zocalo

zocalo

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

A Flight to Remember

The Swiss Airlines lounge in Chicago O'Hare might have been a disappointment, but the flight to Switzerland was definitely not.  This was the first time that I had flown to Europe on Business Class, and it was a great experience.



I had a window seat all by myself.  There was plenty of legroom, the seat had a built-in massage feature, there was a table to the side where I could put stuff, and the seat converted into a flat bed.



When the steward saw me taking a picture of the seat, he offered to take a photo of me in it.



That brings me to one of the most outstanding aspects of the flight... the crew was fantastic, especially the steward who served my side of the cabin.  He was a very amiable fellow, and I had great fun practicing my limited German with him.  He would answer in German, and I could only catch a few words.  I heard him say "Perfekt", and I asked "Mein Deutsch?" (My German?)  "Ja", he said.  I shook my head no, but I appreciated the compliment.  I told him about my Swiss cousins, and that my great grandmother came from Switzerland. I told him that the cousin that was going to meet me at the airport lives in the city of Uster, and he said that he used to live in Uster.

When we boarded the plane, it was raining in Chicago.


   
But as we taxied to the runway, the sun came out.



Later, as evening fell, a full moon appeared in the sky.



Supper was a multicourse event.  The appetizers included salad, cheeses, and grilled artichoke hearts with ham, tomatoes and pearl onions


.
For a main course I selected beef tenderloin.  Although it was not the most flavorful beef that I have had, it was very tender.



For dessert there was passion fruit cheesecake.



The meal was not incredible, but it certainly was far better than the typical airline meal.

In spite of the seat which becomes a flat bed, and the two glasses of wine that I had with supper, I was still unable to sleep.

We were still far off the coast of Ireland when dawn's first light appeared.



The thick cloud cover broke while flying over the French countryside near Paris.



And then on the horizon the Alps were visible.



The green Swiss countryside as we make our final approach to Zurich Airport.


The flight ended on a delightful and memorable note.  My steward presented me, and me alone, with a box of Lindt Chocolates.  I guess he was impressed with my efforts to speak German.  He said to me, "If you eat one each day, you will speak Swiss German!"

10 comments:

  1. What a flight! Those are some nice digs. And your steward sounds incredible. Enjoy your chocolate, you deserve it.

    I flew first class once on a short hop from Inchon to Tokyo. The gave me champagne which I promptly spilled on myself. It was an experience to remember.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I just ate a couple of my chocolates... but I am still not miraculously speaking Swiss German!

      Delete
  2. So glad you had a memorable flight. Our flight to Vienna we paid for comfort plus but there were 2 babies in our row of 9. One screamed for 2 straight hours right after I fell asleep. We had a beautiful last day in Lucerne.our best to Brigitte and Peter. We'll see you so soon!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have not been able to connect with my email account (Yahoo is doing some revisions and in the meantime is screwing things up)… thus the reason for not getting the usual "I have arrived" email from me. Hopefully, anyone concerned about not getting an email, will look at the blog as you did.

      We talked with Werner on Brigitta's cell phone tonight, and he is picking me up Friday morning.

      Brigitta has an in-service meeting for school on Friday, but they are going to come to Othmarsingen / Lenzburg on Friday evening so that they can meet you.


      Auf wiedersehen!

      Delete
    2. 9:50 am outside the hotel waiting for Werner. Now Wes has added a bad cold to his miseries. The Marti clan may be Marci g without him most of the time. He MUST be well by Thurs or the Dr won't operate. Abazos to you all.

      Delete
    3. My email is still not working, so let me know via the blog when you are settled into your hotel in Lenzburg. See you tomorrow, and hope Wes gets over his cold.

      Delete
  3. Great about your flight!
    I should be in Iceland now but don't know what happened with my tickets.
    Grüße an alle deine Cousins.
    Genießt die Pralinen, du wisst bereits, dass du mit ein paar Pfunden mehr zurückkehren werden. Ha ha ha.
    Du solltest auch viel Käse essen, nicht nur Schokolade is schmeckt.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry about your tickets to Iceland! Ha ha!
      I will send your greetings to the cousins. I couldn't understand all your German. I will have to Brigitta or Peter translate.

      Delete
  4. Business class and first class is worth the additional cost, IMHO, for long flights. Enjoy your adventure.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Barbara. Even though I couldn't sleep, it was still a great experience.

      Delete