The Adventure Begins

It all seems somewhat surreal at the moment.  This entire month has been a whirlwind of packing, sleeping in hotels, saying goodbye to so many friends and family, and vacation with family, all culminating in this move to another country.  It's odd because the last time we did this, there was so much to get used to.  Not in this instance!

We arrived at Dulles Airport around noon even though our flight was at 5:30pm.  We had 6 suitcases, a carry on, 4 backpacks, a Sneetch in a bag, two Things, the Cat and myself, the Mother of all Things. But all the stuff was not the reason for our early arrival. 

Despite all the hoops we had to jump to secure our beloved old Sneetch's flight with us, the airline could not confirm whether or not he could join us.  This had the Cat in a panic until we got to the ticket counter.  I took the calmer approach knowing that in the end everything will work out (those diplomatic passports are useful in these instances). 

I can't blame the Cat.  He was worried the entire month of June because United Airlines/Austrian Airlines kept giving him the run around.  Top that with having to spend an additional $200 to get the health certificate for our Sneetch and then having to a rent a car (ours was being shipped) to drive to Richmond the day prior because apparently the USDA in each state now has to certify the animal for transport.  Our Sneetch has traveled all over the world with us and this is the first time we have had to jump through such hoops. 

Temperatures also started to warm up in Virginia and I already knew it was hot in Vienna so we opted to get a mesh pet carrier and also bring the hard top kennel with us in case they did not have room in the cabin or cargo. We got lucky and were able to have him fly with us in the cabin.  While we waited or our flight, he entertained our kids and other children who were bored waiting for their flights.  He did not make a peep on board.  I think he was just happy he was coming with us.

The flight on Austrian Airlines was largely uneventful with the exception of being overly hot in the cabin.  We wore jeans thinking American planes with their individual a/c's shooting at you but this plane had no such thing.  So we were hot and I spent quite some time fanning myself with the safety instructions as if I were having a hot flash.

Thing 2 was the most excited of our group.  She had not been in a plane since she was 3 and asking every question you could imagine.  She had us dizzy with all the questions.  When we were taking off, she threw her hands in the air and let out a "whoo hoo" as if we were on a rollercoaster because, according to her, that is what it felt like.  The kids were separated by me to avoid any issues.  They played on their iPads, watched some shows and eventually they both went to sleep for a few hours.  The Cat stayed up and I only managed to get about 2 hours of sleep.  I listened to operas the entire time as read through Fifty Shades Freed.  Not quite done, but almost there. 

We arrived in Vienna at the ungodly hour of 2:20am EST/8:20am CET. Our sponsor had the Embassy van that was able to accommodate all of us and our stuff.  We took about a 30 minute drive from the airport. The last time we were here we explored the city by subway.  Driving allows more observations.  For example, the Blue Danube may have been blue back when Strauss wrote his waltz but today it is brown.  Or the fact that Vienna has actual highways instead of the one way roads we were subjected to while in Poland.  There is lots of grafitti, but most of it looks like it is supposed to be there and was reminiscent of the East Side Gallery (the remainder of the Berlin Wall) in Berlin. Otherwise, it was a nice ride through our new city with a nice view of the Alps in the distance.

We are currently in temporary lodging while we wait for our home to be ready to move in.  The townhome provided in the interim is quite spacious for European standards.  Three bedrooms, two of them as large are the master bedroom we had back home, two baths, a living area, kitchen, dining area and laundry room.  The community has a playground and tennis and basketball court and is surrounded by lush trees.  The Sneetch had a ball once he was released from his bag.

We were provided with a lodging kit which is two huge boxes of necessary kitchen, bed and bath items brand new that are ours to keep and do what we wish.  We will likely keep them stored until it is time to leave. By the time we had a moment to sit, it was lunch time (CET time) and the kids were ravenous. 

We have no car until late August so walking will have to do. We walked over to a Pizzeria about 4 minutes from home and had lunch.  The place was a hole in the wall restaurant, but the food was good.  We refueled with pasta an pizza before heading next door to the Billa mini-supermarket to pick up the basics for the next 24 hours before our sponsor takes us on our trip to the bigger supermarket tomorrow.  The kids were pleased to find products from home and Thing 1 was reacquainted with the products he remembered from Poland. 

We returned home to shower and relax as we were all very tired.  The Cat and the Sneetch passed out first, followed by myself.  During the next 2 hours, I am not sure what Thing 1 & Thing 2 were up to, but I heard them running all over the place.  Thing 1 managed to put together a Lego set he got at Legoland last week and before I woke Thing 1 said Thing 2 had just passed out moments before. Soon the Cat was up and we got back to the arduous task of unpacking. 

That my friends was day one.  Very different from going on vacation and venturing out to sight see.  The basics need to be procured first and we need to orient ourselves a bit before getting to the good stuff.  The best part was that there was some familiarity (the furniture was the same as we had in Warsaw) and some things we were already aware of like light switches located prior to entering a room rather than in the room, etc.  Overall, it was exactly what I expected for day one.