Day 1 - January 8, 2011-January 9, 2011

My flight was scheduled to leave at 9:00 p.m. from JFK airport in NYC.  Amy, my friend from San Francisco, arrived the night before so we could leave on the same plane together and arrive in Amsterdam in tandem.  I left my apartment a little worried that I didn't have everything but it was too late to change anything, we had to head to the airport and if I didn't have something I would just have to make do.  When I was at the airport, after getting through the airport I made sure to send the last few text messages and phone calls because I knew I wouldn't have a phone for a whole month.  That is the scariest thought, being without my phone for that long.  Amy and I were leaving with Aer Lingus, a cheap but very nicely staffed airline.  The only thing that was really terrible was that even though that it was a six hour flight to Dublin, Amy and I didn't get any sleep.  A mother-hating four year old decided to transform into the child from hell and screamed the whole flight to Dublin.  So along with sitting on a plane for six hours we also didn't get any sleep.  The day was looking like it was going to turn out pretty grimly.  The silver lining was that what I saw of Dublin from the airport was beautiful.  Rolling mountains in the background and lush foliage everywhere that you look.

 
Absolutely gorgeous but we were only meant to spend one hour there and we were on a second, smaller plane for a one hour plane ride to our final destination, AMSTERDAM.

It was now noon on Sunday, January 9th when we arrived in Amsterdam.  As soon as we landed we received a message from set that we were going to be picked up by a driver and taken right to set.  We weren't thrilled about that option because we were exhausted from not sleeping and jet-lagged because we were now 6 hours ahead of our normal sleep schedule.  First we were meant to find the illusive 'meeting point.' Amy and I walked around for a half an hour only to discover that the 'meeting point' was a little kiosk in the center of nowhere, lovely.  A man named Erwin comes dancing up to us with an Amsterdam Heavy poster meaning that we were going to come with him.  He takes us to his car, which looks like a smart car, a lovely option for picking to girls up with massive suitcases.  With some creative packing we managed to get everything into the car and we were off to the film set.  A short twenty minute car ride away.

We were put right to work.  We were both beat but we were introduced to everyone and stayed on set until they wrapped.  The wonderfully pleasant surprise was that everyone on set, cast and crew alike, were and are extremely friendly.  Everyone seems to get along great with one another because everyone is working toward a common goal.

Amy and I were finally taken to our hotel, The Rembrandtplein Hotel, in central Amsterdam.  It certainly isn't a five-star hotel (not like I expected that either) but it was a place to crash and I was grateful for that.  We both went to bed at seven at night and didn't wake up until our wake-up call at seven in the morning.  Felt very rested and ready for a full day of filming.

Love,

-M