Hotel Gotthard - Zurich, Switzerland (9/18/16)

So we decided that since it is a rainy day, we would make a change in our blog.  Why not include all our travels...not just RV!  So this is our inaugural entry.

With Drex at the Sandy Creek Spa for three weeks which he seemed truly excited about and our luggage discussion complete (how big, how many, how long, how cold, how hot, etc), we head for Dulles.  Of course, it's the day of the annual Airplane Pull which means most of long term parking is taken.  We persevere and find a tiny spot which with any luck we will find when we return.

What seemed like an innocent comment would come back to haunt us, "What's you final destination in Europe?" The correct answer is Zurich, the obvious choice Amsterdam is wrong, but it will be a full day before we find that out.

AerLingus is wonderful.  Deb has enough choices on her little TV screen to keep her happy for the whole flight,  which allows me to sleep, on and off, sort of.  A fairly short stop in Dublin, for coffee (Irish but not Irish), and we are off to Amsterdam, with a connection to Zurich...no, wait...our bags are only checked through to Amsterdam...so it's...go through customs, get our bags (20 minutes)...find the KLM check-in....it' a self-service kiosk (20 minutes)...go to self service Baggage Drop-off, a new feature where you put your bag in the machine, scan your boarding pass, attach the checked luggage tag, and window on the machine closes up and your bag disappears (20 minutes)...on to Security Check...again mostly automated (20 minutes) and then the walk to the gate (20 minutes).  Fortunately the flight was just starting to board as we arrived.  And we wondered what we would do in Amsterdam for one and a half hours.

Zurich Airporr is nowhere near as exciting.  A short train ride and we are in downtown Zurich.  I have the address of the hotel on my GPS....but since my phone has not been on since we left Washington, it is taking forever For the GPS to find our position.  Deb is tired, hungry and not up for a technology discussion.  As I slowly come to the realization that I am going to have to ask directions...my most dreaded nightmare...I realize that we are actually standing almost in front of the hotel. Phew!  With Swiss precision we were whisked to our room for a quick but well deserved nap.

By dinner time, we were awake, but it was Sunday, in the rain, and we ended up eating at the closest little restaurant we could find...Sam's...specializing in American Cuisine...we ordered wine and a "Classic Burger." Ja..the meat is sausage...interesting, but probably more Swiss than American.

Back to the Hotel for a night cap, and bed.