June 15- 16, 2006

She stood airily taller than the women who served under her direction. Her hips thrust forward and her shoulders pushed back and down accentuating her positive shapely posture that clarified the pleasure she felt toward her position as head flight attendant. I had been watching her and mentally snooping. Her clear movements of authority radiated and grasped my attention from the time we took our seats, C and D in row 10, for our final link to Bologna. She was their teacher and co-worker. Her demands seemed subtle yet perfectly plain to anyone in her presence. I wondered about how she achieved this “I'm capable” air. Was she born with it, encouraged to be a leader by family and teacher, or did she take on the achievement on her own? Yes, I decided she did it on her own, learning by observing her world she perfected the efficient friendly competency she displayed in this work. She wore no identification tag. Her fashionably groomed hair and crisp uniform with a stripped apron made me suppose that her name must be Denise.

The first flight from Minneapolis to Amsterdam had been delayed because of a light in the cockpit that did not work. My spouse and I had been relishing the opportunity of several hours delay at the Amsterdam Schiphol. We would use the time well by taking the train into town, visit a museum, have lunch at an Indonesian restaurant and return in time to catch the final link to Bologna, Italy. The delay meant our time well spent was canceled. Instead we wandered around Amsterdam Schiphol frequently consulting the monitors for flights with one interesting, exceptional diversion. An exhibition, "Rembrandt's 400^th At the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam Schiphol", on display at the airport as part of Rembrandt 400^th anniversary year. The exhibition included "An Oriental "(1635) which was initially purchased as a Rembrandt original, later thought to be a fake and more recently decided to be an authentic painting by the artist. There are nine other paintings in the exhibit that are questionable or clearly not Rembrandt. Whether they were fakes or not did not affect our enjoyment because the paintings were wonderful with the added curious benefit of knowing that art experts argue among themselves.

This second flight was on time which meant we would arrive mid-afternoon in Bologna to pick up our car, find Bologna's camping ground and maybe splurge on a nice dinner at a ristorante. The flight crew served glasses of wine and ham sandwiches. Cookies were available for dessert. It was a small amount of food but we were going to be in the air fewer than two hours. One could always eat. I dozed from time to time in hopes that I would arrive if not fresh at least not desperate for sleep. Well over half the distance an announcement was made by our pilot that we would be turning back to Amsterdam because something, not dangerous, was awry with the plane. We were so close to Bologna that it seemed senseless to fly all the way back to fix a minor problem when it could be repaired at the end of the flight. Denise proceeded down the isle to explain to each individual in their own language (she seemed to be fluent in them all which of course is true of much of the Dutch population). When she reached my row I asked what was wrong. She explained that a light had gone out in the cockpit. (How strange. Nobody carries extra bulbs?) It would not be dangerous because they have auxiliary lights that were functioning. I wondered out loud why not just go on to Bologna and fix it there? She explained that they had no parts or mechanics in Bologna and would not be able to leave Bologna once they had landed with a faulty part on the plane. (Oh goody. How long would this take?) We went back. I think we must have already been on our way before the announcement. The deplaning and re-planing didn't take much time but we were starting over and I was feeling hungry. Denise announced that a snack was available and plenty of extra drinks. So I had a beer and a small apple salad. There were cakes too. We were allowed only one snack each and we could drink as much as we wanted. She did mention that there were a few sandwiches left but didn't really make an effort to offer them. I went to the toilet and upon my return absconded with a cheese sandwich from the galley. Richard and I shared the sandwich as well as some cheese and crackers we horded from the previous flight. Every little bit of food helps when what you really desire is a meal. We arrived safe and sound with enough time to pick up our car, drive to the campground, set up our tent before dark. I always pack food. We ate jerky, dried peaches, nuts and a few more crackers with a chaser of Maker's Mark for supper. A warm shower relaxed our weary bones enough to allow sleep until 8 the next morning. Take that, jet lag!