We decide to take a trip to Europe. Mom has locked onto the notion of seeing the Danube River. My sister, the more experienced European traveler, looks into river cruises. We plan a once-in-a-lifetime trip: 3 days in Prague, an 8-day cruise on the Danube, and 4 days in London!
As this is a once-in-a-lifetime trip, I won't rush the blog posts. This one will be about trip prep and initial travel, but I promise some photos and stories. =)
Now it was up to Mary and me to take care of Mom. With Mom's brain tumor and other health issues, this might be harder. And do they even have 3-person rooms on this cruise? No.
The win-win-win answer: Bring a 4th person! In my mind, this was our "ringer." You could also call it our stabilizer, mediator, helper, etc. We'd have to pay for the extra airfare, but it would be worth keeping my sanity.
In the photo above, Auntie Nancy and Grandma are at the Sacramento Zoo. Rest in peace, Grandma.
Before we left, I read a little about the places we'd visit: Prague, Vienna, Budapest, London, and smaller cities and towns. Was there anything I really had to see? Did anyone want me to bring back anything or send a postcard? Not really. But I had a few friends in Europe, and it would be nice to see them again.
Oh, we also bought a new camera for the trip. It's a "mirrorless" camera, the Sony a5100. By removing the mirror, the camera body can be a lot smaller without sacrificing image quality. So it's supposed to be as good as a DSLR but the size of a point-and-shoot. (As my friend Steven said when he saw it, "It's all lens!") The a5100's specialties are fast autofocus and low-light conditions. It cost over $400, but I'm really glad we got it. (Remember: once-in-a-lifetime trip!)
Flights were expensive, I kid you not. These days I try to live on $150/month, which for many is a small number. But a roundtrip ticket to Prague is $1200+ (off-peak). Business class is $4000+. That's a lot of living-time to spend to get from point A to B. I had to remind myself that this was about Mom, not me. Mom flew business class, as it's more comfortable. In hindsight, I'm glad she did … probably!
In business class, you can lay all the way down and sleep.
That's all well and good. But my goodness! The trip ALMOST didn't happen at the 11th hour. And AGAIN at the 13th hour.
So, we're supposed to leave for the airport EARLY Saturday morning. My friend Glenn was supposed to arrive at 3:30 AM to drive us there.
Was Glenn on time? He was. Was Mom packed? Sort of …. We'd loaded half the bags into the car—when out of nowhere—Mom gets a NOSEBLEED! Mom hadn't had a nosebleed in years!
What would you do? Your Mom, with brain cancer and a host of other health problems, just got a nosebleed for the first time in years! And you're all supposed to fly to Europe for two weeks … now. What would you do?
Prayer and panic come to mind. I wouldn't blame someone for postponing or canceling the trip. Anyway, after a few minutes, we got Mom some spare tissue, I threw a spare nasal spray into a bag, and we left. Mom's nosebleed eventually stopped … for awhile. It'll come up in another blog post, I'm sure ….
So, we get to Seattle. Rendevous with Auntie Nancy! Then off to London for our connection to Prague.
At Heathrow airport in London, Auntie Nancy and I got separated from Mom and Mary. We said we'd meet at the gate. Auntie Nancy and I arrived there a few minutes before boarding.
Boarding starts. No Mom, no Mary. Crap, and we don't have international cell phones. They were right behind us and Mom said she was just going to use the bathroom! Another nosebleed? A problem going through security?
Boarding continues. We talk to the airport staff.
Everyone finishes boarding. Uh oh.
One of the staff tells us we have to decide: Board the plane without Mom and Mary, or stay behind and wait. If we stay behind, the next flight is in several hours. And they're not sure they can get all four of us on it.
We decide to *go*. Little did we know, at that same time, Mary had decided to *stay behind*, because Mom had fallen in the airport! (They were rushing, then Mom fell, so they stopped rushing and decided to just wait there and let the plane leave!) And when Mom fell, she somehow cracked her pinky nail and it was bleeding!
Suddenly, a man runs up to the gate. He's from a store in the airport near where Mom fell. He has a walkie-talkie, thank goodness.
Long story short: We tell them that we still may have time to get on the plane, so just get over here. All four of us board, hopefully with our luggage onboard as well. In my mind, I'm apologizing to all the other passengers for delaying the flight.
What's kinda funny—in hindsight—is that the place where Mom fell was really close to the gate, just around a couple corners. I'm not sure what the lesson is here. Don't separate? Go back and look for people? Get an international phone? Pray more?
Six days later, Mom's pinky heals okay. She lost a bit of nail, but it'll grow back.
Next time: Prague!
