An epic journey
Travelling to Mierlo in the Netherlands this week did not quite go to plan. I arrived at Gatwick airport ready for my short flight to Amsterdam in good time, but unfortunately the relaxed journey I had imagined was not to be.
Despite the heightened security, the fact that there were not a huge number of travellers meant that I made it through the departure gates on time. However, we were on the plane and ready to go when it was announced that there was a fault with the plane and an engineer was going to attempt to fix it.
Two and a half hours later, we were still on the plane on the tarmac, and the decision was finally made that we would have to get on another plane! Eventually, after another hour, we were settled on a different plane with a different crew. We were promised refreshments, which only made it to a third of the passengers, as it was such a short flight, but at least we were on our way!
Thankfully Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is easy to navigate and I arrived on the platform ready to take the train on the next leg of my journey with minutes to spare. Unfortunately, that is not the end of my tale.
At Utrecht, where I had to change trains, my connecting train was cancelled. By this time it was close to midnight and I was still some distance from my destination. On the way to the taxi rank I was warned that drivers were hiking up their fares. A fellow stranded traveller suggested we share a car and proceeded to negotiate with a taxi driver over the price. In the meantime, two other travellers joined us and we finally agreed on a fare and set off.
An hour and a half later, I finally arrived at my hotel in Mierlo, exhausted, but relieved. I have never experienced such a journey, and the fact that you can actually travel from London to Amsterdam so quickly makes it all the more ironic. Thankfully, apart from a little traffic around the airport, my return journey went to plan, and I am certainly glad to be home.
In case you were wondering, the purpose of my trip was a visit to food colour solutions company GNT. I am pleased to report that this was both enjoyable and informative, and I look forward to telling you all about it in a future issue of CP. Thank you GNT for your hospitality.
