1981 - Family Trip #1 - Amsterdam - New York

Thursday 2 April 1981 -  Amsterdam – New York

We woke quite early and completed our packing before going down to breakfast, which was the same as yesterday and good. We checked out and arranged for our bags to be brought down the dreaded sixty one steps and off we went - first stop Boon Toys because the Russian car purchased there was defective. However it was not to be because, although it was 09.30 when we got there, the shop was not open and neither was the American Book Store, where Matt had spotted a Star Wars book.  (We were used to South African/Zimbabwean opening times – most shops opened at 08.00, and closed at 17.00))

We wandered around for about an hour, just looking at the sights - and there were quite a lot, even at that time of the morning! (It was only years later that we discovered that Matt had been practically traumatised by some of the sights in the red light district which we wandered into inadvertently, despite the fact we shot out as soon as we realised where we were!) and then went back to Boon, where we exchanged the car for another, which had a different defect. Since we had also picked up the Star Wars book, we went back to the hotel to gather our bags and a cab. We had intended going by taxi to the KLM terminus and then catch a bus out to Schipol, but it turned out that there was not much difference in price between doing this and going straight out in the taxi, which was much more convenient. The fare was about fl 50 (R10) which was, I thought, reasonable.

The airport was very nice and clean and the check in girl very pleasant. Unfortunately, the seats which we had booked the day before had been given to someone else, but, as it turned out, our seats were OK - there was a good deal more leg room than on SAA flights. Rab had a great old time going throughout the duty free shops at the airport. She got some perfume and I got some booze. Our flight was called at about 13.15 and we made our way to our gate - thank goodness for moving pavements. Matt reckoned one was about 1 km long, and I think he may not have been far out.

We found, when all our fellow passengers were gathered together in the departure lounge, that we had a large contingent of Hassidic rabbis on our flight. Rab was a little apprehensive about the long trans-oceanic flight but I suggested that with all these holy people aboard, the chances of her using her flotation vest were minimised,  What a sight they were - about 24 of them: once we were in the air the younger ones seemed to spend their entire time wandering up and down the aisles of the aircraft. Maybe they were praying.

Matt's Cover for my Journal

The flight across was smooth, the food was good, Matt and I enjoyed the movie and, as the weather here was fine, our first view of the States was magnificent as we flew in over Long Island. We even caught a glimpse of the Empire State Building as we taxied in. We arrived at about 22.30 Amsterdam time and I thought Matt would be tired, but he was quite chirpy.

After the enjoyable flight, the ground control at JFK was a great disappointment. For a start, we had to walk miles and although Immigration facilities were not too bad, the scene at luggage reclaiming was like Dante's Inferno. The facilities were obviously erected long before the days of Jumbo jets, because there just was not enough room. To make matters worse, the luggage was coming on one of two mechanical belts. I watched one and Rab watched the other, while Matt battled valiantly to keep the hordes from stomping all over the hand baggage. Eventually we had all our goods together and then had the problem of joining the Customs queue. Not for the Americans the simplicity of a Green/Red Customs exit. Every passenger had to go through one of six Customs posts and, in many cases, the baggage was searched. All in all, a bit of a nightmare (and the last thing we needed after the long flight across the Atlantic - it was quite a few years before the Americans introduced Green exits). 

Having fought our way through these tremendous obstacles, we captured a friendly porter, who took us and our baggage through to arrivals, where there was no sign of our friends the Schafers who were to meet us! They pitched up after about ten minutes, and although we pulled their legs about being late as usual and it was lovely to see them. The trip back to Stamford was interesting as we circled the outskirts of New York, through the Bronx etc. I was very surprised to see how much wasteland there was, much of which reminded me of the outskirts of Johannesburg - long brown grass, burned out in parts - with industrial rubbish scattered here and there. The picture I had in my mind of areas like the Bronx was every inch being used, but it just ain't so.

Stamford and the area around here are lovely and it must be really beautiful in summer because there are so many trees. All the roads are tree lined, which disguises the fact that there are so many of them. It is only when you come to a major interchange or a built up area that you realise how many there are and how many vehicles there are around. We had a very nice meal of Steak Tartare and a lot of chatting. Matt saw some TV, which impressed him, and we finally got to bed at about 22.45 (local time), which meant that we had been up and on the go for the best part of 24 hours.