Well, it’s taken me a few days to start feeling normal again after emerging from my zombie-like state following a Calgary → Halifax → Amsterdam → Bergen journey on virtually no sleep.
No amount of preparation could have prepared me for Schiphol Airport.
It’s enormous, which means there are a lot of people. The airport also has an impressive level of automation throughout its operations. Upon arrival, non-EU visitors are required to register at self-service machines that scan your passport, take a facial photo, and scan your fingerprints using a biometric scanner.
There are virtually no personnel or help desks in sight.
The lineups were unbelievable, but I eventually made it through the first self-service kiosk—only to discover that I had to go through essentially the same procedure at the next kiosk before I could even claim my luggage.
Once I had my suitcase, I needed to get back upstairs to check in again for my flight to Bergen. I stumbled around in circles for a bit before finally finding the right place.
I generated a baggage tag using my boarding pass, attached it to my bag, and placed the luggage into a machine that promptly swallowed it and sent it off toward the airplane.
No stress! 😅
I finally make it to Bergen after a delayed KLM flight, and the long daylight hours made for a beautiful harbour walk. The streets around my hotel are cobblestone.
More to come! 👍🏻
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