Zurich in transit
I was faced with an (easy choice). Stay in E terminal all day from this early morning arrival until my evening departure, or not (but with downside of 2 more stamps in passport because Switzerland is now in the Schengen zone). I chose the latter. I wanted to check out the first class lounge which hadn't been opened last time I could potentially have used it, and to grab some breakfast, catch up on work, maybe get some sleep, meet with people if I could. In short I had a busy day lined up.
Some FTers have asked why I didn't book another trip when I had so much time in between flights. I deliberately didn't because I wanted a buffer in case of problems - the TIA-VIE-RUH-ZRH bit didn't have too many alternatives and following Zurich I have several days yet of flying lined up.
Last time I visited Switzerland they did not stamp passports on entry or exit, but Schengen rules mean my non-Schengen to non-Schengen transit with a day spent "in Zurich" gets 2 stamps, one on arrival and one on exit. The immigration officer commiserated with me.
A short stop at the transfer desk where I was given 2 more boarding passes, then upstairs to the lounge. This is very nice. Not as good as the Lufthansa FCL and FCT in FRA and MUC but not too far behind.
A restaurant area, some computers, 2 dayrooms (complete with shower inside), showers, plentiful food and drink. The food was changed every couple of hours. The drink was okay but not quite as good as I expected. There are plenty of magazines and newspapers. The service is fantastic.
When I arrived I was asked if I wanted a dayroom, and asked to book a time for the car transfer in the evening - there were 3 times offered (5 minutes apart). I declined the dayroom, had a shower and breakfast, then hit the computers to do some work and the bar to keep lubricated.
Later I managed a 20 minute nap in a dayroom before being awoken for f4freejunior's arrival. The dayrooms are well insulated - I wish I'd managed to wrap up work more quickly to have a longer sleep. We had a few drinks before heading into the city for stammtisch (okay some more drinks) which chumbawumba had arranged, and attended by Kiez and KL803. With a good 13+ hours drinking behind me I was glad that f4freejunior showed the right train to catch - I could easily have gotten on the wrong one.
I had just enough time for a quick shower and see to some messages and a couple of posts on Flyer Talk.