We made it safely from Milwaukee to Dubai...26 hours and 9 time zone. I realize that it was not the the most efficient schedule (because we had to change our flights just a couple of weeks ago), but we are glad to be here once again!
Ned picked us up at 9:30 and we got checked in easily. Gotta love TSA Pre Approval ...don't know if it's our age or our military ID, but we get it every time. The flight to Newark was on time and pretty smooth. I haven't been through Newark in years...as soon as we landed my thought was, this place looks look and tired. Kinda like me!
We had to fight our way to get down the stairs - which were narrow with people going up AND down. Then there was a mass of people waiting for the A bus to get to the concourse. Once we got there we faced another set of stairs - old, worn and normal sized...but there were hoards of people trying to go up AND down again.
Once we got inside, it was modern, bright, and upscale. None of the normal run of the mill fast food outlets in the food court. No, no, no - seemed like local restaurants and good food. We had very tasty quesadillas. After lunch (which was at 3:00) I walked the concourse - 2 1/2 miles, round and round. The restaurants and stores were very upscale, even the Hudson's store was much more trendy than most airports. All of the restaurants had iPads set up to order, read the news, play games... Even at the food court we paid at a central location, self serve.
Unfortunately once we got on the plane headed for Zurich, we didn't take off for about 50 minutes. Made the 6 1/2 hour flight very long. They announced that even tho were were that late, we would land on time. How can they say that? Fortunately it was a small plane and we had the A and B seats on the left side. It was foggy and dusk when we left - couldn't see a bit of New York City.
In fact we couldn't see much of anything until we were over the UK in the morning. They served dinner at 9:30. Sorry, airplane food didn't look all that good at that time of the night. They did, however, serve Villa Dolce Vanilla Bean Gelato and it was terrific. Andy gave me grief for getting dessert without eating all my dinner.
I don't know about you, but I find it hard to sleep on planes. I read and watched two movies. Me Before You and Finding Dory. Both were pretty good.
We arrived in Zurich pretty much on time, as promised. Much of the time we had a 115 to 125 tailwind....I guess that's what they were counting on.
The Zurich airport was sleek and modern and clean. Lots of pretty wood furniture and trim. It's not real big - 2 lunch spots and a Starbucks. Several nice gift shops with Swiss souvenirs. Not much else. But, a pleasant setting for another somewhat long layover. I got in another 2 1-2 mile walk in. There was snow on the mountains off in the distance north of the airport.
The first two flights were on United...this one was Swiss Air.. The Swiss usually do things quite well, so I was looking forward to it. Not so much. For the first few hours a young child behind me was crying and/or kicking my seat. I never did look back to see the child or his/her parents. It was very chilly as I was sitting in a draft. Had to put my coat on. You had no control over the air flow. We didn't get the 2 seats on the side on this flight...two of four seats in the middle. They were nice and wide and there was even a double arm rest between seats two and three. No problem there. But the couple in front of us insisted on putting their seats all the way back for most of the time. There was adequate space with the seats their upright and locked position, but there was very little space with those two seats back.
Here I really must add that with my low blood pressure and dizziness the last 6 months the
doctors want me to drink 2-3 liters of water every day and eat more salt. No problems there...potato
chips are one of my favorite food groups. However, I need to visit the ladies room much more these
days...and I need to go right away, if you get my drift. I'm short, right? I also must add that in the last year I have lost some weight...which is a good thing, not a bad thing. I don't take up much space, but I could barely stand up or move once I stood up. It was inevitable - I bumped into their chairs and had to physically move their seats in order to get out. Not a pretty picture. I'm tired, a bit irritated,
and I need to go. Get the picture?
So, to help me doze and to pass the time on a 6 hours flight, I did read and watched two more movies. The BFG and The Meddler. Both were pretty good. And, lucky me, I got to see them up close and personal. With those seats back the screen was only about 8-9 inches from my face. I think I saw double a couple of times.
We arrived pretty much on time. We walked quite a ways and took a train in the Dubai airport to get to passport control. There were hundreds of people in Disney style lines waiting to get their passport stamped and get tourist visas. From leaving the plane to meeting Derik it took an hour.
But, through it all, we're here! We went to bed at about 12:30 local time and set the alarm for 8:00 to have breakfast. The adventure begins!
