Garcia Euro Vacation

We are going to Europe next week!  My family and I will be visiting Switzerland, Italy, France and Spain.  This is exciting and terrifying at the same time.  My husband will be leaving a few days ahead of us and I will be flying with two small children by myself from Bogota, Colombia to Geneva, Switzerland.  Yes, you heard that right.  I’ll be on a transatlantic flight for approximately 11 hours with a 2 ½ year old and a 10 month old.  I see lots of Benadryl in these kids’ future if you catch my drift.  This will definitely be a most interesting trip to Europe being that it is with two small children.  I’m sure our itinerary will be a bit different as we will be looking for things for the kids to enjoy.   I’m thinking the Louvre is not at the top of my toddler’s list.  Nonetheless it will be an experience that the whole family will never forget. 

In preparing for this trip I’m reminded of the first time I went to Europe way back in 2002.  I was in college and the Russian professor on campus was offering a trip to Eastern Europe and it was cheaper than any of the other study abroad options so I went.  The plan was to go to Hungary, Russia and Estonia.  I knew very little about this region of the world but I was ready and willing to travel anywhere. 

So off I went on a plane to Budapest.  On the plane ride there the flight attendant offered me a cognac which I happily obliged.  In college anytime someone offered you free booze you never turned it down.  It came in a charming little cup, almost the size of those shot glasses you get in Cancun on spring break; so I downed it all at once.  This was a big mistake.  I spent the rest of the flight in the bathroom puking my guts out.  Apparently cognac is to be sipped not chugged. 

In my cognac induced stupor I finally made it to Budapest where I spent two glorious weeks with the kooky Hungarians.  When our time was up in Hungary we boarded a train bound for Moscow.  When the train pulled into the station I was taken aback.  It had to be at least 60 years old.  In its Soviet heyday it might have been the crown jewel of trains but it looked and sounded like it was on its last leg.  The trip in these lovely accommodations would last about two days.  Everyone in the group was dreading the trip, but we got lucky after about 16 hours on the train. 

When we crossed the Ukrainian border the train was stopped by their equivalent of the border patrol.  The agents boarded the train and started asking for passports.  When they got to our room I gave them my passport, they took a look and slammed the door.  I tried to open the door but discovered it was locked from the outside.  I started freaking out a little bit.  About 20 minutes later they came back and motioned for us to get our things and come with them.  I was terrified of what would happen next since I didn’t speak Ukrainian and had no idea what was going on.  The female agent had purple hair though so I knew they weren’t going to kill me.  Anybody that has purple hair surely wouldn’t do anything too terrible.  They took us into the train depot and had us wait for what seemed like an eternity.  They told us that we would not be able to continue on through Ukraine to Russia because we did not have transit visas, we would have to wait for the next train back to Hungary.  We waited all day and all night.  Finally, around 5am a train rolled in bound for Hungary.  We didn’t have reservations so would have to grab any available seats as quickly as possible, first come first serve.  Apparently we weren’t the only ones without reservations though because when we went to the doors there was a group of about 100 people waiting and the doors were chained.  As soon as the train arrived the doors were unlocked and this group of Ukrainians and Americans was unleashed.   It was like a scene out of Doctor Zhivago.  Little old ladies with scarf covered heads and baskets ran like hell for the train pushing and kicking anyone in their way.  Luckily these stout old ladies didn’t knock me out and I got a seat on the train. 

We ended up flying to Russia and having many more kooky adventures.  Based on my last European experience I’m wondering how this next one will go.  I have a feeling it will be a bit like the Griswald European Vacation, nothing run of the mill for me and my family!