Vienna 2022
By train!
Back in 2020, I had booked Eurostar tickets to try and go to Vienna by train; it obviously didn't happen that year, and not the following year either because the connection train from Brussels wasn't running yet, but this year at last we used those tickets and made the journey part of our summer adventure. At the right time as well, considering what's going on with airlines at the moment...
And an adventure it was! A 28-hour journey that really showed just what a distance we cover in a short 2-hour flight.
It started in Bristol, going by train to Paddington. Because there was a night sleeper involved, I had somehow got my dates muddled up and my pre-bought ticket was for the wrong day!! So I quickly had to buy new tickets (to the tune of £90!) and hope everything else was booked correctly.... arriving in Paddington, we slowly wandered towards the Circle Line and a kind buggy driver offered us a lift - D(6) in particular loved sitting up front!
Arriving in London, we took the tube to St Pancras, the Eurostar terminal. We had two hours, so there was no particular hurry, and we arrived comfortably on time to wait in a very long queue. I was so glad we took the Trunki suitcases because despite the clunkiness of maneuvering them, they certainly do shine when it comes to queueing because the kids could sit on them and ride them forward!
Eventually on the Eurostar, the kids were excited to be going under the sea but of course there was no way of telling the sea was above us as we went through the tunnel. I did find it quite cool to go 300 km/h though!
There was a very long layover in Brussels: arriving at 2pm, our night train wasn't due until 7.30pm. A very old friend whom I hadn't seen in 20 years (but am still connected with on Facebook) now lives in Belgium and I asked, how about meeting up? And so we did. That was great fun! With seven kids between us we enjoyed the afternoon at a cafe, and us adults had a good catch-up. They did have to leave though and so we made our way back to the train station, where I found a place to sit down outside and the kids found other English speaking kids to run around with: a great way to get some energy out and get ready for bed!
And ready they were. Apart from one 3am wakeup when they lost their blanket down the side, they actually managed to sleep the whole night through. Unlike myself in the bunk above them... I found the noise and movement kept me awake until well past 3am, and when at 6am others around us were waking up that was the end of my night. I think I'll need an early one tonight.
So, would I do this again? I have to say, of course this long journey was much harder work than a 2-hour flight. But that's not what puts me off: I found it interesting, really relaxed and educational, quite a different feel to flying. It was great for the kids to be able to leave their seats and chat with people... however, this cost at least three times as much as the flight. And that is a deal breaker for us, unfortunately - much as I'd love to do this for the environment, our finances just won't allow it.
So finally, after arriving in Vienna and taking two further trains to get to our flat, we are "home" - for the next six weeks. This flat is wonderful, owned by a young family as well, and while everything is functional it doesn't feel like I have to worry about them touching anything. This time there's a microwave and a TV (a bit of an oversight on my part last time to assume these would be in an Airbnb) as well as a full size fridge/freezer. Everything functional, nothing too precious: those are the conditions in which I can relax and enjoy the holiday!
Right now we're waiting for groceries to be delivered (don't we live in convenient times) and once they're here, it's off to explore the nearest playground. And then an early night :)
Week 1: dance camp
This was definitely a baptism by fire for the kids - arriving on Saturday, Monday saw them start a full-day holiday camp! They did it last year too, so it wasn't completely unfamiliar, but there weren't any kids they knew. And they all spoke German too!
One of my better ideas at the start of this time away was to give N(7) a little notebook, which she's been using as a diary. It's amazing to watch her work through her emotions as the week progressed...
We spent the weekend getting to a few playgrounds and looking around the local area. I had already made contact with a lovely local parish who welcomed us very kindly (though no pictures of that).
Come Monday, the week began with a bit of trepidation. They knew they'd be away from me all day amongst unfamiliar children... and so it was that after the first day, it took quite a lot of persuasion to get them to go back again on Tuesday.
Verdict after day 1: "I did not have a good time." Oh dear.
Day 2 was a bit more fun, and it got better from there. On the final day there were tears from N because it was over!
Week 2: heat!
37 degrees. In public transport without air conditioning, even I am reaching my limits of comfort in the heat!
We are staying at the very outskirts of the city. Regional services are easy to reach, making it simple to get far away (like to see my cousin, although we haven't managed it yet because she's got Covid) but quite hard to get around locally. There's one tramway and a few buses, that's it - to get to the other means of transport, we need to go 7 stops on the non-air-conditioned tramway. Frankly, that's put me off going to many places!
Luckily we do have a family pool in walking distance, and we've become quite familiar with it. There's also an initiative by the city where there's free, supervised multi sports on offer locally where I could leave the kids, 9am-2pm. This is great because I can stay or go (although there's really nowhere to go from there, it's all residential and it's too far to go home) and thus far I've always stayed, but have started doing some work while there. I sit and connect through my phone hotspot under a shady tree while the kids have fun nearby but I don't have to supervise them: perfect.
We have of course gone to some proper baths too, the Danube is their favourite over the pools - way more exciting to watch the fish, examine the rocks, get caught in the seaweed... we have found a lovely babysitter for Thursdays, Julia, who has taken them to the Danube and brought them back at the end of the day pretty much asleep on their feet!
