K & L's Travel Blog

• 

Flying these days makes it almost impossible, in the inimitable words of our First Lady, to “be best.” If we can get by without major delays, missed connections or cancellations, we feel as though we’ve achieved a victory. Actually, if we can maintain civility and not devolve into fetal positions or temper tantrums, it’s a good flight. Luckily, this trip from Asheville to Vienna was pretty uneventful. We arrived ahead of schedule, we both slept. I can’t ask for more.

I was so worried about having to negotiate the “person in the middle” so imagine my suprise when I see that seat A and C does not have a “B.” Two seats together. How perfect!  We settle in and  of course have some wine and dinner.  Lorena takes a sleeping pill and I look over and she is OUT.  Really out.  Slumped down, chin to chest, face white and breathing deep.  I started to worry.  She looked like one of those Victorian pics they took of dead loved ones.  I try and wake her up, get her glasses off and have her lean to the side.  After three tries I give up and decide “oh well”.  

In our endless research for travel tips, largely in hopes that we can somehow be best, we came across one woman who described an entire ritual. She started by wiping down everything with Clorox. We skipped this step. [Update from 5/2020: this was the last time we skipped this step! It’s now part of our routine.] The other advice turned out to be excellent: we brought smallish garbage bags to help manage our trash. I had put all my carry on items in a net bag, and that hung on the seat in front of me. We also took all the generic junk out of the seat pocket so we had that exclusively for our stuff taking minimal control over one’s space, however limited, made a difference.

• 

• 

• 

• 

The transportation from the airport to the apartment is pretty straightforward. As is the trend in rebuilt Europe, transportation hubs are largely indistinguishable from shopping malls. I want to double check my plan to take a bus from the Bahnhof, so we head to the first “I” only to hear “I’m here to offer information for shoppers.” I feel as though this capitalist slant must be an inheritance from the post-war power struggle.

We shower and drink coffee before heading out to the grocery store around the corner. Now there’s little to strike terror in a foreigner’s heart than keeping up with check-out at a grocery store. The clerks pack things at double time compared to Ingles, and there’s no such thing as a “bagger.” Kitty and I split the job—she packs our bag and I manage payment. Despite our plan and anxiety, we run into trouble with unmarked eggs. Ultimately, we decide we don’t need eggs as we watch the line stretch out behind us.

My goal is to survive jetlag. I am so aware that my thinking is compromised.  You get confused and disoriented.  Time to give yourself a break.  Get lost.  You are jet lagged.  Can’t figure out the ticket machine – you are jet lagged.  Pay too much- jet lagged.  Then I start wondering why I can’t give myself this permission all the time.  OK – where do we eat the first night while you got it- jet lagged?

• 

• 

• 

• 

Not a fancy expensive place but not a pizza joint- we are in Vienna.  We decide on a Thai restaurant .  Great review, small and authentic.  We strike out in the rain, realizing that rain hoods add to the lack of peripheral vision. “oh dear, don’t step out in front of tram”. The restaurant is small with the sounds of rapid high pitched Thai in the air.  We awkwardly sit down (jet lagged) and the server kindly helps us. I get my favorite salad but with duck and Lorena gets the chicken curry. I try and say “not too hot”. Lorena thinks I conveyed the opposite.  Well it was hot.  Very hot.  I go with the flow.  The duck itself is succulent with  the skin rendered perfectly that makes it chewy but not too chewy.  Just perfect but HOT.  I start to think  “ I may change and like hot food”. I love traveling.  

The rain is steady. I’m so eager to take photos, but can’t risk the camera. Kitty likens me to a horse who’s been stable-bound and is ready to get let loose in the field. On the way back we spot several cool places including a street I’d marked for pictures. Luckily, it’s all very close and we have plenty of time.

Now it’s late afternoon and we’re pulling the blog together and negotiating what time we can actually let ourselves fall asleep. I say 8:00 and Kitty thinks 7:00. Wait!! It’s 8:10 by the time we’ve finished the blog. Be Best!