting on one shuttle to take us to a place where we could take a second shuttle.  By now it was after 11:00 PM.  We have not even seen the first shuttle yet.  We went to plan B.  We got a taxi to take us from the international side directly to the Marriott.  We picked up the Tahoe and headed to Alabama.

A great trip.  We toured the Vatican, the Coleseum, the Palentine Hill, the Roman Forum, the Amalfi Coast, Pompeii, Isle of Capri, Orvieto, Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon, and attended a pasta cooking class.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (and two ferry boat rides.)

Gift from the KLM crew

KLM Card of congratulations