A couple of hours stop-over in Amsterdam: dash to the city centre (from the airport not even ten Euros coming and going, roughly 20 minutes), dash through its alleys, take a few significant pictures, all that just because your kids never took you along with them. They probably thought I wouldn’t be interested.
The Eleventh Commandment: Voluptatibus Fruendum (for a spiritual moment)
bikes and canals
Bikes and churches (churches either closed or charging entrance fees)
Then with Southern China Airlines, stop Huangzhou. Pretty little hostesses render excellent service and take excellent care of me and my gluten-free diet. After more than ten hours I start feeling violently sick nonetheless. Can’t even find my (keep-it-down) pills anymore. Lots of options: I can spend the night in the loo, I can stay in my seat with one of those throw-up bags in my hands, I can tell one of the pretty little hostesses, I can open the window …. The hostess says, there is medicine, but only for emergency. And this? what is this? I silently ask. They give me a cup of hot water. While I drink it, I see my reflection in the mirror: I’m white like a Geisha. The hostesses should pay me for keeping them company. The water helps!!!!! I make friends with two young women from Denmark and from Holland (one in her early 20s, the other one in her early 40s, and myself …). We vow to help each other changing planes in China. My experiences with KunMing and Bejing were terrible. But then Huangzhou turns out to be the transit friendliest airport in all of China. You just proceed to your gate, no holding up and checking and queuing and stamping and whatnot. So we sit down and have a nice cup of coffee. It was so calm and unspectacular, I didn’t even take a picture. But thank you girls, I enjoyed the morning, afternoon, whatever it was.
Then Sydney, so similar to Europe, yet so different. I’ll tell you next time. I’m having a problem uploading the pictures. I guess I’m gonna resort to manual work for the time being and then type it all on the computer under better conditions. Bear with me, everybody
love Gerburg
gerburgkamm 