European Escapade - Heading Home!

We have finally arrived at my final post to end all the amazing adventures and glorious photograph sessions I have shared with you so far on our European Escapade last year! Yes, it took me one whole year to complete my escapade in Europe and I know it sounds like such a long period of time but hey, with so many photos and so many stories to recap, I had to take my own sweet time to ensure I didn’t leave out anything major.

Read through my post until the very end for a special surprise for one very lucky reader who has been following my EE posts since Day One. Before that however, I would like to give a birthday shout out to my adorable bubbly niece Isabella who turned 4 yesterday! Issy and her family are on their way home from UK as we speak and tomorrow, I will be hugging her once again!

Apparently my sister has finished her studies in UK and will be home for good. Well, they’ll be here until my sister gets posted to another foreign country. I wonder where to this time but I guess I’ll know soon enough when sis starts looking for new apartments in Florence or another exotic city in Europe to start her new adventure.

Meanwhile, let’s get back to our final day in Amsterdam. We got back to the hotel late at night and spent our last night in Amsterdam saying goodbye to our hotel room, snacking on yummy delights, watching TV and packing. I took this time to snap some photographs of my souvenir buys from Amsterdam, aren’t they adorable?

Amsterdam Buildings

Souvenir

Back to the hotel with goodies in hand

Can you name this TV sitcom?

Something Banana

Something Strawberry

The next day we woke up early. The only thing we had to do that morning was to wake up on time, walk the five-minute walk to the central station and catch our train to Schiphol Airport. We also had to collect the rest of our suitcases, which we had stored in the airport upon arrival so we allocated time for that too before checking in.

It felt good to be making our way home and we said goodbye to our hotel, the staff and Amsterdam in general. Before leaving, I asked the hotel reception if they could mail my postcard from Amsterdam back home to Nessa in Malaysia, and they were of course very obliging and happy to do so. Thank you WestCord City Centre! If ever I find myself heading for another awesome vacation in Florence perhaps, I would want my Florence apartments or hotels to be equally cosy and friendly as this one here in Amsterdam.

WestCord City Centre

Lovely Lobby

Goodbye WestCord!

Heading to the train station

Bye-bye Amsterdam!

Train Dos and Don'ts

Inside the train

Heading Home

Upon arrival, we collected our bags from the lockers, which were safe and sound like how we had left them. We had accumulated more shopping bags in Amsterdam so there was some re-arranging of stuff in certain suitcases to make sure we could bring them all back home. I was of course worried about the excess weight in luggage but was still secretly hoping we would not be stopped.

Schiphol Airport

From Schiphol Airport, we’d be taking a flight back to Standsted Airport, UK. And from there, we’d be taking a coach ride to Heathrow Airport, where we’d be heading home to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia after 13 days of being away. Our flight was scheduled sometime in the afternoon but we had to be in Heathrow by 1pm latest.

Anyway, we checked in immediately and encountered only one minor problem at Schiphol Airport when the Easy Jet personnel couldn’t find the online payment we had already made for extra baggage. I think we paid for an extra 2kg each and in the end, the staff on duty found our payment online and we were good to go!

After checking in

Simply Stunning

Schiphol Airport is simply gorgeous and huge. We had a bite at Mc Donald’s and I snapped some last-minute pictures of the airport before boarding the plane, which was punctual. I took this time to truly say goodbye to Amsterdam with more cloud pictures for my collection. Farewell friendly Amsterdam, thanks for having us even for just 4 days!

Shopping in Schiphol Airport

Visit Malaysia, Truly Asia

Hanging out with Ronald in Amsterdam!

Cloud pic .. but of course!

Farewell Amsterdam

Upon reaching Standsted Airport, we had to figure out the best way to get to Heathrow Airport and after inquiring at the Travel Information desk, we bought two tickets and took a coach ride to the airport. I noticed the change in weather almost immediately; London was cold and windy but it also made a nice change from the sunny weather we enjoyed in Amsterdam.

We arrived at Heathrow Airport safely but there was such a long queue to check-in. After ten minutes or so, we were ushered to another newly-opened counter by a Qatar Airways staff. Once again, I was really worried about my heavy bags. I was certain we would be stopped and made to pay for the excess baggage but by some sort of miracle, we were waved through without any problem!

Heathrow Airport

On the plane, B immediately dozed off into a deep slumber. He was exhausted from all the walking around we did last night but I was too restless to sleep. Whether it was from sheer excitement at the thought of coming home or it was just me being a night owl wherever I am in the world, I could not sleep! So I maximized the advantages of the in-flight entertainment by playing plenty of games and watching all my favourite sitcoms.

Love this show!

A little Black Jack?

Supper

Dinner

Breakfast

After 13 days of being far away from home, and staying in four different hotels in two different countries whilst enjoying the different culture, weather and lifestyle there, I was ready to get back to my routine in Malaysia. A little boring perhaps but I’ve had enough excitement to last me for a while. And all I really wanted to do was to get home, unpack my shopping bags and take pictures of my purchases, and of course say hello to my three cats!

It was late afternoon when our plane began to descend over Kuala Lumpur International Airport. We were finally home and I felt a little nostalgic almost immediately; realizing that we were about to officially end our romantic memorable adventure in Europe.

Home sweet home!

Our European Escapade was possibly the best trip we had taken so far as a couple and I know it won’t be our last. I hope our next destination will be just as awesome but for now, this escapade will remain in my heart as the best time spent with my Darling.

The two of us in Europe

Once again, I would like to thank everyone who has been following our escapade in Europe. It was my pleasure to share our adventure with you and I hope you had an equally wonderful time reading about them as I had living the memories and penning them down here for you.

As a token of appreciation to all my readers who commented and chopped, I will be sending a very special gift to the blogger who chopped the most when it came to my EE posts and that person is Monica! Look out for your special gift!

I am a little sad that my EE segment here is truly and finally over but the journey with you has been one wonderful ride. Until my next post, I wish you a wonderful weekend and happy travelling if you’re heading for a vacation anytime soon!

-FC Scoreboard points for my first THREE commenters-
MONICA
LADY JAVA
BILL