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11/1 Jurists want to stay in Oudemanhuispoort

8/2 Mayor’s portrait

8/2 Websites for social cohesion

7/2 Spreading tourism proceeds with difficulty

7/2 GroenLinks on districts: Be a man

6/2 Zuideramstel opens new office on Sabbath

5/2 The truth about integration

4/2 Wilders has little support on Amsterdam

3/2 Elite involved in neighbourhood

2/2 Johnnie Walker avoids taxes in Amsterdam

1/2 Rotterdam to tinker with district councils as well

31/1 Wooden rowing boats to disappear from Amstel

31/1 ZeeburgTV launched

27/1 Privacy activists to mess up loyalty card system

27/1 A few were still coughing, but that was an act

27/1 Chrisis in de Baarsjes

26/1 Youth have positive view of districts

24/1 Action groups call for Carmel and Jaffa boycott

24/1 PvdA members dismiss plan for districts

23/1 KLM takes on crisis with new uniform

23/1 District office not squatted

21/1 Merge districts

20/1 Closing squat bar Vrankrijk not necessary

20/1 Cleaners welcome new Schiphol director

18/1 Palestine at the Jewish Historical Museum

18/1 What is the right size for a district?

17/1 PvdA Oost against fewer districts

16/1 Committee: 7 districts by 2010

15/1 Soldiers may attend Afghanistan debate after all

15/1 Bait bike leads to arrest

14/1 Youth for Christ to republish vacancies

13/1 Paintings of the Zuidas

13/1 New Youth for Christ contoversy

11/1 Social cohesion initiative raises eyebrows

10/1 Fewer districts in 2010

10/1 Zuidas: People feel that we are losers

9/1 Fun on the ice - but not for all

9/1 Supermarket coupon fraud thwarted

9/1 I Amsterdam must remain exclusive

8/1 Use term Apartheid in every discussion

8/1 No city kiosk in Amsterdam yet

7/1 Snow

7/1 Fatima Elatik to run Zeeburg

7/1 Municipal managers to return to shop floor

4/1 Police: take photo of strange people

3/1 Gaza protest criticises politicians

1/1 Thousands to protest against attacks on Gaza

1/1 Mustapha Laboui leaves district council

 

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Sleeping at Schiphol for free

1 August 2007 - Schiphol ranks number 7 on the list of favourite airports of the Budget Traveller’s Guide to Sleeping in Airports. But “what’s the friggin’ deal with armrests on all the seatings?”

Visitors say that facilities are excellent in the secure area one enters after checking in. Many recommend the comfortable seats opposite the First Aid, although they are apparently difficult to find. Other tips for places to sleep include the baby changing facilities and the children's ball pool at the McDonald’s.

For those who cannot sleep, one visitor recommends the entertainment: “an art museum, an air travel history museum, a casino, and numerous attractive restaurants and stores”.

Those who have to stay outside the secure area have to make do with benches with “hard metal armrests between seats making it impossible to lie down unless you can perform contortions worthy of a yoga instructor”.

Many complain about the armrests: “The vast majority of the seating seems to have been designed specifically to annoy and make uncomfortable transit passengers. What’s the friggin’ deal with armrests on all the bench seating? Are they unaware that many passengers have just disembarked from a plane where, surprise, they were forced to sit upright with no room to stretch for many hours? Sick bastards!”

An airport employee confirms that the armrests are intended to prevent people sleeping on the benches. “The people who complained about those chairs are just telling me the chairs worked out perfectly”.

A pre-911 visitor suggested to ask security if you may enter the secure area ahead of time and go outside again the next morning to check in - ‘it works’. Well, perhaps security guards are not so lenient anymore these days.

The Sleeping in Airports website was created by Canadian Donna McSherry, “who had an alcohol problem and too much time on her hands back in 1996”. According to the website’s visitors, the best airport to sleep at is Singapore; the worst is Moscow.

In addition to the regular facilities, Singapore Changi has “free mobile charging, free tours of the city, alarm clocks on the chairs, a swimming pool and Jacuzzi, massage and spa facilities, live bands, extensive gardens, a special "official" napping corner, and free movies - all at the airport. There really is no reason to leave Club Changi”.

Photo: Raffo / Budget Traveller’s Guide to Sleeping in Airports

 

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