Ciao Milano

One does get a special feeling entering the first class cabin on a transatlantic flight.  You can sense it in the other passengers too.  The seats are wide with room to almost lie flat.  And the gadgets: individual touch screens with movies, television programs, games, every type of music from hip hop to grand opera, flight tracking that shows where the plane is at any moment.  The seat control has more positions than a chiropractic chair.  Mishaps can happen when you are unfamiliar, much to the amusement of the flight crew.  A four course dinner is served with wines to match each course, which is pretty good, considering you are thirty thousand feet over the Atlantic Ocean.  The tall black lady across the aisle was determined to experience everything, preferably at the same time.  First she blew up her neck pillow and put it on, then extended the foot rest just so, up came the video screen with every game you could imagine and of course the noise canceling headphones.  Slow down for dinner?  No sir.  After the third cocktail, a bright red concoction, it was Good Night Nurse with all jets blaring.

Even though you get a nice pillow and a comforter blanket, it's difficult to really sleep.  About six hours into the flight the sun shines bright, the cabin lights come on and the cheery flight attendants are serving breakfast.  Your body, however, is not quite as cheery, because you've essentially been booted out of bed at two in the morning.  But your spirits rise when you look out the window and see the Italian Alps in all their glory.  Ciao Milano!