Week 3
I cannot believe that we're already halfway through our time here! This week really feels like we found a groove, things aren't all new all the time any more, we're just relaxing into summer. That said, it's actually cooled down quite a bit, there's been some rain and even a short thunderstorm!
In big news of the week, D(6) has his very first wobbly tooth. Which doesn't stop him eating his favourite food, whole apples (never cut up!) - but it does make it a rather more time consuming operation...
This was Mr.'s birthday week and like last year, he had to celebrate without us... thanks to video though we at least got to sing Happy Birthday and even help him blow out the candle!
Week 4: grieving from a distance
This is a painful, difficult post to write. On Wednesday, right as I was about to start a job, Mr. called me and said things weren't alright. I didn't have time to speak so I didn't want to hear what the bad news was until after the job (which, thankfully, was only half an hour long)... of course I did imagine all kinds of scenarios while working, but it was the better decision to be in the dark for that time. Because when I did finally call Mr. back to hear the news, it was devastating: our beautiful Fred, 10 years old and healthy, had had a heart attack and died. Just like that. He was rushed to the vets who tried everything to bring him back, but to no avail - our boy is gone.
I feel utterly bereft, but also unable to take time to process what happened because, of course, I'm a long way away and I have the kids to look after. Of course I told them, and they are old enough to understand, but they aren't processing this emotionally yet either because we aren't where we would expect Fred to be.
Mr. on the other hand, is alone in the house and he feels Fred's absence keenly. He was also there and saw him dead. Fred wasn't actually with Mr. when he took ill - he was at his 'other home', his friend Suzanne, who has time-shared Fred with us for years now and has been treasuring him just as much as we have. She's on her own, and must be feeling the same pain - but I will be forever grateful that Fred died with her, rather than in a strange place or on his own while we were away. He would have felt safe and loved, and that is what matters.
Fred's death really overshadows the rest of the week, but other things have happened. I have the kids here and I have to carry on. By now, the separation from Mr. really hurts as well (it's four weeks apart!) and that's of course much amplified by the shared but separate grieving we are going through about Fred. We can't wait to be together again - Wednesday.
Went to Baden with my mother's best friend, who I only reconnected with a couple of years ago, for a bit of cultural appreciation and, more importantly, the pool!
And finally, there was lots and lots of play with various friends we've made since arriving. One is a neighbour in this block of flats, a Syrian girl whose German is rather broken too (but who knows no English either) but somehow they communicate well and have lots of fun almost every day, in the yard or nearby playground.
Week 5: reunion
Mr. has arrived!! Finally. We were so excited to see him, and his journey this time was completely smooth and on time. We picked him up from the train station, had the biggest hugs ever, got him back home, and the kids haven't left his side since! We had great fun the rest of the week. It's so good to be together again.
However, at the beginning of the week we had a few days to wait before Wednesday. The weather wasn't brilliant, so we went to the museum of public transport Remise, a modern art museum where we got to make our own piece of artwork, and to the brilliant adventure playground.
The day after daddy arrived, he had to look after them by himself because I was working - but the weather was fine again so they just went to the water and had a fun day there.
Now Mr. is here we get to do all the fun stuff I've been putting off - first up, Prater! With my mum's best friend Erich, we all enjoyed a very hot day out with lots of fun rides. We went on the oldest ride that's still in family ownership, built in 1903, thinking it looked rather tame and simple, perfect for the kids - oh my goodness were we wrong! That thing had some speed, we had to hold on for dear life! Great fun though.
Finally, a day in the centre (where I failed to take any pics of us sightseeing!) that ended at an ice cream cafe. Of course.
Week 6: final week
Our final week - we saved many of the highlights for last! Having said that, we feel really ready to return. I'm busy planning what our home routine will look like, what activities we'll be doing and all that; Vienna has been a wonderful summer again, emotional in many ways (losing the house sale first thing, then losing Fred was of course much worse) and hot, hot, hot.
Heat was largely the theme of this week as well. We spent a lot of time in and near the water! Jumping in is their new favourite thing...
Speaking of emotional, we also went to the little suburb I grew up in and visited my parents' and aunt's graves, and had lunch with my uncle (mother's brother). I don't have photos of it but we also met up several times with my aunt (father's side) and I had long, enlightening conversations with her that I'm hoping to turn into their own blog post. My perspectives on the past have shifted.
For a change from water activities, we also went to museums - Natural History Museum was a must since D(6) couldn't wait to see the robotic dinosaur again that frightened him so badly last year. Turns out they very much toned it down, it was much quieter and moved more slowly than before: I reckon other parents of frightened children complained, which is a bit of a shame! D was disappointed.
Finally - our last, 6th, Sunday at the Church we went to here. At last I took a picture of the Our Father melody that's sung every Sunday: this very melody that my mother taught me, but I couldn't remember the ending. Now I finally have it, this song will become part of our daily routine - waking up with this prayer.
Tomorrow we leave our flat at 6.30am, and we'll get home around 8pm. Goodbye Vienna, we've had a very full summer here!