Day: 1 and 2
Today was travel day! Now, I expect you want me to tell you how long, stressful and
overwhelming it was to get to Cairo. Well, in all honesty it was the best travel experience I have ever had traveling internationally. Our flight was scheduled to leave O’Hare at 7:10 pm and we had one connection in Zurich. The plane ride from Chicago to Zurich was 7 hours and 30 minutes and the flight from Zurich to Cairo was 3 hours and 40 minutes. Both flights were through Swiss airlines.
When traveling especially always through O’Hare, I always get upset at myself for not getting TSA pre-check or Clear or anyone of those fast checks because I know getting through the gate will take forever in the normal line. If you travel international to O’Hare, you know to get there about 3 hours before, just to give yourself enough time. Well to my surprise, when I showed up to the international terminal (Terminal 5) there was absolutely no line in the normal check in. The entire process to get through the security check and bag/body scanning took no more than 5 minutes. It was very smooth. Besides our boarding time being delayed by 10 minutes, our flight was on time.
Side note, if you are flying out of Terminal 5 for an international flight or Southwest, I recommend eating at Urban Olive or R.J. Grunts Burgers & Fries. Urban Olive is a Mediterranean food. Also, another side note, it does not always work, but doing this can get you a little extra perks through out your flight. I recommend buying the crew a box of chocolate and give it to them upon entering the aircraft. I learned this from a YouTube travel couple. I did not get an upgraded seat, but I did get several more bottles of wine and a special box of ‘Thank You’ Swiss chocolate.
Here are some highlights from the Chicago to Zurich flight:
- Watched two good movies: Elementals and Whitney Huston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody. Elementals made me cry so hard.
- I had a total of 5 bottle.
- We flew through the northern lights. I did not see them directly, but I noticed it was quite foggy in the sky. It was not until my friend showed me the photo she took, it was the low level green light that you cannot see clearly to the naked eye.
- I had the vegetarian lacta-ovo free meal and my dinner included a salad, fruit cup, and spicy peas and asparagus over white rice. It was quick delicious. Breakfast included a Strawberry Greek yogurt, a croissant and orange juice.
- Flew over the Swiss Alps and saw the mountain ranges.
Upon arrival in Zurich, other than going through another smooth security check and having our departure gate changed 3 times for Cairo, there was not much excitment about this connection. I did however buy a bottle of rum just in case I was not able to find any sort of liquor upon my arrival to Cairo, due Egypt being a Muslim country.
Arriving into Cairo was very exciting. The landscape change so suddenly from the luscious green fields and white snowy mountain caps in Switzerland to the orange, dry dessert in Egypt. It was crazy to fly over and see a pyramid structure down on the ground and everything looking almost the same color. After clearing customs and exchanging some money, we hopped in our transport van and headed to the hotel for the duration here in Cairo. Getting through the city streets to the hotel was completely and utterly chaotic. There are no true road laws. No one truly stops at lights and stop signs. People are weaving in and out of traffic. The traffic here is the definition of chaotic disorganization that still had structure. We made it to our hotel safely. The rest of the night was simple. It included a buffet dinner, a quick debriefing of tomorrows events, and a quick tour of the hotel.
Overall, my travel day was a great experience compared to other people in my travel group. Many flights were delayed and baggages were lost. By the time I posted this, there are still people not here and they will miss our first day of activities.
Well guys, by the time you all read this, you are probably in bed ending your day while I would be off experiencing the first day of Cairo. Until tomorrow…Laters Gators
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