Episode 1: The Adventure Begins

October 17, 2019
It was early in the morning, 5:30 am to be exact. We took our baths and changed into our clothes and then took our Uber to the airport. By the time we reached the airport, the sun had already risen. I remember being hungry enough to eat a rock as I had eaten nothing but a slice of Gouda cheese. At 9:45 am IST, our flight Emirates EK 571 departed for Dubai, from where we would catch the connecting flight to Vienna. We had a wonderful experience on the flight. The diverse crew consisting of pilots and flight attendants from around the globe were very warm and friendly; there were delicious gourmet meals (we had a wonderful prawn biriyani for lunch). In addition to that, Emirates also had ICE (Information, Communication, Entertainment), an in-flight entertainment system. The information tab lets you track the flight path and get weather updates and get a view from the flight cameras, Communication lets you connect to the in-flight Wi-Fi network and Entertainment lets you access its vast library of movies, TV shows, music and games (which could be played using the communicator device attached to the seat that doubled as a controller). We landed in Dubai at 1:30 pm GST (Gulf Standard Time, not Goods and Services Tax for my Indian readers). While making our descent we could see the sandy dunes which looked straight out of an Arabian-themed movie. Dubai's airport was very disabled-friendly. We were taken to our terminal by an underground train and were then taken to our lounge by capsule lift. I was captivated by its architecture and features. Even the bathrooms of our special waiting lounge were wheelchair friendly. At 3:55 PM, it was time to make the flight to our first destination- Vienna! After a rather long flight, in which I first experienced what a lightning storm looks like from above while flying over Turkey, we arrived in Vienna at 7 pm Central European Time. Upon landing, I felt the chilly air of the Temperate zone that I never felt before. While others deplaned by mobile stairs, I and my parents were taken to the terminal by a movable jet bridge. It had arcade-style controls with a joystick, push buttons and a wheel. The two young boys who helped me also manned it. When we reached the lounge the boys helped us with our luggage and document processing. Upon reaching the gate, we were greeted by a suited man who helped us to the car and then took us on a short informal guided tour on our way to Ibis Styles Wien City hotel. There, two young girls, probably interns, helped us and we settled into our room and returned later to eat something for dinner. After paying for the food and eating a pizza, we went back for a well-earned rest. This was all that happened on the first day. But, we still have got 9 more days to cover. So, please be on the lookout for new posts

Fly Emirates. We did

Prologue Part 2: The Preparations

Wait! I had the surprise but our story is not over yet. To travel internationally takes a long time to prepare. Domestic travel is easy. All you need is your train or plane ticket. However, international travel involves a lot of complications. You need to possess a passport which fortunately I already was in possession of. The next big hurdle in international travel is to get a Visa. The application process is bureaucratic but we managed to pass through them. We had applied for the Schengen visa which covers the following countries as part of its common border policy:

 

Austria

Belgium

Czech Republic

Denmark

Finland

France

Germany

Greece

Hungary

Iceland

Italy

Poland

Portugal

Slovakia

Slovenia

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

 

 

Fortunately, the four countries we would be visiting did fall under the purview of the Schengen Area. On September 11th, the Austrian government finally approved our visa and one hassle was taken care of. The next problem was finding winter clothing to protect ourselves from the cold weather there. Since I live in India, a tropical country, winter clothes were hard to find in the autumn season. We did manage to find a couple of windcheaters from a sports goods store. Now, we were prepared for the great adventure