Amsterdam

My flight from Newark to Amsterdam went smoothly. Actually it was a much better experience than I've ever had at Newark before. Terminal B was pretty empty. Security took all of ten minutes and I got to get dinner and relax at the gate for just the right amount of time before boarding. It didn't take forever to get off the ground. We landed right on time. Got to see a beautiful sunrise.

I got really confused in the Amsterdam airport and it was frustrating at first. But I've been here six hours now and it's a pretty nice airport, though it could use more seating! I've finally gotten my boarding pass and I am sitting here at the gate looking at the airplane that will take me to Athens. They have just started loading it up with luggage. I discovered that in Amsterdam they occasionally put hats on smoothies as part of a fundraiser:

Also most everyone is strangely nice for airport employees. They ask me where I'm going, how long I've been waiting, are surprised and sympathetic to hear "six hours," and give me advice on where to find comfy chairs. 

I had a six-hour layover in Rome once that was the absolute worst experience. I was seriously sleep deprived and couldn't buy anything to eat or read because all the stores were through passport control. The problem there is that I couldn't go through without a boarding pass and I couldn't check in to my flight until an hour before it left. So sixteen-year-old me got to sprawl out alone on a dirty airport floor and wait five hours for them to let me check into my flight and go through security. It was awful.

This was much MUCH better. It didn't feel endless at all. I can't wait to get out of here, of course, but it was a pretty enjoyable layover, as layovers go. I should be in Athens in about 3-4 hours, if I'm doing my math right. I hope this flight goes as smoothly as the first and the rest of this trip follows that example!