Day 2351. I went to bed as late as usual last night and set my alarm for 9:45 am. However, the kids were up early and kept coming to me so I ended up getting up earlier than planned. It was time to finish packing everything and make sandwiches to eat on the train. We could have taken the 11:50 pm train but decided to take the earlier train just to be on the safe side. And then we were all ready even earlier and Sammy was whining because he was impatient and wanted to leave. And so we decided to take an even earlier train. At 11 am we left the house with our two suitcases, my carry-on and purse and the two kids' carry-ons.
We walked to the train station and took the 11:20 am train - a new one, thank God. When we got off at the main train station, I already knew what platform we needed to head to, thanks to my app. We took the elevator down, then the elevator up to the right platform. When we got off, there were lots of people everywhere. It was still quite early; we had another hour until our train would depart and so there were three more trains leaving from our platform before. And so the kids started using their tablets while waiting. After a while we were getting pretty cold as we were outside, and Sammy was getting pretty impatient again.
FINALLY our train arrived. Lots of people needed to get on, and we were in line with them. Then a train conductor saw us and told us to go to car 25 to get on. That's where they had a designated area for wheelchairs and even a special entrance. We quickly went there and lifted Sammy into the car with his wheelchair, then put all the luggage in. The wheelchair seat is in 1st class. I told the conductor that we did not have reserved seats, and she said that we should have let them know about the wheelchair anyway. She then said that we could all stay together in first class which was mighty nice. Last time only Randy could stay with Sammy there. There were other people who did not have a first class ticket who she told to leave, and I couldn't believe how rude they were in response. Only one other guy was legitimately in the 1st class car.
We had a 75 minute train ride ahead of us so it wasn't that long. Still, the kids kept asking when we arrive. They were on the tablets on the train, and they ate their sandwiches for lunch. The train conductor lady was really nice and talked to the kids before we got off. She also told me to inform the train service about the wheelchair for our return trip.
At 1:39 pm the train arrived at our destination, in Semmering on the Semmering (mountain). The lady said we needed to get the wheelchair out separately, without Sammy in it. She helped us with everything and gave the kids' toy train tickets. Then the train left. We were at the end of the platform and had to go all the way to the other end to get to the exit. There were not many people there but a few others were waiting to be picked up. There was no shuttle from the hotel waiting for us even though they had said they'd be there.
We put our luggage against the wall, and Tammy and Emmy went off to have fun in the snow. Then I started calling the hotel - over and over again. No one was picking up. I had two numbers, a cellphone and a landline, and kept trying them both. I couldn't believe that no one was answering the phone! It was very frustrating. What a start to our "vacation". And then somebody finally DID pick up! I told them they had promised to pick us up but no one was there. He said that the shuttle was on its way back to the train station; I guess they had picked up some other people first.
We waited a little longer, then the shuttle finally arrived. It was a van, and we started loading everything into it. It had six seats in the back, three on each side facing each other. The kids sat next to each other facing us, with us sitting the same direction the driver us. The kids were enjoying the ride. It went uphill all the time from the train station, and there was fog everywhere. You couldn't see anything at all. It didn't take long until we pulled up in front of the hotel.
We got our stuff out and went into the hotel lobby and to the reception desk. I had to fill out a form, then the lady told me that our rooms weren't ready yet. It was 2:30 pm, and check-in was at 3 pm. The lady gave me zero information on anything so that I had to ask her all my questions to find out what I wanted to know. Then I sat down in the lobby to wait for our rooms to be ready. The kids had already discovered the toddler room right there and were inside playing and having fun. They had already made friends with another girl their age who was also waiting for their room to be ready.
When we hadn't been called by 3 pm (check-in time), I went to the reception again to ask whether the rooms were still not ready. At that time there were lots and lots of people waiting to talk to someone there. She said yes and handed me the key cards. We had two connected rooms just one floor up. We took the elevator up and saw our rooms right there, the first two rooms.
The kids' room had two single beds against either wall, while the other room had one double bed and another single bed against the wall. They had also put a little fridge into our room upon our request. The rooms were small but nice. I ended up moving the single bed against the double bed so that Sammy could sleep safely between us. The kids loved the rooms and were excited about them. But we didn't have time to enjoy them. I had asked for the shuttle at 3:30 pm so we could go to the ski school and get their skiing equipment. All five of us went. The shuttle was on time, and we got on. It then rode the street down the hill and let us out right there, by the bus stop and parking lot. We then walked to the nearby ski school. There they told us where to go to pick up the skiing equipment, so we left again and walked to where they had told us.
There were already quite a few people in the small place, and by the time we left the line went out the door. The first ski boots they tried on fit, and so they adjusted their skis for them. Then they got helmets. It took quite a while for Emmy as all the helmets were too big for his little head. But then we were finally done. We had brought a bag to put all the stuff in that I ended up carrying. Then we walked back to the bus stop where the shuttle was gonna pick us up again. I was surprised when it was more than 20 minutes that we had to wait for it once we ordered it. Tammy and Emmy were having fun playing with the snow but Sammy was getting quite impatient.
This time it was a car that arrived at 4:30 to take us back to the hotel, and it was tight to get the wheelchair into the trunk but it worked out. Back at the hotel we put their equipment into the ski room, then picked up two bathrobes and returned to our rooms. The kids were impatient to go swimming, so we all put our swimsuits on right away and walked to the pool that was on our floor. There were lots of people in it. And I was surprised how cold the water was. The kids were having lots of fun, me not so much as I would have preferred warmer water. We then ended up not staying very long because of it. We did enjoy the hot showers right there to warm us up again but the air was pretty cold, especially once leaving the pool area.
Back in our room everyone already put their pj's on even though it was only about 5:30 pm. Then they got on their tablets, and I made them sandwiches for dinner. We had brought bread, ham, cheese and lots of snacks with us. Everyone (maybe except Randy) got plenty to eat and enjoyed it. When 8 pm was approaching, we read a story, and I prayed for them. Then it was bedtime. But it was no easy bedtime. Emmy wanted to also sleep between us, next to his brother, which meant that Tammy didn't want to be the only one in the other room even though the door to our room was open. It was a back and forth. In the end, all three kids ended up sleeping in between the two of us. After all, we had three single beds next to each other, creating one big one. Tammy was asleep right away but Emmy needed much longer. Sammy was still up at 9:30 pm before he finally fell asleep. And they have been bothering each other a bit since especially Tammy moves around a lot in her sleep. Randy went to bed just before 11 pm, and now it's just after 11 pm, and I'm planning to go to bed much earlier than my 2 am bedtime in Vienna. After all, there are no dishes to do, and I'm pretty tired from several days of short nights and no chance to sleep in the morning. And tomorrow, I have to get up early.
