Awake 7:00 am Overnight between Florence, Italy & Zurich, Switzerland
My overnight sleep was sporadic but acceptable. Kathy was up & down a few
times but she says she was alright. The young people in our sleeper car
were very quiet & respectful to us seniors. We arrived @ the main station
Zurich @ 8:51 am & changed trains for the 7 min ride to Zurich Kloton
airport terminal. We hustled up to our ticket counter thinking we are
running late.....only to discover a l-o-n-g line of people before us. When
Kathy called in to list us on this Delta flt to Atlanta last week, they
were 19 overbooked...so we were a little concerned that we'd be spending
the night inside the terminal...perhaps like the movie.
Then we find out: The forth Hurricane to strike Florida, Jeanne, had
recently passed thru Atlanta & now the Atlanta to Zurich flt is delayed by
2 hrs. We have plenty of time...and along with that, a number of
passengers scheduled on that flight had to rebook on other flights
otherwise they would miss their connections in Atlanta. Now that opens
more seats for stand-bys like us. Then we find out....we are upgraded to
Business Elite. Wow! Are we lucky or what! I feel sorry about those 4
hurricanes striking Florida but in another way, they helped us out in both
of our Atlantic crossings. We depart Zurich 3 hrs later than our original
schedule.
Appetizer: Smoked breast of chicken, salad & balsamic pecans.
Dinner: Ziti with pesto cream sauce, roma tomatoes, yellow squash & feta
cheese.
Dessert: All natural vanilla ice cream sunday with hot fudge, chopped nuts
& whipped cream.
The Atlantic crossing was smooth. We each had our own personal tv screen
so I did some hangman games, listened to classical music & read a few
magazines.....and chatted with Kathy.
Clearing customs in Atlanta went quickly + Delta had a ticket counter
after we cleared...so we were re-assigned a flight to Pittsburgh within 20
min. We hustled to that domestic gate, hand carrying our bags to save time
& make the flight. Again the air was relatively smooth. Hurricane Genne
obviously had enough time to be far northeast of Pittsburgh & didn't show
any signs of turbulence.
Arrived PIT around 9:00 pm. Shuttle to the Wyndham Hotel where we have our
Suzuki auto on the park & fly program & start driving. A quick stop for
groceries @ the Giant Eagle in Monroeville...and we arrive Nicktown @
11:45 pm.
So early this morning, the 28th of September, we left Florence,
Italy...traveled by sleeper train car overnight to Zurich, crossed the
Atlantic to Atlanta, flew to Pittsburgh, drove to Nicktown & to our
motorhome all the same day. We are very grateful this whole trip has gone
so smoothly. It was filled with great people, adventure, travel, food,
wine & with some close bonding thrown in along the way. It truly was
another great trip abroad. The Rendezvous with our daughter Katrina was a
special treat for us as well.
Lights out: 12:30 am
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