I'm in Vienna - Sort of

The trip was loooong, but I made it. On the Memphis to Amsterdam leg, I was seated next to a woman on her way to Kenya. She lives in Memphis now but was originally from Kenya, and she was on her way home for a visit. She knew the Obama relatives there, and talked about how excited the country was that he was elected. A meal was served shortly after takeoff, and following that meal she went to sleep and I was reading.

Europe is 7 hours ahead of us, so I was having a time dilemma. To my body, it was about 8 pm, but it was really 3 am where I was headed. I was hoping the reading would eventually put me to sleep. Since airplanes are noisy places - loud talking, snoring, babies cyring - I put in the earphones and played soothing classical music. Around midnight my time, I was getting sleepy, so I turned off the light and started to drift off.

Through the haze of my sleepiness and the music in my ears, I became aware that my seatmate was talking - but I couldn't understand her. I took out the earphones and realized she wasn't talking to me - but talking to herself. She had seemed perfectly rational before, so I tried to listen to what she was saying. About all I could understand was that she didn't feel good, so I called for the flight attendant. She talked to her for a while, and then asked over the PA system for a medical doctor. In the meantime, I had to move so the woman could stretch out across the two seats. The doctor spent quite a long time with her, and finally the flight attendant told me she thought she would be okay. She was sleeping with oxygen.

Needless to say, there was no sleeping for me after that. As I left the plane I talked to the Kenyan woman, who said she was much better, but was going to the medical facilities at the airport for a check up. My flight from Amsterdam to Vienna was fairly short, and I had no opportunity for sleep.

People always wish you a safe trip, and they're thinking of the planes. However, I knew I was about to enter the most dangerous part of my trip - the taxi ride in Vienna - but I survived.

I went to bed early (around 9:30 pm) and slept like a dead person. For the past two days, we have not left the house. My two granddaughters are sick with coughs and cold, and the weather outside is very cold. We stayed inside and played and had a great time - but it doesn't make for a very interesting travel log. Today (Tuesday) we vow we are going to go outside for at least a brief visit - since we're getting cabin fever. So maybe my next post will be able to describe Vienna!