(Friday 6/29)
After about 2 hours of sleep, we got up the next morning at 3am (3am!!!!!) to head to London Heathrow to catch our flight to Vienna. Scheduling that bus was such a good idea because I don't think us, in our half asleep state, would have been able to navigate the trains, or even drag all of our stuff down to the train station. We had also thankfully packed everything the previous afternoon, so we were all ready to go. We walked down to the bus with eyes still half closed, and most of us ended up sleeping the whole ride to the airport.
Once we got to LHR, we went to check in, because some of us had checked in online, but others hadn't or hadn't been able to. I had checked in online, but really wanted a printed out boarding pass so I could take a basic picture with my passport and ticket. Once we had checked in, we headed to our gate to sit down and wait for the plane. We got to the gate and still had like 2 hours until the plane even boarded, so you could say we got there a littttleeee too early, but better safe than sorry I guess. I was really trying to get a snack but nothing was open (surprise!), so I just accepted my lack of snacks and took a nap at the gate.
Soon I was awoken by the call to board, and we all got our stuff together and went over to board the plane. I ended up with a window seat yay, and I bet the person next to me was thankful too because I slept the entire way, leaning on the side of the plane. This is literally why I chose a window seat - well, another reason was I enjoy looking out the window, but obviously that didn't really happen much on this flight. I woke up right in the middle of the flight, as they were passing out refreshments, but couldn't keep my eyes open for longer than 2 seconds at a time. I dozed off again and when I woke up once again, the people with the drinks and snacks were literally right at the row behind me, so I accepted it and just went back to sleep.
Landing in Frankfurt provided a significant amount of stress, as the layover seemed long enough in theory, but wow, it definitely was not. We landed right on time, but we didn't think about the time it would take for the plane to slowly make its way over to the gate... and for the staff to connect the tube to the plane... and for them to actually open the door to the plane... and for people to slowly pull their luggage out of the overhead bins... and for people to slowly make their way out of the plane.... Then by the time all of that happened, we had about 30 minutes and were super stressed about making our flight, so we begin to move a bit faster, a bit of a jog... thinking we'll be alright... and then we hit security.
Our mouths dropped open when we saw the huge line in front of the security booths, but we saw a sign for a express line, with a list of flights that included ours, and breathed a huge sigh of relief (too soon lol). We were making our way to the front of the express line, and everyone was getting antsy. There were so many people asking others what flight they were on, and saying "I'm on _____ flight it leaves in 10 minutes can I go ahead of you" and getting a response of "my flight leaves at that time too.." So basically no one was going to make it to their flights.
Thankfully, one of the security workers split our line up and put Emily, Stephanie, and I in another line that appeared to be moving faster. We tried to tell her our group was all together, but she almost completely ignored us and just moved us along. We made it through security, but weren't sure where the others were. We decided we should go ahead and go to the gate and try to stall the plane a bit, if that is what it had to come down to. As we started jogging through the airport, we quickly realized that our gate was not close at all. We were jogging, and jogging, and walking quickly, and jogging... finally... we come to the very last gate in the entire airport. Like seriously?? There were no flights in some of the gates, and you had to put us in the very back of the airport? Seriously?
So we get there and tell the people at the desk we have friends on the way, and at this point we still thought everyone else was almost right behind us, like maybe a minute or two behind. So we're waiting, and waiting, and the people at the desk are getting ready to close boarding, but we're here begging them to keep it open, so we tell them we'll call our friends and see where they are. Stephanie calls... THEY ARE STILL AT SECURITY. Like they are still checking Seth's bag. Stephanie just tells them to run... like full on sprint.
We go to tell the lady where our friends are, but we're like "you cannot tell her they're still at security... tell her they're almost here like they're running through the A gates." Stephanie goes to tell her and we're pretty much begging this woman to hold the flight. At this point I have completely accepted that we are staying in Frankfurt, like there is absolutely no way we are getting on this plane. We begin talking amongst the three of us about where can we stay, and who we would we need to talk to to sort this mess out. Since both flights were booked through Lufthansa and we would have missed the flight due to airport issues that were out of our control, I knew we'd have to be making some issues in that airport to get them to reschedule us. I was past the point of stress. I was just completely calm and accepting of our fate.
