After saying good bye to Miloš, Sonja and I were on the road to Vienna. She told me I wasn’t allowed to cry at all, or it would make her start to cry for us. So we were going to chat and keep me distracted. She has an awesome car, so at least we had a super comfy ride back. And the ride took LONG. We were on the road for over 8 hours. There was some really bad traffic at the top of Croatia when we had to go through the tolls and then through passport control. (It was the end of a long holiday weekend in Europe, so there were lots of people on the roads.)
We stopped at a rest stop in Slovenia that had a really excellent buffet. After a nice hearty meal (and some free wifi usage), it was back on the road again. Sonja went out when we got back, but I was kind of beat. I don’t know about anyone else, but having a really emotional experience just totally wipes me out. And saying good bye to Miloš, knowing we were going to be having to go another three months apart, was just a bit too much for me to deal with.
The next morning, I got up and headed out to meet some clients of mine. It just so happened that these particular clients (originally Disney clients, but then they came to me when they wanted help planning a trip to Europe) were in Vienna at the exact same time as me. I offered to get together and show them some of the highlights around the city. It was still very warm outside, but it was nice and sunny. I met them near the Rathaus, as their hotel was in that area, then we walked a bit around the Volksgarten, on to the opera house, then up Kärtnerstraβe to Stephansdom. They were so super kind and took me out to lunch, after which we got some ice cream, walked up by the canal, back down to the Stadtpark (to see the Strauss monument of course) then back through the inner city to the Graben and then returning to our original meeting place by the Rathaus. It was a really nice few hours!
After that, I called my friend Debbie to see if she was around while I was there. She had some free time that afternoon, but was leaving in the morning to go home to England to spend time with her family. So we made plans to meet up and we chilled out in the park while chatting and catching up. After a bit, we met up with her boyfriend and we all had some beer. But it was starting to get late, and I wanted to get back home to hang out with Sonja back at the apartment. She made an awesome dinner, and we had a relaxing rest of the night.
The next day I had every intention of getting out and about earlier in the day, but I got hit hard with feeling depressed over being apart from Miloš. I woke up in the morning and couldn’t stop crying because I just missed him so much. There I was in bed alone, when all I wanted was to feel his arms around me. I was so bummed that I just decided to go back to sleep. When he called me later, it helped me feel better, but I think I also started crying again to him on the phone. But he is a skilled master at cheering me up when I’m upset, so the rest of the day went much better after that. I eventually got out, as I was going to be meeting Sonja at her office when she got out of work. We walked around the city a bit, did some shopping, and then headed to the Rathaus to partake of all the munchies and drinkies! (And I needed some food, as I had not eaten a THING all day.) We hung out there for quite some time until we decided to walk back home.
The next day, I met Sonja for lunch at her office. We had some Bento boxes at the restaurant right outside her building. When she went back to work, I had a little more time to walk around, but then knew that I had to head back to the apartment and get packed up. I needed to go through my other suitcase that I had left there back in April, to see which things needed to come home with me to prepare for the cooler weather in the fall. (And which things could stay and await me when I move.)
My flight out of Vienna was at 9am the next day. This time I decided to take the CAT (City Airport Train) back to the airport, instead of the regular commuter train. Why had I never done this before???? For only an extra €10 (current price is €14 vs. €4 for the train that makes a ton of stops), I was actually able to have my boarding passes printed and check my luggage in AT THE TRAIN STATION. Then I just got on the non-stop train that took us right to the airport. I got there and there was nothing to do but go straight through security! Holy cow! Take the CAT if you’re going to the airport in Vienna. Just do it. Again, why did it take me YEARS to try this?
Anyway, if you read my post about my flight home, you’ll know that I had a really great experience to help me stay in a better mood as I left Europe.
Overall, my trip abroad this time flew by so fast. I still can’t believe I was over there for a little more than a month!
But now I wait. Wait for more adventures – when Miloš comes here, and when I go back over there again. Hope that time keeps on flyin’!