Friday
I was supposed to leave my hometown airport at 11:31 am on Friday, July 10. The flight was delayed about 15 minutes though as there was a backup of planes waiting to land at Chicago O'Hare. We were schedule to arrive at 11:29 am Chicago time and still managed to arrive on time.
My layover at O’Hare was an hour and 42 minutes. At about 1:11 pm, I left O’Hare for Dulles (Washington DC). We arrived there at about 4:10 pm. The layover there was another hour and 45 minutes. At 5:55, I was off to Vienna! I slept most of the time. When I wasn't sleeping, I was watching movies. They offered us TWO meals, dinner and breakfast. The food was delicious, way better than I thought it would be! The flight was scheduled to be just under 10 hours but we actually arrived about an hour and a half early (about 7:00 am instead of our scheduled 8:40 landing).
Saturday
During my 13 hour, 40 minute layover, I got to explore Vienna. I went on a sightseeing tour and walked around the city for a bit before returning (too early) to the airport. They had a baggage storage area and for about $5 per bag, I got to keep my bags there so I didn’t have to bring them around Vienna with me. My flight wasn’t scheduled to leave until 10:20 Vienna time but I was nervous that I would get lost or something so I returned to the airport at about 5:00. If I had planned better, I probably would have done more sightseeing and stayed out another hour or so.
I got to see a lot of old places. If I could do it again, I would have gotten off the tour bus (it makes several stops along the route) and actually gone inside a few of the places.
My flight to Eastern Europe was supposed to leave at 10:20 but we actually left late. The flight was overbooked and they asked for volunteers to stay, offering $200 each. I would have had I known what was going to happen (more on that below). I arrived on Sunday, July 12 between 3:00 am and 3:35 am (our scheduled landing was 3:35 but I believe we arrived early again).
Sunday
When I arrived, they checked my passport and on my way out to baggage claim, I met my driver. After I met my driver, we went and got my bags and took the 10-15 minute drive to the apartment I was staying in.
After settling in to the apartment, I took a 4 hour nap before getting up and getting ready for the day. After I got up on Sunday and calling the translator (they give us prepaid cell phones), I found out that the government would be closed on Monday and I wouldn’t be able to meet Peaches until Tuesday. If I had known this while I was still in Vienna, I would have taken the next day’s flight and gained $200!
On Sunday, I went with the translator and another family, the L family, they were on their pick-up trip to get their daughter and had just gotten her the day before, to the open air market. This place is so cool! I bought a few souvenirs here. It’s typically only held on the weekends during the summer but during peak tourist season (like when I was there), some vendors are there every day or most days. After the market, the translator and I walked back to my apartment, first stopping at the market that was just two buildings away from my apartment to get my money converted and pick up a few groceries. I ended up going to the market a few times throughout the week for fresh fruits, vegetables, and meat. It was so nice to get stuff fresh. Food there is very inexpensive compared to here. I was able to make my own meals or eat out for less than it would cost per day here. I was also able to walk everywhere, which made it even more cheaper.
We went out to dinner and then walked around town a little bit. The holiday is called Vardavar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
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