Germany and Austria part one

Part of the reason I have not updated sooner (barring the dead charger) is because we were gone for two weeks to Europe.  So I figure it is about time to talk about all of that!

Chris and I originally were both going to fly standby – but because I have a baby… I cannot upgrade my ticket to business or first class.  Now that may not seem like a big deal, but here is the thing…

If there are no more coach seats, but plenty of business and first class – Chris could go, but I would be left behind.  So with this in mind, we decided to buy my ticket from Lufthansa.  In preparation for this trip, I also (two weeks pryer) moved Tristan’s sleep schedule to German time (which meant he went to bed at 3pm and woke at 3am).  This was VERY helpful too for the flight there.  I left 2 days before Chris did, and since my flight was at 3:30pm, Tristan went to sleep shortly after take off.  He slept just about the whole time too, except for 3o min. when I took him to the bathroom with me.  It was great!  I also loved the flight because they provided a bassinet that fit onto the wall in front of me – which allowed me to eat and try and rest without a whole lot of baby on me.  They also gave him a toy too, which was nice.  Oh, and one last note about why this company is awesome – the food was VERY tasty, and plentiful.  Yay for that.  Other than that, the flight was relatively uneventful.  I sat next to a Greek man who was nice, and very talkative.  Although I may have learned too much about his recent divorce with his American wife – oh and how our justice system sucks for giving her so much.  Yea… I think I heard all about it about 4 times.

Anyhow, we land in Frankfurt the following morning, and both Tristan and I have to catch one more flight to Nuremberg to meet my friend Lori.  In this time though (because he was asleep), Tristan had not had a single diaper change.  Needless to say, I really needed to get him changed before our next flight.  I found a nearby restroom near the next flight gate, and proceeded to look for a changing table – there was NONE to be found.  I was really baffled because in the States… there is always a changing table in the restroom at the airport.  I also hear some angry sounding talking… but see no one in there.  I figure it must be coming from another room and I was just hearing it.  So I use the bathroom and decide to just to a standing diaper change on Tristan.  As I am fastening the clean diaper to him little tush, this angry janitor comes out and starts blabbering at him in German.  I can’t really make out what she is saying, and I reply with as much to her.  She repeats what she was saying…and the only things I could make out was basically that I was not to change my child here, and that I better darn well go to the baby room for that.  Well, who knew there was a baby room?  Not me, that’s for sure!

So either way, Tristan is changed, and I decide that we need to go make sure there isn’t anything we need to do before boarding the next flight.  I go to the counter at the gate, and proceed to open my mouth.  I didn’t even get a question out… and the woman just snaps at me ” WILL YOU JUST GIVE ME 5 MINUTES! I JUST GOT HERE!!! THE COMPUTER SYSTEM ISN’T READY YET!”  Well, my question required no computer system.  Needless to say I just left and waited until another woman showed up, and then I asked the less angry one my question.  After that, we board and get on our way.  Tristan was decent for the flight.  We were seated to a Texas woman (small world) who was very good natured about Tristan spitting and playing and being his usual loud self.  She has no idea how that made my flight a little easier.

We landed, and I had to go get my bag and then meet up with Lori.  I wander out, and I see the best sight of the week – LORI!  I was SO relived to have a happy, and friendly face waiting for me.  My initial introduction to the German people was pretty bad, so I really felt stressed out about arriving and staying for 2 weeks if everyone was going to be like that.  Lori then picked up some food for herself, and we headed out on the trains towards her home (in Freihung).  Did I mention how happy I was to see her (and her daughter Lillie who is right about Tristan’s age)???  We get to her home after an hour train ride and just relaxed for the rest of the day.  Oh, side note… the window shutters that seem to be standard in Germany and Austria are freaking awesome!  So were the windows at Lori’s home (they could open in two different directions).  Just saying.

The next day we go visit the walled city of Amberg.  Getting there was no problem, we just got on a train, switched trains, and bam – we were there.  It was a very nice city with lots of old architecture.  We ate at a fast food place that had a changing table (a lot of places just don’t have them), and then walked around a bit.  We  spent around 2 hours there before Tristan got really fussy.  He just really wanted to be down and explore, and I couldn’t let him because it wasn’t a safe place for a 1 yr old to just go off and do that.  I will say that the wall was very cool and there was even a small putt putt golf hidden away.  Oh, and the old church had some carvings of what I would guess is plague disasters.

Anyhow, I finally decide that I would try and let Tristan down so long as he held my hand.  I was really hoping that he would get in a better mood so we could look around more.  He really wanted none of it though.  He wanted to do his own thing, and I was in the way.  So after a little bit, I decided we needed to go.  We make our way back to the train station and then onto a train towards where we think is home.  Yea, think.  We ended up on the wrong train, going the wrong direction.  So we find out as much when they were checking tickets and we are told that this is NOT the right way.  Oh, did I mention that Tristan has been crying the whole time too?  Yea…he was.  So we get off at the next stop, and wait a while for a train that will head back in our correct direction.  We feed (or try) to feed the kids while we wait.  Tristan isn’t too happy and is still just crying and fussing.  Finally our train comes, and we get on.  We then have to get off and switch trains.  This was a challenge at times too because I had Tristan in his ergo baby carrier and was wearing him on the front… and Lori had Lillie in her stroller.  Yea, a lot of areas we had to carry the stroller up and down stairs because there was no other way.  I was so glad I opted out of the stroller for this trip.  So anyway, we get to the last train we need, and finally make our way back home…. after more than 2 hours of travel and waiting – far more than it took to get there.  Did I mention that Tristan cried just about the entire time back? Yea.

The next day, I opted to stay in.

Chris arrived that evening too, which was nice.  I had missed him…and so had Tristan.  He didn’t get in till late though, so that day Lori and I just hung out with the kids… it was very nice.