How not to travel to Vienna (6.)
After a hard walk, I woke up Monday morning with a fever. I was shivering with cold, felt weak, and couldn't get out of bed at all. "What the hell?"
I ended up not buying a headband and gloves in time to prevent this significant cold. My nose was full, I had no appetite, and it seemed like every step was a fall. I was freaking out at 6 am, still trying to work myself up and not get to the worst state where I would have to lie in bed all day with a paracetamol and hot tea on my bedside table.
As soon as my husband woke up, he was horrified by my expression and understood what this meant for me.
Of course, I had to wake up and at least go to the dining room for breakfast, because that's what I always looked forward to every morning. This time I just unknowingly sat there at the table and suffered every minute of sitting in the chair. My husband brought me chamomile tea with honey and lemon, tried to load my bowl with at least some fresh fruit, and I had to eat a dry bagel on command. I am absolutely incapable in these states and I hate being forced to do anything when I have to struggle to keep myself in my chair. I was trying to look nothing but tired in front of the other hotel guests, luckily I wasn't sneezing, I was just getting bubbles near my nose and my head might have been spinning. My sinuses just got cold and it went "beautifully" to my ears, which were covered with a heavy cold.
"Oh God, just finish it so we can go back to the room and I can keep dying in bed!" I cursed in my head, hating my husband when I could see him enjoying it when I couldn't share it with him.
The plans for the day fell into place just as I did. Fortunately, we still had 2 more days to go and I assumed that after one day the worst would pass, as is my habit.
I get sick about once every 10 years, but when it comes due to weak immunity, physical exhaustion, and fatigue, it hits in a big way. Of course, I couldn't let that happen, so I sent my husband to the pharmacy to get vitamins and medicine to bring down the fever and cold, which luckily was around the corner. He threw a reluctant face at me, got dressed, and headed out. I was grateful to be able to die in peace alone for a while, resting in bed with my dog on my lap, who was using his strength to reduce the pain throughout my body. Our rescuer always senses this and immediately starts his flow of energies that help me to heal faster.
After hanging a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door, I took a quick hot shower and wrapped in 2 layers of clothes, crawled into bed so I wouldn't freeze. My head was just peeking out of the covers as I waited for my husband to arrive with a batch of medication to help bring my fever down.
When he arrived from the pharmacy, out of breath from the cold weather, he handed me the first pill, which I happily downed and continued lying there mindlessly. As he was still sufficiently fed from breakfast, he did not hesitate to crawl into bed with me and rest, so that he could digest it nicely and sleep off his fatigue. He turned on the TV and flipped through the channels, trying to find something decent to watch. For me, it didn't take long to feel the quick effects of the parahydrogen as my body "melted" into the bed with a little relief when my bones didn't hurt as much. I fell asleep within half an hour, hoping that when I woke up the worst would be over.
I slept for an estimated 3 hours, which was very helpful and my body miraculously recovered. I felt significant relief as an incredible hunger came over me (finally) and that was a sign that I was out of the worst of my condition. I even had the strength to take a shower because I had sweated through all the layers of clothing and wanted to feel fresher and healthier.
In the shower, the hot water loosened up my sinuses and I could breathe again, and smell the scent of my favorite shower gel and shampoo.
As my body received the care it deserved, I suddenly realized that my psyche and taste buds needed to be satisfied as well. I got a terrible craving for sweets and so I instructed my husband to go and buy me some of the same to eat, but in larger quantities, because after the pain and weakness I just needed the sugar and ecstasy of chocolate and biscuits.
As a kid I grew up on German and Austrian renowned treats, as I lived in Germany with my parents for a time, so I've always known their quality perfectly and knew exactly which ones were the best for coating my nerves.
Time passed faster than usual.
Suddenly we turned around and it was evening, cooler again.
In the early evening, after devouring all sorts of chocolate bars and cookies, we lounged in bed together, now in a better state of mind, and watched the evening shows. We tried to make plans for the last 2 days of our stay but left it open-ended as we were both waiting to see how I would be the next day after my fever and severe cold.
The next morning I felt I was in much better shape than the day before.
I even got up before my husband and doggie, took a thorough shower in the hot bath, and did the necessary beauty routine that always kicks my day off.
I was able to breathe freely, my bones recovered and my general physical inability disappeared.
I was so grateful that my cold and fever didn't prevent me from enjoying the last of our vacation. Of course, I had to keep warm and not underestimate anything this time.
Of course, the weather wasn't playing into our hands. The degrees outside had dropped quite a bit and we were wondering what else we could do.
We agreed to do some last-minute shopping in Parndorf for gifts and trinkets for our families and indulged in some more for ourselves.
We tried to hunt down the last bits of the bulk discounts on clothes and shoes that we so desperately needed, although it was a real struggle to find the right size and style as people had bought up a lot of items before us.
This time our backpacking didn't last long as we quickly tired and returned to our car with our bags. Our cruise mood was leaving us and we left intending to get back to the hotel as soon as possible.
Suddenly we were fed up with Vienna. We thought about going back to Prague a day early.
We felt homesick and longed for the peace of our home.
We had resigned ourselves to the fact that this holiday had not gone well twice.
Our sovereigns and beautiful photos were, however, an important acquisition from our trip, along with a gorgeous new wardrobe.
We headed home the next day right after breakfast to avoid traffic jams and complicated ride.
Along the way, we reminisced, were grateful and ended up laughing sarcastically about it all.
We are one of those individuals who usually always have something unpleasant happen on a road trip or outing because it's such a family tradition of ours.
No vacation is complete without a good escapade.
Have you experienced similar obstacles on your holiday? How did you deal with it?
Write your experiences in the comments...
