Zurich, Switzerland Airport, May 19th, 4:20pm
Feels good to be off the plane! Almost 11 hours of awesome comfort and luxury can wear on a guy. But seriously, check out this sweet seat I wound up with:
Yes, those are my feet, legs fully stretched. Most legroom on the plane, including first class! I still couldn't sleep on the redeye flight (I have never been able to sleep sitting up, and you really can't say those airplane seats "recline"), but I did manage to achieve a restful state of reduced consciousness on a couple of occasions.
AND I sat next to a really interesting neighbor who has restored my hope in meeting people on airplanes (after I suffered a long string of years of grumpy folk in the seats next to me). He is a former lawyer who gave it up and became a commercial pilot. I find this quite amusing, as just the day before, I was thinking of how I used to want to be a pilot, but I know I wouldn't last in that job and would have had to leave it to become a lawyer.
Anyway, my new buddy flies a private jet for a multi-billionaire (I looked up his boss, and the people who count these things -- namely, Forbes -- say he's worth over $3 billion). Only it's no ordinary private jet, it's a full-sized airliner converted into a private jet. The latest engine service required some extra work, and the tab came to $2.2 million. Yeah. So that was cool, talking airplanes, talking rich eccentric boss stories, most beautiful things seen from the air, favorite WWII fighter planes . . . you know, fun guy stuff. It made both of our flights more enjoyable.
Landed in Switzerland. Saw no cheese, but I did fly over a ruined castle, and Zurich from the air looks pretty neat. Maybe someday I'll visit. And find some cheese.
At the airport, awaiting my flight to Norway, I had a blast watching people and trying to figure out where they were from (yes, I enjoy judging based on appearances). I noticed that Europeans (at least the traveling ones) seem to dress with both more flair and less attitude than Southern Californians do. They manage to look cool without looking like they're trying. Nicely done.
Shallow post complete. Next stop, Norway!
