Summer into autumn

I left Holland yesterday in an Indian summer. After an uneventful train journey, I dived headlong into the joys of the airport routine at Schiphol. Dropping off the bag, going through security (which took a pair of scissors of me, and they were actually very good), passport control then waiting at gate D28. Plane took off on time. The air was clear all the way to southern England, and I had clear views right down the Dutch and Belgian coasts as far as Cap Griz Nez near Boulogne in France. The plane passed over the Isle of Thanet in Kent, England, then landed nice and on time at London Gatwick. Go through passport control, then collect the bag and proceed from the South Terminal to the North Terminal. That has become Easyjet Heaven. Drop off bag, go through security, wind my way through miles of perfume shops (achoo!) to the departure hall and race to gate 55C. Very warm, but the flight was soon boarding. Took off on time, at 12.30, and we were promised a 75 minute flight to Inverness. Well, it took the scheduled 100 minutes, and the descent towards the Highland capital was very bumpy. On arrival, I had to collect the bag and wait for two hours before dropping the bag off again. Found something very useful: a powersocket! Sat down on a cold, tiled floor near the emergency exit and plugged in the laptop. Whilst on Facebook, one of my contacts told me that the nearby coffee outlet had seats with powersockets - so, I went round the corner, bought a coffee and ensconced myself in a comfortable seat until 4.30pm. Dropped off the bag, went through the security (for the final time, yay!) and sat down to wait for the 6.20pm departure for Stornoway. By that time, it was getting dark, but I had nice views of the city of Inverness down below, all lit up as darkness fell. On approach to Stornoway, the plane took the tourist route and flew over Tolsta, Traigh Mhor and Garry, then over the centre of the island, coming back to Back and landing at Stornoway at 7pm. It was raining on transferring to the terminal. Picked up the bag - and was given a lift into town. Phew. Long day, but everything went fine - for a change. I'm glad I changed the booking to a flight today, rather than wait until Saturday.

Leaving Arnhem
Leaving Holland
Zeeland islands
Dover Strait
Dover
Sussex
Comfortable seat in Inverness Airport
Inverness Airport
Rainbow at Inverness Airport
Inverness from the air, at dusk