Day 1

Traveling with kids is always an adventure.  I think I should create a list for others that travel internationally with kids as often as we do.  I think I finally have it down to a science.

Our journey began at 11:30 AM, December 19th, when our driver came to pick us up from home.  We packed lighter than usual, only 3 suitcases and some carry on bags.  One thing that I have learned about traveling with little ones is that you want as little as possible to have to carry.  We assigned baggage to one another due to our history of leaving things behind when we fly.  Snacks were packed, warm winter clothes were on standby in a backpack and we piled into the car. 

The driver had been back and forth to the airport multiple times already and warned us that the road was really "bad" on the way to the airport.  By this he meant that there was a major traffic jam somewhere along the way.  I settled into the uncomfortable squishy backseat not looking forward to a 2 hour journey to the airport.  Thankfully, whatever the problem was earlier had cleared up and we got to the airport in good time.  Once we arrived at the correct terminal, we quickly passed through check-in, customs and security.  Everything was moving along really smoothly...I wasn't sure if I should be ecstatic or concerned.

We had missed the lunch hour while we were driving to the airport so we went to the food court and discovered a play structure for the kids to entertain themselves.  I am always a HUGE fan of airports having play structures.  It keeps the kids distracted instead of being bored while waiting to board a plane.  We quickly ate some lunch and Hubby went for a quick walk where he ran into another teacher from the school who just happened to be on the same flight.  You would think that we would have come to that realization sooner, but, since she carried on to Geneva, we would have never thought to ask if she was traveling through Vienna.  Having her around was a great way to pass the time as we debriefed from the past couple of weeks of teaching.  Eventually, it was time to board the plane.  We collected our assigned baggage and our kiddos and ventured onto the plane.  By this time, Princess had made friends with some other kids during her time at the play structure and these same kids were on our flight as well.

This was the first time that we flew Austrian Airlines.  At first I was fairly impressed.  Within a short time of being seated, they brought the kids a deck of cards and a coloring book with crayons.  This to me is always a good sign.  The good that was delivered for the kids was also great.  It was not chicken fingers and french fries which the children's meal on planes always seems to be.  The airline service took a significant decline after getting the food out though.  They took forever to clean up the food trays and then, were not seen again until we landed; even when ringing the flight attendant button, no one would come. 

We were not granted the luxury of deplaning directly inside.  Instead, we deplaned directly onto the tarmac.  I was hoping to delay the welcome into the cold weather a little longer, but, we bundled the kids up and ventured out.  It was not too bad, approximately 4 degrees Celsius.  Again, we quickly passed through customs, acquired our bags quickly and soon discovered that our car rental was upgraded from a Ford to a Mercedes.  No complaints on our end.  We loaded up the car, secured the car seats and loaded up the GPS.   After getting lost because the GPS was on simulation mode, and a more than complicated routing because of the GPS, we did eventually make it to our hotel and we were exhausted.  The flight was just under 4 hours, but, were traveling for almost 10 hours by the time we made it to the hotel.  The kids fell asleep in the car and stayed asleep while we carried them upstairs to our room.

Since the kids were sleeping this morning, Dimples was confused when he woke up and he LEFT the hotel room to find me!  Hubby thought that he had gone to the bathroom until he heard some crying, so he went to check it out.  Sure enough, Dimples was down the hall resisting daddy bringing him back to the room because he was convinced that I was in another room.  Poor guy.  Needless to say, I think he understands now, but, we will be putting suitcase or something in front of the door tonight in the event he decides to venture out again!

Play Structures are great at airports!

This little bubble dome worried me every time he climbed in it.  There were supposed to be 6 screws holding the dome in place, but, there were only three, most of which were on the top.  Thankfully, nothing bad happened and he had a great time playing in the bubble.

So, today marks the official first day of exploration.  We are planning to take the metro to a palace and a zoo.  Should be a lot of fun!  It does amaze me however, that it is 7:30 AM now, and not a glimmer of sunshine to be seen yet.  I guess I am spoiled by the sun coming up as early as it does in Egypt!