And then I started getting notifications from KLM that our flight was delayed. First to 1:15pm and then to 1:45pm.
Which was fine with us! We had a decent amount of time between our arrival in Amsterdam and our next flight to Southampton, so an extra hour wouldn't matter. Besides, we were sitting in the premium lounge, and this was one of the best ones we've been in. Really good food, and really good selection. They even had a variety of single malt scotch... too bad it was too early in the day for that!
Our airplane from Rome to Amsterdam.
Anyhow, eventually we were called for boarding and it was almost 2:00pm by the time we got up in the air. We didn't have window seats, so no photos from that flight.
Because our flight was late arriving, we scrambled to get to the departure gate for our next flight from Amsterdam to Southampton. Plus, as I had mentioned at the end of yesterday's post, we hadn't been able to get seats assigned yet and had been placed on a waiting list of some kind... so we weren't even positive that we were going!
Anyhow, we got to the gate and still had about 40 minutes before the flight was scheduled to leave. We explained the problem, and they said that there were still available seats, but she couldn't assign them to us until check in officially closed. She didn't seem to have an explanation as to why we hadn't been able to get seats when we checked in. Anyhow, we waited another 10 minutes and she was able to give us seats, although not together. Which doesn't really matter when the flight is less than an hour long!
The sky was quite interesting as we arrived in Southampton.
The picture doesn't really do it justice.
So, three airplanes in one day! Tirana to Rome to Amsterdam to Southampton! The cost using KLM was €161 ($257 CAD, $187 USD) which was quite a bit more than the standard European discount airlines, however it was kind of refreshing to not have to worry if your bag is half a centimeter larger than the allowance! And wine, beer, and snacks on the plane. And of course the big plus was that we arrived directly to Southampton rather than trying to arrange land transport from one of the out of the way discount airline airports.
Arrived at the tiny Southamptom airport, got checked in by immigration and the border guard asked a lot of questions which was odd. Normally coming into the UK, they simply stamp our passport that's that.
Walked outside and it was raining. Welcome to England!
We took the local bus from the airport to downtown and had a short walk to our accommodation, which is a student housing complex right downtown and only a 15 minute walk to the cruise terminal.
Perfectly acceptable for a reasonable £45 ($81.50 CAD, $59 USD) per night for a two night stay.
Today we are going to a search out the charity shops for some cheap cruise ship clothing deals, do some exploring because we've never been to Southampton, and pick up a couple of bottles of wine because we are each allowed a bottle to bring on board and drink in the cabin. Weather today in Southampton looks great! Forecast 25C (77F) and sunny with cloudy periods. Perfect!
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Great deal on a 6000 BTU Window Air Conditioner.And in Canada...
I can't wait to see what "cruise clothes" you found! Also, one rule about airports...it's never too early in the day for a drink. I've seen folks putting back amazing amounts well before noon because "it's 5-o'clock somewhere". Not that I've ever been guilty of such an act, of course! ;-)
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