How not to travel to Vienna (4.)

We were slowly approaching the right turn-off to Parndorf. In the distance, we could see the familiar walls and hedges around the buildings, which breathed with splendor and elegance. We scanned the entire parking lot with our eyes, desperately searching for a vacant space as close to the entrance to the square as possible.

 

Eventually, we managed to park quite close, even though the entire lot was bursting at the seams.

I was intrigued and excited to finally browse our favorite stores with the brands we love to wear. Even though it was incredibly cold and there was a strong wind that almost blew us away, we equipped ourselves with warm clothes and even had a stylish Christmas-themed sweater for our doggy companion. Just in case, I took our errands backpack with a water bowl, water bottle, and a few odds and ends for the day's walking.

 

The amazing thing about Parndorf is that they are "dog-friendly - dogs allowed" - so it's no problem to enter and shop in the store with your dog. They are very nice and friendly, plus we get an automatic 10% discount on every purchase. It was quite funny when I chose a few pieces of clothing to try on and went into the fitting room with him. He sat there by the door and waited, at least he could rest for a while from the day's hike. In the meantime, my husband brought me various models to try on, until the salesmen made fun of me for having my fashion consultant. And truthfully I'm not a big fan of scouring the racks and picking up items for my shopping cart that had to be honestly tried on to see if they even fit. I prefer a situation where I look, measure with my eyes, grab and go. I rarely miss a size, but in these boutiques, appearances are good because some blouses, dresses, or pants are cut differently and look different, so it wasn't a good risk to take because they were more expensive items and with my proportions, I was always a little worried I would overshoot. Broad shoulders, bigger chest, feminine curves, and a petite figure, imagine that!

 

With my husband, it was more than easy. In the first store, he got so excited that the shopping cart was too small and overflowed with all sorts of things. But that was the main reason we went. I was happier with his catches because I was tired of looking at half-decayed shoes, torn pants, or t-shirts, not to mention the ripped shorts I had to face every time I washed them, which looked like Spiderman had knitted them himself. Of course, since my husband works from home, he was in no hurry to make those purchases, and most importantly, he was also focused on gradually reducing his weight so he could feel comfortable in his new clothes and afford to buy whatever he wanted.

 

From Calvin Klein to Gant, then on to Armani or Guess. You didn't know where to go first. I felt like Pretty Woman on Rodeo Drive in Prague way. We always took one batch to the trunk of the car and went back to the stores we hadn't yet visited.

After we'd been courting for about 3 hours, we got a little hungry and needed to recharge our batteries at the vendor booth. We stopped for their famous pretzel and delicious punch, our spoiled four-legged pet got some fried chicken bits to have some of that too since he walked so bravely with us, and we finished it off with an amazing muffin filled with rich jam - AMEN! Eating alone had made us a little full and warm again, so we were ready to continue shopping so we could leave early for the Leonardo Hotel in central Vienna, where we had booked accommodation for 5 days.

Suddenly we turned around and it was dark, 5 pm and the place was slowly starting to empty. We went through almost every possible department in 1 day - elegant, sports, shoes, and accessories. We were shocked at what we could get for the prices. We were originally supposed to spend 2 days shopping but ended up doing most of it on the first day of our visit.

So we decided to call it a day and head to the hotel.

 

We got to the car and gradually piled all the bags and contents into the trunk. For traveling light without a big suitcase, I now had folded things even under my feet on the passenger side, and the bags were blocking our sweetheart's sleeping space in the back seat.

The drive to the hotel took a little over an hour, so we had time to relax and organize our remaining time on the way, but we agreed only to park in the hotel garage, carry all the bags up to the room, and after a hot shower, fall into the huge and comfortable bed in our room.

 

We booked accommodation in a residential area where there were well-known businesses and beautifully landscaped houses. Nearby we were also able to visit a few grocery and fast food stores or take a walk in a nice park where there was room to play with the dogs.

We found the hotel pretty quickly according to the directions, so we pulled into the hotel garage right away and hurried with all our luggage to the front desk so we could fill out the necessary accommodation forms, pay for the night, and go to our room.

We were greeted by friendly staff in the lobby, the reception desk promptly handled everything we needed and gave us our room cards, which were located on the 5th floor. Despite our tired eyes, we couldn't even see the elevator, we were festooned with bags like Santa Claus and were looking forward to finally washing the tiredness and exhaustion from a day of walking around the city off of us.

 

The room was beautiful - modern and cozy, with a big TV, shower, and a big comfortable bed, which was what mattered most. My husband went to wash up first, as it takes me longer to undress, perform the beauty ritual, and put nourishing lotion all over my dry body. Suddenly I caught my second breath and ended up unpacking a few of our personal belongings and getting a little organized. I got the doggie some more fresh water in his travel bowl, poured a few more granules in his other bowl in case he got a craving for a midnight snack, and then finally headed to the shower, where I wasn't surprised by my husband's usual water mess.

 

After less than an hour, I came out feeling reborn and relieved from the trip. Both of my boys were already snuggled in their blankets, watching some American comedy that was on TV.

With a naive notion, I placed the unread book that always accompanies me everywhere beside my bed, but as soon as I snuggled into the fragrant sheets I couldn't resist the laziness that stunned me into closing my eyes and waking up until the next day.