Goodbye Holland and Finally! Namaste India…

Tuesday, September 1, 2026

Goodbye Holland and Finally! Namaste India…

Both Llew and I awoke much later than we had hoped. It was 8.15 am before we got out of bed, knowing that we had to board the free hotel shuttle to Schipol Airport at 9.30 pm. This left us very little time to wash, take showers, dress and get to the restaurant in the Corendon Hotel in the next building for our free breakfast.

I really must say a word about our lovelyt studio. It was luxury itself. Of course, we had a massive flat screen TV which we were unable to use for want of time. Our bed was super comfortable. We had a lovely sitting area and a fully-serviced kitchenette with every necessary appliance. In fact, I had placed some cheese in the fridge, the previous night, and then left a note on the door to remind myself to take it before leaving. There was a separate toilet and a separate shower cubicle with the wash basin outside. This place, the Residence Inn by Mariott, was so well located—just 10 minutes on the shuttle from the airport and there was such a convenient service to and fro that we did not feel stressed in the slightest.

Breakfast of Champions:

Of course, we had to hurry through breakfast, but then we had already packed everything away, the previous night. So all we had to do was pack up our night clothes and we picked up the cheese from the fridge (the reminder on the door did help!) and we were off. We found the restaurant on the first floor in the hotel opposite and were amazed at how sumptuous it was—and that too free

So, as usual, I started with muesli with strawberry yogurt. I then picked up a hard-boiled eggs and some sausages that were in a skillet. Next, I cut myself a long, thin slice of dark brown rye bread and picked up ham, salami and cheese to place on it, together with herbed cream cheese to make myself an open sandwich. Next, I went to the coffee machine and made Americanos with hot milk for Llew and myself. Llew got pretty much the same breakfast except that he left out the muesli and toasted two slices of bread instead. He too thought it was a splendid breakfast and I couldn’t help but wish we’d scheduled more time for it.

But at 9.25 am we left, grabbed out stuff and went down to the hotel lobby to wait for the shuttle bus which arrived, on the dot, at 9.30 am. We had booked our tickets online while eating breakfast—5 euros each to get to the airport. Within minutes, we were in the coach and headed off to the airport which we reached in 15 minutes. We headed straight for the Departures Board and found our gate without much ado. Schipol Airport is beautiful and it actually has an art gallery with Flemish Masters paintings—and had I more time, of course, we would have gone to see it. But time was of the essence and we had none to lose. We were whisked through Security and Immigration as Priority passengers—which was lovely.

We found our gate easily enough and were boarded. Once on board, I discovered that Llew and I did not have seats together—he was two rows behind me in another aisle. Both of us were shocked about this as the clerk who had made the change, the previous morning, had not informed us that we would not be seated together. I took our boarding passes to the steward and he told me that he would try his best to keep us together. It took a bit of juggling among the stewardesses and the steward but eventually, they did manage to request another passenger to change her seat with me and, presto, we were together. This made a big difference as it was a very long flight (9 and a ½ hours)—so we really did want to be together through it.

b>A Most Comfortable Flight:

Other than this slight hiccup, I have to say that the flight was totally delightful. We had the best and most helpful cabin crew and they were nothing but lovely from the very first minute to the last. We had wonderfully comfortable seats, more than adequate leg room, really delicious food (I meant they served sparkling wine, a BOLS Negroni cocktail, which was just delicious), a good red Shiraz for Llew, a smoked salmon salad, an Asian Chicken Salad, Cherry Cheesecake Ice-cream—what was not to love? Plus, they had stations at several points offering cake, chocolate, Biscoff cookies, etc. throughout the flight. It was awesome. As if this were not enough, their in-flight entertainment was first grade. I chose to watch Mary Poppins Returns and believe me, I could not have watched a more entertaining and moving film. I loved it. After the film, I walked about the aircraft--in fact, Llew and I did quite a bit of walking about. And then I sat down and finished one blog post—so overall, it was a very productive flight for me and I was absolutely delighted. Before I knew it, we were preparing for landing. Immigration, as always, took more time than we would have liked…but clear it we did. To our utter joy, our baggage had actually arrived (much to our surprise after both of us had experienced losses through Air France) and with that, we grabbed our stuff and were off. It was just past midnight when we landed and we were out of the airport at 1. 15 am. We took an Uber and got back home by 1.45 am, ready to crash

Conclusion:

At the end of a trip like this, it is so hard to say exactly what was the best part. Each day brought a new adventure, an exciting delight, an unexpected journey. Llew and I loved our time together and enjoyed ourselves fully. Among the many sights and sounds that will stay with us are:

. 1.The wonderful New York Writer’s Workshop at the Delada Institute where the ghostly emptiness of Oristano in Sicily, after Bombay’s teeming hordes felt like Armageddon had arrived.

2. ⁠The incredible shades of blue in the Mediterranean Sea: azure, jade, acquamarine, turquoise, cobalt, navy—I saw them all in distinct bands of vivid color that mirrored the sky in waters whose crystal clarity was breathtaking

3. ⁠In the above context, the Blue Grotto in Malta (actually a series of six caves whose shades of blue reflecting off the waters were simply mesmerizing).

.4 ⁠The Baroque interior of the Cathedral of San Giovanni (St John the Baptist) in Valetta, Malta. Spectacular does not even cut it.

5. ⁠The Palatine Chapel in the Royal Palace in Palermo, Sicily—entirely encrusted in Byzantine mosaics—devotional artistry pushed to the max.

6. ⁠The entire Valley of the Temples in Agrigento, Sicily—whisked me back to Greece in 500 BC—walking along a street constructed when men wore togas was a completely surreal experience for me.

7. ⁠Gazing upon the hilltop hamlet of Ragusa in Sicily from a panoramic viewpoint (on one of our endless mountainous treks) and wondering how human beings could have created so curious a habitation after an earthquake in 1678 had leveled the entire township…

8. ⁠Photographing the thickly-walled bastions of Valetta in Malta and thinking of the Crusading Knights of St John (besides whose headquarters in Farringdon, London, I’d once rented a flat) who’d built them with such enormous Christian zeal.

9. ⁠Savoring an exquisite meal at DOBA, named after chef Dominic Basile, who served us raw langoustine on Pistachio Pesto Pasta and Porchetta (Pork Neck braised in beer for 12 hours) with the best caponata I’ve ever tasted as an amuse-bouche. A wedding anniversary gastronomic celebration.

. ⁠Sardinia’s rich archeological finds in the Sinnis Peninsula (from excavated land and centuries-old shipwrecks) seen at the museum in Cabras midway between Oristano and Cagliari.