TR - Dutch Courage
 

Yet again I awoke relatively early, for a Saturday at least. I always seem to get up early for flights. I finished my packing, said my goodbyes to my flat mate (who knows if I would see him again) and made my way outside to await my taxi. But before I go any further, as with all good stories, let’s start at the beginning.


It was the Thursday before Easter and all was quiet. Actually, things were not quiet, they were getting rather rowdy at a bar near work. So rowdy that after a few too many drinks I decided to text a mate and inquire when he was next off to Amsterdam…as it turns out he was up for going the very next weekend. Once home we booked the tickets and hotel and we were set! The hotel was paid cash and the flights were booked on redemption via Avios.com using converted Tesco vouchers, who knew you could do that??? It’s quite amazing; a load of bog roll gets you a flight. Anyway, I digress.

Where was I? Oh yes. I was waiting on a street corner for my taxi to arrive. It was a slightly peculiar journey, the driver was called Trevor and was from Halifax. Luckily he loved aeroplanes, flying, Avios and so I suggested that he signed up to Flyertalk. Arriving at T5 I had a quick glance at the lovely terminal, this really is worldclass, and went into the main terminal building.


As a lowly BAEC Blue, yes we do exist, I had to go to BA Assistance to change my FF number from my BAEC to my CXMP Gold (OW Sapphire) so that I could get Fast Track Security and GC access. Off to security I went and with a mere 5 minutes wait through Fast Track I was airside. A walk through the shopping mall that is T5 and I arrived at Galleries Club South.


Outside the lounges sits a model A380 in BA colours, I cannot wait for this to enter service.



"Natalya" from Poland was manning the GC Reception desk. Very easy on the eyes, and with remarkably fine legs. She waved me in without blinking her baby-blue eyes. Arriving in GC, it’s been a few years since I’ve been here; I was slightly disorientated by the size. It’s huge. I had to wander around for a few minutes to find a suitable perch. Opposite me in the lounge was a gentlemen reading a novel called “50 Bags of Crisps”, I believe it’s the non-fiction crime thriller by E.L. James.

The lounge was a little too busy for me to feel comfortable taking SLR photos, so a couple from my point and shoot will have to suffice. The hot food had gone, so I had to suffice with a couple of croissants and a couple of glasses of Chardonnay. Both were fine.


Here’s to a good trip, cheers!


Shortly after finishing my Chardonnay I got a message from my travelling companion, he was here and I should meet him outside Galleries First. Greeting my good friend with a hug we entered GF and took a seat near the buffet area. It was time for the real trip to start!


The buffet was good; freshly presented, good flavours, a decent range. This was pre Baxter Storey…After my friend was berated by a random stranger for “poor posture” we headed off to the Champagne Bar area, a tranquil wonderland of bubbles and…wait…what’s that? Oh goody, someone watching a video and not bothering to use his headphones. How rude and annoying. Nevermind, I had just the cure. More bubbles and more buffet!

We decided to order from the menu as it would be quite a while before we would get a decent meal again. We went for the F Burger, fruit salad, cheese board and bread and butter pudding.


The F Burger was typically rubbish, but the rest of it was very nice. To wash away the taste of the F Burger we had some more champagne.


Our flight was soon called and we just had enough time to take a few more photos of the lounge.


We would be departing from gate B32, so needed to jump on to the train. The mess was embarrassing!


On board we struggled to find room for our luggage, but the lovely crew managed to find space somehow! It was a fairly uneventful flight, with a can of London Pride and the smallest bag of crisps that I have ever seen. Imagine those pesky crumbs that you get at the bottom of a normal pack of crisps? Yeah, think of that!

Before long we were on final approach. A final approach that led to an eventful landing. A double landing no less! First we landed. Then we bounced. Then we landed again. It was enough to raise the eye brows of a few crew, including the off duty one sat next to me. Slight drama over, we were shortly at gate and quickly through to landside. We were in Amsterdam!

It was a beautiful evening. An evening with lots of promise! Before we could enjoy ourselves we had to get to our hotel, so we joined the taxi queue and headed off to The Amsterdam Hilton. It doesn’t look like much from the outside, but inside it’s very lovely.


Check-in was a breeze and we were swiftly off to our room. Oh, it was a lovely room.


The view from the balcony was pretty good!

We decided to grab a bite to eat in the executive lounge before heading into town. The lounge itself was nice, if fairly basic.


