Caleb makes coffee to go and takes out the trash. I drop the key, and we catch the bus. I’ve noticed a lot of bus riders thank the driver (they’re called a chauffeur here). A police officer helps Caleb through the fare gate, as he had already checked in, but didn’t make it through before the little doors shut again. We buy croissants to go with the cheese and guacamole from the house and eat them while listening to the group in front of us learning new words in a different language.

On the train from Amsterdam to Schiphol Airport, there are people packed in the doorway, while there are at least two seats available. Perhaps they wanted to keep their distance from the man complaining in English. I wouldn’t volunteer to translate for them either, but perhaps this is the couple’s first time away from home and a good learning experience for future travel, or they never leave home again. Caleb’s cheese stash gets checked for drugs at security.

We don’t usually visit the airport liquor shop, but this one has a smelling station which intrigues me. This interest gets us offered a sample, which I quickly give to Caleb. One bottle of Japanese whiskey is 6550€. I’m more impressed with the free stroopwafel gifted by an airport employee handing them out. I was going to get pancakes from The Butcher, but we were an hour past breakfast, so we went elsewhere for coffee and fries.

There is an exhibit by Rem van den Bosch featuring acrobats in regional dress on tall ladders, indicating where the water levels would be at tourist landmarks if not for the protective measures taken. The artist is collaborating with local organizations and authorities on water awareness and what we can do about it. I didn’t know that Tony’s Chocolonely began as a protest against child labor in the cocoa industry, with headquarters in Amsterdam, which explains why the bars are so prevalent here.

We’re looking for hydrating beverages before we board, and I see a sign for a pistachio coffee (as if I need another), but they don’t have them, so I settle for some local pink vitamin water instead. One of the cargo doors was left open, so this causes an 80-minute delay. We watch Mercy (2026), a sci-fi thriller about speeding up the death penalty using AI. After this, I was ready for some Little Mermaid (in Dutch), and it was just as great as I remembered.

We read, but as other passengers began to wake and disturb the peace, I found Hungarian Dance No. 5 in G Minor by the Wiener Philharmoniker amongst a list of calming classical to get me through the last hour of this ten-hour flight. We wait outside the airport for ten minutes before I call our ride. Caleb had taken us to departures, and they were waiting at arrivals. Their dog, Tulie, would cuddle with Caleb for the ride home. I open my suitcase and go to bed, while Caleb unpacks and checks the mail.