The Trip From Hell (part 2) Minneapolis > Amsterdam

So I am debating whether or not to take the cat.. and.. I decided finally that yes I will just do it.. I did not want to leave him and if I had wanted to bring him at another time it would of been terribly difficult to do (with the shots and vet trips and USDA certifications etc etc etc)..

When they called for boarding, I walked to the line... got my cigs from the duty free shop :O) and saw the airport police randomly searching people... so of course, because this trip could not be any less stressful, they picked me... and.. well I told them that this will probably be the oddest bag they will ever see... They took stuff out... looked at the litter box (but not the big plastic bag with other smaller bags in it) and said I could go (and - that it was in fact not the strangest bag they had ever seen....

So I went to find my seat.. this was an isle seat which I have never sat in on an international flight.. normally choose the window so I can lean against the wall and sleep.. but the boxes used to run the TV's are under those seats so I imagine thats why Delta put me in an isle. Had hoped to have free seats next to me since when I booked the whole row was empty.. no such luck... all seats were full.... and... the pet carrier won't fit under the seat!

So yes.. panic sets in b/c I don't know what they will do if the carrier won't fit. So I tell the flight attendant and she asks the guy in the 2nd seat to switch with me since that one might have more leg room... so we switch.. and.. no.. no more room.. so now I have given up the isle seat and am sandwiched between people on both sides and the pet carrier will not completely fit under the seat.. I tell them again but no one comes....

we end up taking off and the cat is not happy... meowing.. rolling around.... screaming.... uhg.... so anyway after about 20 minutes in the air... the cat is totally freaking out.. rolling around.. kicking... literally trying to bite a whole through the bag.. it was quite terrifying.. i thought for sure he was going to have a heart attack and die or something... he would just not settle down.. i stuck my finger in the bag so he could smell me and he bit me.. hard....

The french couple next to me were very understanding (thank god) and did not complain at how my cat was behaving.... I unzipped the bag again.. enough for my hand to fit in and I petted him... that is when he FINALLY settled down.

I ended up putting the bag on my lap the entire flight.. put a blanket over the top of the carrier so the only thing he could see was me... so in one hand I am holding a blanket and the other is in the cage petting him.... the whole time he was quiet and OK.. the French lady next to me again was very nice and said if I wanted to get food or something I could put it on her tray (since there was no way for me to use my own tray due to the cat box in my lap).... so that was the flight.. cat in my lap.. no food... no getting up to pee... however I did manage to have numerous glasses of wine and was still slightly drunk when the plane landed 5 hours later :O)

So yes, we arrived in Helsinki...
my cat was finally international!

So I wanted to let him out - but i really needed
cigarette... so I went and smoked
(kitty waited outside the smoking area).








and then smoked again...








Made it through passport control.. then security check.. so had to take the cat out of the bag.. go through security... and the lady told me to get him some water ASAP... which I wanted to do.

Took him for some sight seeing.
Here he is in the main shopping area of the airport

Europeans are so environmentally conscious. They even have special containers to recycle your pets.

Took him up to the 2nd floor to look down at everyone running around..












So the nice thing about European toilets is the stalls go from floor to ceiling... so we located a bathroom.. I put out his litter, and water... and thank god he drank! drank quite a lot... we sat in the bathroom for maybe an hour... didn't have much time cos the next flight was coming up.










So we went to the gate and waited.....