Friendly ZRH

We are each in turn taking a shower in the Swiss Air Lounge and reflecting on a pleasant trip that started in SEA quite a few hours ago.

Our three United flights were all on time, even if the Chicago to Newark flight had to sit in the "penalty box" for 45 minutes before taking off, awaiting clearance from EWR ATC (Air Traffic Control).

The food on the three flights - breakfast, lunch, and dinner - was uniformly poor. And here we thought the new United was going to up its game to those high Continental standards. Maybe our experience wasn't typical, but in our opinion those were three of the worst meals we've ever had on UA.

That's a minor complaint - we don't fly for the fine dining and we both slept for a few hours on the last flight in the pleasing flat-bed seats.

After landing in ZRH, we took the airport train to the transit area, complete with its subtle sound effects of cows mooing and maybe a yodel or two. Going through security is so civilized and polite and downright friendly that we knew we were in a foreign country.

The lounge is wonderful, and we'll be hanging out here for a few hours before catching a mid-day flight on Swiss Air onward to VIE. The lounge receptionist looked at our new United cards (the first he had seen) and remarked that they looked silver. Yes, an odd color choice for Star Gold cards indeed.

It's nice to be back in Europe, and this is only the beginning.