The flight is done

Now we have arrived in Thailand

Our little dwarf was incredibly well-behaved and cooperative, fortunately. The drive to the airport was accompanied by excited "Ohhhhs", the many lights of the city and the Schwechat refinery were so spectacular at night. Everything went smoothly at the airport itself. Samuel was so excited and fascinated that he just looked and waited to see what would come next. The highlight was the incredibly long escalator down to the airplane. The takeoff went wonderfully, without a panic attack for me and without any pain for Samuel. We were well prepared with special earplugs that are supposed to make it easier to equalize the pressure. The description just didn't say how to get the child to keep the plugs in their ears. I doubt if the effect lasted for the 3 minutes, but please :-) But apparently nursing during takeoff was enough. Our little one actually got to watch TV for the first time in his life during the flight. It was an experience, adorable. Since we don't fly every week, the exception was quite acceptable. After that, he fell asleep peacefully, which surprised me because Samuel is usually a child who falls asleep when being carried, but I guess the energy dwarf was actually tired enough at 2 o'clock in the morning to be glad to just close his eyes for once. I have to say, it was a little uncomfortable to have a 1.5-year-old on my lap for 9.5 hours. Having not flown long haul in over 10 years, I couldn't remember how cramped it feels. Either that or the seats and aisles have simply become narrower. The third theory, that we have gotten fatter, is hardly likely to be true :-) That was the first time I wished for the business class or had a bigger budget for his own seat. But the flight passed by and even my extreme fear of flying was kept in check thanks to my overly motivated preparation. Fear of flying seminar, Bach flowers, passionflower, and even cranial treatment on the day of departure surprisingly allowed me to remain calm, despite the announcement of turbulence during the flight, which fortunately did not occur. After reading some reports about subjecting a child to such a long flight at such a young age, I was a little worried. A very small baby on the plane actually had a hard time and cried heartbreakingly for a long time, but at Samuel's age, I don't think it is such a terrible ordeal anymore, or the experience and the valuable time spent on vacation outweigh it. Upon arrival, we were immediately greeted by the unmistakable smell of Bangkok and the humid heat. We were relieved to have the ice-cold taxi ride behind us and looked forward to our room at the dreamlike Anantara Riverside Hotel right on the Chao Phraya and a shower. In the evening, we went straight to the famous Asiatique Market, where we were able to enjoy our first incredibly delicious Thai food, but tiredness prevailed and we soon returned to the hotel and went to bed, where none of us were awake for another 5 minutes :-)