Day 15 - Amsterdam to Manchester to Toronto (July 15th)

Wheeling our luggage to Amsterdam Central station at 7AM allowed us to see Amsterdam at its most peaceful. The garbage strewn across the city the night before was being washed away by fire hoses. The sidewalks were empty. It made me think that Amsterdam has a party every night and we were now viewing its aftermath. Schipol Airport is enormous, modern and only a 15-minute train ride from downtown Amsterdam. When checking our luggage, which was well past the 20KG maximum allowable without a problem, we breathed a sigh of relief only to be then faced with the longest customs line I have ever encountered. We expected delays since the London bombings had occurred a little over a week ago, so thankfully we had given ourselves a lot of time.

Everything was going smoothly until upon arrival in Manchester we were accosted by two customs agents who took us to a side room and began to intimidate us by asking us questions in a violent tone. "Are you aware that it is against the law to bring firearms, drugs etc...into the United Kingdom," one of them said. I nodded. It didn't help matters that the terminal was under construction and that they had to scream every time a power drill started up. They asked for our passports and wanted a full description of our travels. When I pulled out my binder with everything from passports to itineraries to tickets and even this diary, the tone changed. "You're very organized. So your ship docked in Rotterdam," he said. They proceeded to look in every crevice of our luggage and soon started acting like they were our best friends. Janet began to partake in casual conversation about her travels in Russia. I was desperate to ask what they had been looking for but didn't want to push my luck. I can only assume that we were stopped because Janet is black and I'm told I look like a pimp. If that's the case, I'm kind of flattered.

I had arranged for all of our flights to be 4 to 5 hours apart so that we would safely meet each departure. Our afternoon was spent over a pint and a half of beer in the airport pub before catching our Thomas Cook flight back to Toronto at 5PM. We subwayed from Toronto Pearson airport home in the muggiest, smoggiest weather I had ever seen in Toronto. And yes, when we arrived at our cozy little bungalow, the grass and the window box flowers were dead. Welcome Home!