You don't realize how much you have until you eliminate almost everything, and the remainder still exceeds standard airline luggage weight limits. Or until you carry it all for 31 hours. Or both.
Everything about LAX was easy: boarding passes printed, bags checked, security cleared and lunch obtained, all without a snag. Even though my carry-on exceeded the allowable dimensions and was twice the maximum weight, airline employees ignored me and forced travelers with smaller (and lighter) hand luggage to check it. Our plane-mate was Lars from Denmark. He had just spent a week in Las Vegas, and his hair was pink.
12 hours later, we arrived in Zürich (a.k.a. City of Cigarettes), took a train to the Hauptbahnhof, and began waiting for our friend May. 3 ½ hours left. An expedition to the shopping district led us through a tear-gas interaction between blue-uniformed riot police and red-shirted soccer hooligans chanting (insults?) and singing outside the British Embassy. It was like gang wars, but different. 3 hours left. We returned to the Hauptbahnhof and sat on some hard marble benches. 2 ½ hours left. We went to get food, but a Zürich McDonald's meal costs about US $28. When May showed up like an angel from heaven, she took us to her apartment for showers, internet, and refreshments. After a tour of the city and dinner, she let us sleep on what seemed like the world's most comfortable air mattresses. And that ended our 31 hour day.
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