Vienna 2021
I honestly didn't allow myself to believe we'd be in Vienna this summer. Until we boarded the plane, I kept my guard... because of the continually changing Covid situation, need of test results, my vaccinations, Delta variant - so many things could interfere!
Heathrow was an utter shambles, a huge queue of mixed flights where people kept panicking because their flight time was getting close, then they'd be pulled out to the front of the queue which caused delay to the others and then another lot would need to be pulled forward.... in the end we had to RUN to our gate (not fun with two little kids with bags!) and got there just before they closed it. The kids were amazing though, whereas I was extremely stressed.
Two hours on board were soon enough over - N(6) remembered Kenya, of course, and asked if she had to try and sleep on this flight? She was relieved to find she could just stay awake and it wasn't too long a journey.
Arrival was easy too, the taxi met us as arranged and took us to our lovely sunny flat. It has a fantastic loft bed, which N(6) did sleep in the first night - D(5) remains completely uninterested in sleeping away from me - but that novelty wore off after the first night and she's downstairs with me and her brother now.
Due to Covid regulations, our first five days are spent in quarantine at the flat. Luckily I have my sister, who visits daily and brings any necessities of life - in addition to grocery delivery, of course, which makes life easy enough. So we get by. It's not terribly hot (while the UK is stuck in a heatwave, we are enjoying mid- to high 20's) and we have fans in every room. Which are great to play with because things fly when you put them on top!
I've also made sure to bring plenty of crafting supplies and books. And so we waited five days...
Freedom at last!
After finally receiving my negative test result first thing in the morning, we were able to go out and we made our first outing a memorable one: a full day at the Gänsehäufel, an island in the Danube that's got beaches (into the Danube) and several pools, lots of shady trees, and an altogether comfortable atmosphere.
Our first go on public transport was fun. Straßenbahn, U-Bahn, and Bus - we went on them all to get there, and they loved it!
The first place I took the kids, thinking it would be a huge win, was the kiddy pools. Water spraying, climbing structures, slides... and they did have fun, but not for long, because the water was "too cold"! I could hardly believe it but by 11am the kids were asking to go back to the flat...!
I convinced them there was more to experience and we moved over to the beach. Win! Even though there was no play equipment other than a sand box (which they weren't interested in), the river gave them plenty of interest - lots of little fish to watch! - and they met several kids they spent the rest of the day playing with. At 5 I had to tell them it was time to go, they would have stayed!
Hot Hot Hot
Since gaining freedom after quarantine, we have been busy getting to know the many local swimming pools (cost for entry: €3!) certain playgrounds and not much else. I'm definitely going to wait to take them anywhere else, because the heat is really getting to the kids - can't deny their Britishness!
Playgrounds are nice when they're shaded though, and many of them offer water/ mud play which the kids are enjoying immensely!
Daddy arrives
After a very tense time of will-he or won't-he make it, thank Covid, he made it. At 2am he was with us, at last - after a catalogue of fun adventures:
- having to take yet another test at the airport (to the tune of £85) even though he already had a PCR test done within the required time limit, and having to wait two hours for a result (when the plane was literally scheduled to leave - fortunately it was delayed);
- having to prove to a sceptical border guard at Vienna airport that he was actually allowed to enter the country because he normally lives with me, an Austrian citizen (he produced marriage certificate, copy of my passport, and a utility bill to satisfy them!);
- finding the regular train from the airport into the city wasn't running due to Covid;
- and after boarding an alternative train, hearing an announcement that the half of the train he was on would not continue, so by the time he and the others on that half had alighted, the front half had already pulled away leaving them behind to wait another half an hour.
But he made it. He's here. We're together! More adventures, happy ones this time.
Towards the end, we are all starting to really look forward to home now. It's been the most amazing time, six weeks of full on summer, but it's time to go home and settle down again, see our friends and resume our regular lives. Which are full of wonder and fun as well. We have loved Vienna this year - planning to do the same again next year!