6.15 am: have been transported (thanks, Sue) to busy Ringway Airport where security checks are much more efficient than in the past. Now happily ensconced with coffee and croissant.
7.20 am: on EZY1865 airbus, ready to leave on time (7.20). I'm next to a chatty couple who are visiting their daughter.
7.45 am: sprint down the runway, past geeky plane spotters, and up above a misty Peak District. Early visitors to those parts may have enjoyed an inversion. Rise above queues of commuters striving to get to work in the Potteries, before settling at 39000 feet, our peaceful sunlit cabin now shielded from the bustle below by a thin veneer of cloud. It's a jolly crew, and there are reassuring words from the captain; it seems normal on such flights to leave up to 30 minutes late and still arrive on time.
10.15 am: we've lost an hour to the European clock, but after deserting the cloud and starting a long descent at Paris, we disembark at Zurich with timing to Swiss watch precision.
10.35 am: Markus draws up, with Austrian precision. Only 5 minutes late!
12.00 noon: we are happily lunching outside Berghof Fetz, at Bödele, high above Dornbirn, on a lovely warm afternoon.
1:30 pm: I'm stuffed (see picture, lunch is usually toast). Is this 'carbo loading'?
Next Posting - Prologue 2
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