We booked our plane tickets in January, which turned out to be a very good thing because ticket prices rose $200-$300 over following months due to a hike in gas prices. I booked our hotel rooms online in the springtime. When I stayed at my parents' house in June, my mom and I booked our tickets to the shows we wanted to see and also roughly outlined what other sights we wanted to see.
We were lucky to book our airplane tickets so that we would be on the same flight from Washington D.C. to Vienna. Brian took me to the airport for my 12:30 p.m. flight to Washington D.C. I got there with no problems, but the airport is a maze so I had to take a bus and a train to the international terminal. When I got to the gate, my mom was already waiting there and had informed the gate agent that she was worried that her daughter would get lost in the airport and wouldn't be able to find the gate. Mom, how embarrassing! I guess once a mom, always a mom! It's not like it was my first flight or even my first solo flight. And no, I didn't get lost!
We went to a couple of book stores to buy magazines and candy before sitting down to wait for our plane. This is a picture of our plane:
On my way to the international terminal, I followed the flight attendants to the gate. I knew they were going to be on my flight because of their bright red suits and bright red pantyhose. Where in the world do you buy red pantyhose nowadays?
Our flight left at 5:30 p.m. and we were blessed with good wind direction because our flight that was supposed to take 8 1/2 hours only took 7 1/2 hours. We got on the plane and found out that our seats were not next to each other - I was sitting across the aisle by a guy who had the window seat, and my mom was sitting on the end of the middle row that has 3 seats across. The seat next to my mom ended up being empty, so I moved there, probably to the dismay of the girl sitting on the other end. Shortly after we took off we got a drink and a snack, and then after that we got our dinner. I got the pasta carbonara, which came with a roll, chocolate cake, and salad. It was during dinner that I started to panic. I'd taken a Xanax before my first flight and I'd felt completely fine, but sitting here with dinner in front of me on a long flight with no way to escape got my anxiety going. I tried to distract myself with a movie ("Something Borrowed", which was terrible - talk about a way to rationalize being slutty), another pill, and crossword puzzles. My mom did her best trying to distract me, too, by talking to me (sorry, girl next to me - I think we were talking too much for her). I finally fell asleep, but I'm pretty sure that my mom and I only logged a couple of hours of sleep the whole flight.
Not long before we landed we were served breakfast. I was already feeling cautious because of my anxiety, but there was no way I was going to eat the sandwich the was placed in front of me: processed cheese and ham. My mom didn't touch hers, either. Luckily the meals also came with orange juice, a muffin, and yogurt.
We arrived in Vienna around 7:30 (the only way I know that is because my airport train stamp in stamped with 8:08 a.m.).
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