Every little movement I see down the hall, I get excited and think its them, like okay maybe we can make this flight, but it is never them... Suddenly, all I see is Seth sprinting, and clutching his laptop to his chest, with everyone else running behind him. I'm almost in shock; I honestly thought we were about to just be staying in that airport. We let out a small cheer and go to tell the lady at the desk that we're all here. We are the last people on that plane, and I found out later that they almost didn't let Stephanie on. The lady at the desk had taken her ticket - I really don't know why, I guess to verify we were actually on the flight and not just trying to cause problems, I have no idea - and she had thrown away the ticket. When Stephanie tried to get on, the lady asked her for her ticket, and Stephanie had told her that she had taken it, but the lady said "well I can't find it," and was not going to let her on. Somehow Stephanie got on that plane, and the doors closed right behind her.
AND THEN WE SAT THERE FOR ANOTHER 15 MINUTES SO YOU'RE TELLING ME YOU COULD NOT HAVE LET US ON DURING THAT TIME but its fine I'm over it.
I slept through this second flight as well, but this time I woke up right in time for refreshments. I was feeling very lightheaded, and very much needed that water and donut thing (which was very odd - it wasn't glazed, it just had like pieces of coconut stuck to it and was not good at all, but I desperately needed something in my stomach). So I ate that and went right back to sleep, not waking up until we landed - and still not really waking up then. I was awake, kind of, but was struggling to keep my eyes open.
Once we were off the plane, we got ubers to a chocolate shop Emily had mentioned, near the town center. Our airbnb wouldn't be ready until 3pm, so we had a bit of time to kill. The chocolate shop was amazing and smelled delicious. They had so much chocolate - prepackaged chocolate, truffles, hot chocolate, chocolate cigars - you name it, they had it. It was in a little partially closed off area (it had a roof but no doors, so it was open to the outside air) with other little shops, and it was unlike anything I have seen. Definitely not Crabtree Valley Mall. The attention to detail was incredible, and there was a fountain right in the middle of it.
After exploring this area, we walked more towards the center of town, wanting to explore the area, and in need of food. Everyone was getting a bit hangry after the events of the morning and it was time to get some good food. We found Viviano, an Italian place with plenty of seating right outside. It was an interesting layout, as you walk in and they hand you a card that you use at different stations. There were stations for pasta, salad, appetizers, dessert, etc. and you would walk up to the correct station and order what you wanted. They cooked it quickly right there in front of you, and when it was done, you would scan your card and it would put what you ordered on the card. Once you had everything you wanted, you took your card to the register, and they would swipe your card and you would then pay for everything at once. The food was absolutely delicious, but very large and filling, and I struggled because I wanted to eat more because it was so good, but there was no way I could eat anymore without my stomach bursting.
Everything timed up just right, and after we finished our food we began walking to the airbnb. It was a bit under a half an hour from where we were eating, and the walk was very pleasant. The weather in Vienna was perfect for walking around in - about 70 degrees and low humidity. We reached the apartment, but two of us had to hide around the corner because the apartment said it slept six - it can definitely hold eight though because there were two beds that could fit two people (actually they can also fit three comfortably) and two futons that can also hold two people, so I'm not sure why they said it only slept six. Everything worked out, and the apartment was fabulous. It was so open, and very clean and modern looking... so obviously the first thing we did was take a nap. We intended for it to be a short nap, but everyone was so tired it ended up being a little longer. The boys went to look around town and do some shopping (surprise surprise), but all the girls stayed and got some much needed sleep. I wanted to see as much as Vienna as possible, but I also wanted to enjoy it and not be sleepily dragging myself around.
We got up at a decent time, I think around 6 or 7, and walked to meet up with the boys. We walked around town a bit before finding a place to eat. It was this nice little mediterranean place. The whole menu was in German, but we could pick out bits and pieces, just from the mediterranean food we knew back home, and we also asked the waiter (and Google) a few questions on the parts we couldn't figure out. The waiter recommended their special of the day, a thin pita with bits of beef and mozzarella, with tabouli on the side. I ordered this special, and was interested to see how it would turn out, because it really just sounded like an interesting version of a quesadilla. It ended up being very yummy (literally all the food I have had here has been good lol) and it came with an interesting sauce that really complimented the mediterranean quesadilla.
After dinner we headed back to the airbnb. We heard about a local hangout that used to be a sauna, but had since been sold and turned into a hangout spot. It was very interesting, very different from anything in the US. It had several different rooms, all with a different feel to them and different decor. The whole place had somewhat of an edgy feel to it, that I felt went along well with some of the parts of Vienna we had seen. The whole city seemed to have a historic, regal feel to it, with underlying edginess, as seen in the street art and some of the younger crowd. It was really something to experience and people watching is so interesting in other places like this.
We then returned to the airbnb, and headed to sleep to prepare for a full day in Vienna.
Comentários