Friday, November 25, 2016

November 22, 2016 Switzerland







Rather than posting every blurb and foto to facebook, I've decided to reopen my old travel blog, which I haven't used since 2011[the beginning of my 5 year devastating depression] and do most of my ranting and travel photos etc. here. This blog has always been spotty; I never really kept up with it. 

November 22,2016- MLU-ATL-JFK-ZRH
Many thanks to Dan Sumner for getting me to the airport.I left my primary home, la belle Louisiane- for my secondary home, la belle Suisse. The trip went smoothly, without major horrors, except in Atlanta which is always a frigging horror. I hate that airport... the 'service'[not] is always 'merde'- slow, lazy ass people 'supposed' to be working [I guess if you're breathing you can get a job there] ...and it was uber crowded.

the Monroe airport was ok. no major hassles checking in- except I think they screwed me, making me pay $100 for an extra suitcase [normally 2 are allowed for international] -and again, one was overweight and i had to take out 2 big jars of Jif EXTRA crunchy- and 2 jars of coconut oil- and move them to the other bag. Thank God they didn't weigh my carry on, which had 2 laptops, iPad, and 8 external hard drives, 3 microphones, tascam digital recorder- and my bags of bling.  

2 of my St.Constantine and Helen church family were there- Linda and Dean Macheras- so we visited until flight time. The plane to ATL was not only full, but i had a seat by a real "Chatty Cathy" and finally, after sticking earplugs in, and pulling on my O.J. wool hat, said "honey, I'm tired" and then pulled the wool over my eyes, so to speak, and conked out until we landed...


I cannot walk those airports anymore- I did it religiously, yearly if not 2+ times a year, schlepping unbelievable amounts of 'stuff', for over 20 something years. When my arthritis got painful, a few years back, I started using a wheelchair or cart. Anyway, it was clearly written on my ticket that i needed assistance, as did a lot of other folks, and not one assistant came to the plane when we landed in ATL.! Typical. I eventually had to schlep my stuff up the ramp to the building, THEN a few assistants with chairs came, except for me; I let the older ladies have them, and go before me, and finally started waving through the door with my cane! lol. I was stressing because I had 10 minutes to get to my connecting flight to JFK. I finally flagged down a 'pusher' and told her "I have 10 minutes; I cannot miss this connecting flight..." so she FINALLY got me in a chair and to my gate [which mercifully was a mile down, on the same concourse...

JFK was NO problem; had an assistant at the plane who helped me through the airport, the masses, down and onto the shuttle, and then back up and through the masses, and to my gate... An angel! JFK got it gwine on, now.



the flight from monroe to atlanta and from atlanta to jfk were packed! even so, I slept all the way on both; the flight from jfk to zrh was not full, so i had the seats to myself and slept yet again. the flight time was much shorter- only 7+ hours from NYC to Zurich. Unlike going from atlanta to paris [9+ hours] and then to zurich- God and price willing, this is my new flight path.

In Zurich, wisely I had my wheelchair lady call and arrange a porter for my luggage, to schlep it from baggage claim to and onto the train; but because we had missed the 10:13AM, I'd have to wait for the 11:13- so he said he had to leave, i flipped out, saying "I cannot do this by myself!"- so he called his boss, then said he'd be back, so I sat outside Cafe Spettacolo and had coffee/croissant and e-cig.
Mercifully he came back, as he said he would, at 11AM. and hauled everything down and onto the train.

Normally there is wifi on the trains and in the airport/train station- but for some reason I could not connect, so despite sending txts Jackie got none of them; so, she had no idea what time I would get in. when I got to Grenchen Sud, i had to schlep the bags off the train by myself- [and yes I always carry too much]- There was nobody there, so I had to haul [to down and up ramps] 2 HUGE suitcases, my heavy carry on and a bag with my pillows and black bag in it- to elevator- and my cane... which fell, and the work Michael had done to repair it [handle area] was ruined. a big chunk fell out. 

i pulled everything to a bench and sat down, then said [in my brain] 'what the hell' -and walked over to the taxi stand, and came home. I knew the guy from various time; he mercifully, got all my junk in and out of the car.

it was great to see Jacqueline- we sat and had coffee and talked forever; later had rosti and salad, then when my eyes started shutting, i went down to my bedroom, and to sleep. woke in the middle of the night, so took something, and slept until 7:30AM ish. Decided to get up, so went up and made coffee, and began this my 'real' first day back.

Yesterday marked the 2 year anniversary of my Chrismation [like confirmation] 2 years of officially being Orthodox. That is what I am MOST thankful for this Thanksgiving; that God led me to THE One Holy, Catholic and Apostolic [Orthodox] Church. "
The Eastern Orthodox Church, regards itself as the historical and organic continuation of the original Church founded by Christ and his apostles."

 [c]2016-2017 DOUG DUFFEY