Ok...I know what your thinking. I took a picture of Nadia (front desk at Swisshotel) so I could have a picture of a rather attractive Swedish blond before I left the country. Well, it's just not true! As you can see, Nadia is holding up Flat Stanley for Leslie's first grade class from Auburn so they can learn more about different countries and their cultures. I just happen to think "the people" are very important when learning about other countries so I decided to ask the first person I saw before I left the hotel.... and as luck would have it Nadia just happened to be available. She does get your attention however!
The day went great. I slept til 10am and then met my Fedex buddy (Clell) downstairs and took off for the Reine river and the old city of Basel. The streets were packed as the weather was nice and the European holiday (Labor day) was beginning that evening. We ate at a sidewalk cafe and then strolled deeper into this old city (architecture was awesome) and looked at the dozens of watch shops and eventually stopped and had some dark Swiss chocolate and a latte. It was delicious to say the least! By the way, my hotel room had an expresso machine which has been the best feature that I have seen in any of my hotel stays to date! Gotta get one!
Anyway, we walked a couple of hours, took some pics and then got back to the room in time to relax before we took off for the airport and our Paris flight. The flight this afternoon was much easier. Just having 2 flights under my belt made the language barrier and procedures seem a little easier. The flight into Paris was only 40 minutes and it was daylight the entire time, which made it easy to see the Effiel tower and the city. I did find out from my good friend Teus Groenwoud that the golden fields that I saw yesterday in France are the SunFlowers in bloom. That made it even prettier when I found them again today. Anyway, it was pretty neat to see the Effiel tower off my left wing as I flew the final approach into the Charles DeGaulle airport in Paris. Our ground ops only lasted 2 hours and then we launched off south towards Milan Italy. It was a gorgeous night and I got to find my North Star during the last portion of the flight. Finding the Big Dipper and the North Star is part of my ritual when I fly at night. Kind of my security blanket I guess. My partner (Capt) decided to jumpseat back to Paris after we landed so I am in Milan alone tonight/tomorrow and then I deadhead back to Paris (Luftansa) tomorrow night to join him for our Tel Aviv flight on Sat. I did manage to have one glass of red wine (Italian vinyard) before the bar closed in the hotel at midnight. It was a great day in Europe but it's time to say goodnight. I promise to resume this adventure in another 8 hours.......
Blue skies always...........
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