Has it really been 25 years?

Deborah Kade
Aug 28, 2024
5 min read

This is our 25th year traveling to Switzerland. If you ask Michael why we keep coming back year after year, he would tell you Switzerland is “soul quenching” to us. Actually, I come back for the chocolate, cheese, cooking classes, cows, calmness of the pace of life, clean water, capped with snow mountains, and countless fall festivals to name a few things. Seriously, the beauty of Switzerland is "soul quenching".

We flew United from Phoenix to Chicago. In Chicago, we switched to Swiss for the second leg of our journey to Zürich.

It is very hazy, hot and humid at the Adventure Guesthouse in Unterseen. The Jungfrau popped out to say welcome back to us. It looks like the snow made a pattern of a two headed dragon to say hello, too.

For me, this was the first time flying United first class where the pilot came out and told us there would be a few bumps before we reached our cruising altitude of 35,000 feet. He was wrong, though. It was a very smooth climb!

The plane’s windows were filthy dirty but I did manage to snap a few familiar locations on the climb out. There were a few scattered clouds when we left Phoenix.

Camelback Mountain.

Loop 101 dividing Scottsdale and the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community. The white group of buildings beside the empty fields is Scottsdale Community College. The mountain range is the McDowells. Our house is located below and to the right of the antennas on the mountain. The antennas are a quick way to tell how close we are to home.

Fountain Hills.

Fountain Hills and the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation. You can see the We-Ko-Pa resort and the We-Ko-Pa golf course.

Many cotton ball type of clouds today. I’m happy there weren’t any towering storm clouds.

I see someone/something (possibly a seraphim, a cherub or a guardian angel?) praying. Do you? Michael doesn't see it, even though I pointed it out.

The phenomenon of seeing human-like faces in clouds or other objects is known as pareidolia. It is a psychological phenomenon that occurs when the brain perceives a pattern or shape as being meaningful and recognizable, even when it is not actually present.

We could order our meal a day ahead for this leg of the flight. I chose the manicotti. Michael chose tortellini which the catering service didn’t stock. He didn’t want the eggplant so he had a cheese burger instead.

If I had to rate the meal, I would give it a one out of five. I liked the roll and butter. I eat anything and I was quite disappointed. At least the noodles were hot. The tomatoes were not ripe and the lettuce /spinach combo was limp. I couldn’t tell you what the dessert was either. It was tasteless. I did enjoy the hot assortment of nuts they served at the end of the meal. Usually, the hot nuts are served while the rest of the plane is boarding or just before the entree is served.

Flying over the Mississippi River. Interesting bridge.

Taxiing to our gate in Chicago, we came across a Southwest plane that was surrounded by 5 firetrucks at different distances from it.

Wonder what the problem was and if it made the news.

We had time to go to the lounge before boarding the plane to Zürich.

We both enjoyed a mimosa before takeoff.

A thunderstorm rolled in just before we were to leave the gate.

As we were taxiing out, the airport instituted a total ground stop. The captain shut off the engines to conserve fuel and we waited and waited. The storm was so severe we were delayed an hour and a half.

The menu is written in English, French and German

What would your choices be?

Our dinner choices. For the first course, I chose the scallop while Michael chose the meat specialties. Our flight attendant said that wasn't enough so she insisted we also get the salad. Dressing choices were Italian or creamy garlic. All eight of us in first class had the salad with the garlic dressing.

I had the champagne with my meal along with water while Michael tried the Swiss white wine and the French red wine.

After the meal, they served a cheese plate which Michael and I both skipped. Too much food!!!!

I only heard coffee served as espresso and cappuccino. I had to look up ristretto and lungo.

"Ristretto known in Italian as caffè ristretto, is a "short shot" (20 ml (0.7 imp fl oz; 0.7 US fl oz) from a double basket) of a highly concentrated espresso coffee. It is made with the same amount of ground coffee, but extracted (also in from 20 to 30 seconds) using half as much water. A normal short shot might look like a ristretto, but in reality, would only be a weaker, more diluted, shot. The opposite of a ristretto (Italian for 'shortened', 'narrow') is a lungo ('long'), which has double the amount of water. The French call it a ristretto café serré.

I'm not sure what this was called but it was very tasty. I love the bread sticks from Kambly!!! This was served while we waited for the storm to pass. Red and white wine was served, too.

The scallop

I know this looks like a lump of coal but the inside was medium rare. This is a terrible picture but I wanted to show something. The meat was so tender; the fingerling potatoes are a favorite of mine; and the asparagus was cooked to perfection. I didn't have the other two choices of vegetables they offered.

Michael had the vanilla ice cream for dessert. He was being naughty. I didn't want anything but she brought me the box of Sprüngli chocolates. I can't say no to Sprüngli!!! I had a couple. OK, I had a few. When we were making our final approach into Zürich she filled my box with the other remaining chocolate from the other box.

Michael sat across from me. I prefer the window so I can take pictures.

My bed made up. Comfortable!

I closed the partition and I was snug in my compartment.

For breakfast, I only wanted the omelette. Michael had the fried egg with bacon, the bread basket, and fruit. She even made him hot ginger tea to help with his bronchitis.

I was happy to be sitting on the left side of the plane as the captain pointed out we were flying over Paris. I waved to our friends Sharon and Bennett as they are in Paris today. I'm sure they waved back.