A friend of my friend joined us and we headed to the hotel bar for a quick drink.


OK, it was now time for Amsterdam!


I hope the photos tell a story. We wandered around the Red Light District and several tourist areas. It’s really fascinating how open the sex trade is and how brazen people are in taking part. We preferred to sample another local produce…the beer! Unfortunately it was soon time for bed.

For those of you who have seen The Hangover series of films you will have a fair idea of what we awoke to…I originally thought a wild bear had been trapped in our room. Fortunately it was just my friend’s snoring…


Bleurgh. At least it was a beautiful day.


Time to wander around day time Amsterdam.


Sadly it was time to head back to the airport. We had really enjoyed our time in Amsterdam, I will certainly visit again so that I can take in more of the culture.

Arriving back the airport, wow it wasn’t long since we were last here, we took some photos outside and headed through to airside.


The lounge isn’t particularly impressive, but it does the job! Unfortunately we did a job on their crisps…


A wander around the airport, grabbing some excellent noodles in the terminal. Slurping up the noodle goodness we were off to gate and off to 1A/C.


There was the usual scramble for luggage space, including our dear neighbour who quickly slammed shut “his” overhead bin when he realised we were looking for storage space.


A swift taxi and smooth take-off and we were saying good bye to Amsterdam.


Due to the very short flight time the crew quickly delivered a prawn salad and some bubbles.


The salad was nice; fresh, crunchy and with decent flavour. I certainly don’t expect any more for an hour flight. It was the end of that hour flight. It had been a decent one. It was also the end of our mini-weekend away. It had been a great one.

Awww! This really makes me miss home... You can almost see where I used to live from one of the photos...

Great report! Lads weekend in Amsterdam - can't beat it! Lovely city and really easy to get around.

Wow yet another great TR. Haven't been back to Amsterdam in 12 years. Used to be my favourite destination but even I realized that it was just becoming too much for my aging body;) Some of my friends from those trips have suggested we go back and just stay on the Belgian bier for a weekend. I think your TR has convinced me to give it another go.^

Great TR stevieed...

I'll only say that I smiled a LOT reading this. ^

Small world! I know that driver well! What an excellent driver. Good choice. ^

Another awesome TR stevieed, sounds like the perfect weekend. For a bloke. :-:

Simply ^.

/AE

Great Trip report and great pictures :)

Phenomenal photos - thanks for sharing!

Brilliant chuckles !

Do you happen to know where I can obtain a copy of the book being read in the lounge ? ;)



cs

Great TR.

Where's the Executive Lounge nowadays at the Hilton? For a while it was in a glass box on the top floor and was really pretty special for sunrise or sunset. As you didn't mention it, I assume it's moved to its earlier place further down?

The room you got is pretty much the best in the hotel, btw :)

Still the same.....unfortunately. They have a decent offering, but far too small for the number of thirsty Diamonds in the late afternoons.

Great report, love the Amsterdam pics.

Last time in this hotel I got an upgrade to the John Lennon Suite, which while historic, was not at all as elegant as your room was :)

Nice photos of lounges/plane, but WoW. It looks like you had the typical tourist time. That is what those places are for...tourists. Most Dutch don't visit those places and the workers there are usually from the East Bloc.

No Rembranthuis, Anne Frank, van Gogh museum? canal ride? not even a Heineken tour? or Dutch fries/food or bitterballen?

I liked the plane pictures such as the seats and leg space/lounges. Your camera has good quality.

I think they went for a fun time which is what Amsterdam for a weekend is for. I've always thought the Hilton is a bit far out of the centre though. Wouldn't be my choice of hotel in the city.

Nice one, stevieed ^

Some interesting allusions creeping in here and there, which made for a good few giggles. I assume your friend brought the correct passport? ;)

There appear to be some rather scruffy people about considering the state of the floor in front of those seats at LHR.

Good shot of someone's feet up on the bassinets on the return.

Always seem to miss a lot of the things in Dam Square. Caught a concert last time I was there and seen the SinterKlausen parade once down DamRak etc + an ice rink but no fairground rides. Probably a good view of the city from the wheel.

I assume they're still digging up everything around the RLD? Every time I've been, pavements etc have been under construction and a lot of the side streets are barely one person wide.

Same with the taxiing upon landing. Sure that remote runway they use is just outside LHR as it takes nearly as long as the flight itself.

Amazing pictures!

Interesting TR and great photos!