Other than occasional turbulence, our leg from Denver to Washington, D.C. proved to be uneventful. By the time we extricated ourselves from the plane, we had only a half hour to catch the overseas flight to Zurich. Thankfully, we didn’t have to leave the concourse; our gate was only seven away. As we hurried along, John said he saw John Boehner eating. (I didn’t spot him, but hubby John reported he must have flown on our flight to Zurich, because he mentioned seeing him again as we walked past the airport smoking lounge after arriving in Switzerland. If it was him and not a doppelgänger, perhaps he was taking his secret lobbyist monies to a Swiss bank account. At least I have a great imagination! 😜)

I digress. It took awhile to actually take off from Dulles–long line of planes waiting to leave, and dull, cloudy skies to match the field’s name. The flight itself lasted 7-1/2 hours. United Airlines served both dinner and breakfast, along with free wine. We observed one guy downing two glasses of wine with dinner and another glass at breakfast! Announcements came in both German and English.

I occasionally watched nature videos enhanced with pan flutes and orchestral music, but then I nodded off while John watched a Bollywood musical and some Asian crime mystery. He didn’t sleep at all.

I like to follow Flight Tracker when we travel long distances. I just happened to open my eyes when technology reported it was 3:48 a.m. in Zurich with 3 hours and 48 minutes of flight time remaining. Weird crossover!

We flew over the southwestern part of Ireland, the very tip of England where the Atlantic Ocean meets the English Channel, and we watched the sun rise over France. Thick clouds obscured Paris.

When we landed in Switzerland, my body said it was midnight, but those super-accurate Swiss clocks synced with breakfast time.

We waited in a queue to buy a day’s pass around Zurich’s train/bus/trolley system, managed to find a train from the airport to Europe’s largest train station, promptly got lost trying to make our way out through the multiple underground levels, but finally wandered down the right side street to find our “boutique” hotel room replete with gaudy gold and red wallpaper. We’re resting there briefly. Now we need to find some energy to walk around the town. Jet lag is hitting!