SATURDAY, 17 OCTOBER 2026

(Manchester Airport, UK – Calgary, AB)

I woke up at 3.50, extremely tired, thinking it was time to get up. I’d been having a dream that I was late for work. I was very relieved when I figured out that I wasn’t at home, I didn’t have to go to work, I wasn’t late and there were at least 2 more hours of sleep to go. Sadly I didn’t really get back to sleep, so I was still tired when my alarm went off at 6.15am. On the plus side, we’re on holiday!

I got up, showered, followed by Andrew, put the wash bags back in the case, and we checked out and wandered over to the terminal, getting to the check-in desk at around 0720. It took just half an hour to drop the bags and clear security, and then we were headed to Giraffe for breakfast. And before you ask, no, I couldn’t eat it all. My stomach wasn’t quite awake enough yet. So it would tide me over for a while.

Our 0900 departure was notified via the KLM app as delayed to 0925, which was likely to make the already short connection even tighter. After we’d had breakfast, with around 25 minutes to go before the new boarding time, we decided to check the departure boards to see if the gate was announced. The boards rather confusingly, and worryingly, said it was already boarding at a gate 8 minutes away. We fast-hiked through the airport only to get to the gate and discover that the app was right and there was no sign of boarding. Still, it did mean that when they started boarding everyone was already gathered and keen, so boarding didn’t take long.

The pilot apologised for the late flight, which was due to the late arrival inbound, due in turn to the early morning fog at the airport. By now, though, it had cleared away and we had a beautiful view as we taxied (quite briskly) and speeded onto the runway for an expedited departure. No holding, checks all done on route, we took off at 0945.

The flight was smooth, with clouds building as we headed east. By the time we were approaching Amsterdam, there was a mix of sunshine and showers, with a beautiful double rainbow out of the window. They announced the gates for short connections – including ours – and encouraged us to go directly there.

With a 55 minute flight time (it may have slightly less in the end), both departure and arrival runways lining up with our direction of travel, and a very short taxi to the stand, we were on a shuttle bus to the terminal building within the hour. After what felt like a long drive around the airport (it’s always the most unglamorous view of an airport when you’re on a bus which is passing buildings, depots, construction works and winding around and underneath skyway link bridges) we were deposited at arrival gate A08. We hastened into the building, avoiding passport control and followed signs for E gates. After a very swift 15 minute walk, dodging people, carts, luggage, trees (yes, there were trees inside) and other unexpected items, we arrived at gate E05 to board our flight to Calgary. A minor glitch when my boarding pass was not inside my passport where I put it, was quickly remedied by producing the one on my phone, and then we were boarding the plane. 

Once on board it was a further 20 minutes before they closed the doors, so we were actual in ‘plenty’ of time, sufficient time to enjoy a glass of something before take off and marvel at the space around the seat and wonder about the button labelled ‘massage’. Even more impressive than Virgin…

We pushed back at 1236, and proceeded to taxi. And taxi. And taxi. We’re passed the end of a runway, went over a canal, went past farm fields. I was just beginning to wonder whether we’d left the airport when we found another runway to take off from. We were wheels up at 1255 with a predicted flight time of 8 hours 27 minutes.

It was still cloudy, and whilst we passed over St Andrew’s, there wasn’t anything to be seen. Although there was a brief look at the Highlands of Scotland, disappointingly , there wasn’t anything to be seen of Greenland at all. Not only was it cloudy below, but the cloud was up at 32,000 feet, so there wasn’t even a view of scenic clouds below, just lots of bright white out of the window. The cloud level dropped as we crossed the western edge of Greenland, but it was still just flat and featureless. 

Good job there were movies to entertain us! I watched Project Hail Mary first, a 2.5-hour-long entertaining film based in space (because when else can you justify sitting there for that long just watching a movie?), followed by The Amateur, a 2-hour thriller.

The main meal was served during the first movie and was very tasty. After a snack of cheese and tomato juice, I’m not exactly sure what I had (it was a special order veggie meal, so not on the menu) but it was nice and filling. I remembered to take a photo of the starter, only remembered part way through the main, and then completely forgot before I devoured dessert! There was also a cute little chocolate house served with coffee. Andrew had smoked tuna to start and salmon as a main and really enjoyed them.

I kept having to pause the second movie because, finally, the clouds cleared to reveal a landscape of snow and ice. Towering cliffs, glaciers, crevasses, lakes and ice fields. I got quite excited, and sat on the edge of my seat, as close to the window as possible to get the best views. I find it fascinating just how far it stretches, without any visible sign of human life, although I suppose it’s entirely possible that people live down there somewhere.

The light meal (salad in my case) was served about 1 hour and 45 minutes before landing. Despite the previous meal, I was getting a bit peckish, so it was quite welcome, although not overly filling. Still, it will be dinner time later! 

I passed the time after that reading my book, the cloud having long since returned, now resulting in a very hazy look at a land of lakes and water. We started our descent into Calgary with around 25 minutes to go, already in clouds at 32,000 feet. It felt like a steeper than normal descent (they usually start a gradual descent with 40 minutes to go into Vegas, but maybe there are different restrictions), and we popped out of the clouds at 28,000 feet. It was still too hazy to get a view of any mountains. The pilot gave the update of arrival time and the weather details -apparently it’s currently 20C which, if the forecasts are in any way accurate, won’t be experienced again for the whole trip. 

He also said it would be turbulent. He wasn’t kidding. Although there had been some bouts of turbulence during the flight the pilot had never used the fasten seat belt signs, so he clearly hadn’t been worried at any stage. So you can read into that that the turbulence during the ten minutes of final descent was materially worse. It was also a crosswind landing as we came in on runway 17, with a westerly wind apparently gusting 44mph, despite which it was a very smooth landing.

Progress through customs and immigration was remarkably easy. Electronic booths to complete your customs and trip purpose declaration, and to scan your passport. Then straight through to baggage reclaim. Our suitcases were first off (well, they were no doubt the last on at Amsterdam and to be honest, we were quite impressed that they made the flight), and then we were out into the terminal. A very friendly meeter-and-greeter person directed us to the car rental which was a good 5-minute walk along the terminal building, but there was no queue to get the car. It just took us the usual amount of faffing while we decided which car to get and whether it was ok, and then worked out how to get the back seats down. All of which meant by the time we got to the hotel after a 7 minute drive it was perfectly timed for a 3pm check in. 

It was very windy at the hotel. So much so,  one of the suitcases set off on its own journey, which shows both how strong the wind was, and how well the wheels work… We checked in and got our room on 6th floor, with good views, and definite sounds of the wind howling past the window! It’s ok. It’s forecast to ease off this evening.

I did have grand plans of rocking the suitcases this afternoon, as by our standards, we’ve arrived quite early in the day. However, I was too tired for my scrambled brain to contemplate that task, so I settled for that first-shower-after-travelling moment, and relaxing, before we headed for dinner (I told you there would be more food!. Thinking about it, our day is seven hours longer than usual, so we deserve at least one extra meal, if not two. We went to the hotel restaurant, Burger Theory, and had…burgers…which were very good. And now we’re even more tired, so I think it will be time for sleep in the not too distant future as the light starts to fade outside.