The ambitious ski trip to Switzerland that Trip Leader Sheri Butler had planned? Using numerous emails and phone calls, and probably more than a little help from friends and Russ (and, we would think, with probably more than just a few hours working the phone in order to get all the names / commitments entered on the tour booking list in time), well, that ambitious trip finally got off the ground.
On Saturday March 23rd 2019, Swiss Air Flight LX 009 (Airbus A330) departed O’Hare at 8:20 PM, made the Atlantic hop, landing 9 hours later in Zürich at about 11 AM. How many time zones? Who was counting? But the flight was mostly smooth all the way so it seems hardly surprising that nobody complained about jet lag.
A bus waiting at the airport arrival zone picked us up, the driver then taking us through the scenic Swiss country side and towns, and along the majestic Alps, finally depositing us 26 Four Winders at the Club Davos Hotel. There were 12 more who arrived later, having been booked on Swiss Air by way of Amsterdam. Our hotel was quite a nice place, offering excellent cuisine (breakfast and dinner, included, lunch elsewhere on our own), swimming pool, etc. Davos is both an interesting city and the location of a famous ski resort of the same name, with one of its gondola cable car (Jakobshorn) routes to the top being anchored in downtown Davos only a short walk from our hotel. (No, your writer was not able to ski Davos or any of the other outstanding Swiss areas because of a prior knee injury.)
What we all seemed to be getting was an educational sight-seeing Swiss winter tour with shuttle bus skiing tied in, as a package deal, and fine dining added as a bonus. All that was all right from our point of view. The same excursion bus and driver, the same tour guide, or docent, (nice Swiss lady named Mai), would come pick us up each day at the hotel at 8 AM, and return us about 6 PM. There was a really historic (yet still somehow modern) destination for each trip: Lucerne (Monday), Liechtenstein (Wednesday), St. Moritz (Thursday), and Zürich (Saturday). But of course all that had to end. On Sunday March 31st 2019, Swiss Air Flight LX 008 (Boeing 777) departed Zürich at 12:55 PM with us for the non-stop return to O’Hare. And so a really grand time was had by all.
And now, for the selected photos of our travels abroad. Russ (RB) provided eight outstanding photos done with his Samsung S7, and your PR man Tony (AZ) contributed the rest with his iPhone 7, Panorama Lumix, and Canon 5D Mark 3 cameras. Following now are all the pix:
======================================