Monday, June 24, 2019

An Unexpected Gift or Instant Joy

On our flight back from Chicago ORD on Wednesday night, we were asked upon check-in if we wanted to upgrade to business class for USD 400 per person (instead of 800). Personally, I found it a good deal, but we declined. As we were waiting at the gate, tired of hanging around at the (pretty  boring) airport and ready to board, we were paged and asked to come to the counter. As there had been many announcements before, requesting connecting passengers to proceed to the gate for document check or having their carry-on luggage tagged, I assumed that we also had to show our passports or something so was more than presently surprised when the same lady that had checked our bags waved new boarding passes and said "you have been upgraded to business class". My joy was out of this world. Ten hours of comfort and the possibility to sleep in a proper bed, not mentioning decent food, was a prospect I was extremely thrilled about and my tiredness evaporated immediately. I had flown business class on  long distance flight before (not on Austrian Airlines, though) and remembered what a difference it made. The flight must have been overbooked and so we, having tickets for the premium economy class (not bad, either, actually), had first upgrade priority. I had actually paid a rather hefty sum for this short trip so this was the perfect ending to a lovely mini-vacation. My giddiness and excitement about this unexpected gift lasted for hours and actually made it harder to fall asleep. I wanted to hug the nice check-in lady for making our return flight such a comfortable experience and probably smiled from ear to ear for most of the flight, taking photos of every meal and my legs stretched out, like the tourist I was. 

Monday, June 17, 2019

That Evil Twin of Mine...


When this post goes live I will hopefully have made it to Chicago. Apparently, I am a highly suspicious person, though, as for the second time I had the dubious privilege of an SSSS treatment. If you find these 4 letters on your boarding card for a flight to the U.S. (you know you do when you cannot download your boarding pass nor have it sent to your phone, but need to retrieve your boarding pass at the airport) this is what it entails. The first time (back in 2017 when I was flying to NYC with the Empress) I was selected, I got really nervous and was at the airport SUPER early as advised. I mean way earlier even than my normal notoriously early time. Thankfully, the screening did not really take that long eventually. As I don't think that I am a victim of racial profiling with my EU passport and ethnicity, I can only speculate that a dodgy person bears my name and I don't mean my mum whose first and second name I share. Alternatively, it must have been my business travel history in my last years at the Firm when I repeatedly visited Kazakhstan and Belarus for example. Are these countries suspicious to TSA or what exactly is it that makes me a qualify for the SSSS? I will most likely never find out, but it is definitely a nuisance and cause for speculation to me.

Monday, June 10, 2019

Staycation

We all know that I love weekend trips and if I could, i.e. had more annual leave from work, would take longer vacations several times a week. I do, however, tend not to go anywhere (apart from Klagenfurt) if it's a long weekend and everybody is flying or driving off. I've decided quite a while ago to leave expensive tickets, crowded airports and traffic jams on the motorways to those who are really desperate or tied to their children's school holidays. As an ex-manager of mine once put it "You and your glamorous single lifestyle". Well, you might sometimes be pitied as an unmarried, childless individual in her forties, but I actually really value the fact that I can prioritise me-time whenever I want to. This long weekend I really wanted to stay in Vienna and enjoy all the city and its surroundings have to offer. As the weather has been glorious the water rat in me got plenty of quality time in lakes and pools. For me, this was way better than jetting off somewhere or driving to my parents' whom I visited last weekend anyway and apart from relaxing I also finally managed to finish some projects I had been procrastinating on forever. The weekend is not over yet, but so far: 10/10!

Monday, June 03, 2019

Some like it COLD

On Saturday I inaugurated the al fresco swimming season 2019. The lake (Wörther See, what else) was barely 18° "warm" and I loved it. I mean, I've swum in water that was barely 15° so I did not even get goosebumps.
There's something about swimming in cold water that has a special appeal to me. Since i don't indlulge in any types of adrenalin sports, it is the closest I get to a feeling of achievement and (a very mild version of) bravery and - interestingly - men in particular shudder and and say for them water needs to be much warmer in order to even put a toe into it. I seriously love the rush of excitement I feel when going into cold water. Quickly, never once stopping to splash water on my arms like many people like to do. I have to immerse myself immediately or I would shiver. Once in, I swim with quick strokes until I start to feel very warm and my skin begins to prickle. When I get out of the water, I might have red arms and legs, but that's part of the appeal.
A while ago, I randomly stumbled across this documentary on YouTube that I initially started watching because I misinterpreted the title, thinking it was about a doctor who had a drug addiction. In fact, it was about a doctor who tried to encourage his patients to stop using their many drugs for problems ranging from high blood pressure to a variety of pains. One patient was depressed and he needed to come up with a good alternative remedy for her that had a likelihood of working as an antidepressant. After doing extensive research, he decided to suggest "cold water swimming". I could immediately relate even if I'm (thankfully!) not clinically depressed. That exhilarating feeling of feeling blood pump through your body and overall feeling very ALIVE is just unbeatable. So, even if you've been a thermal spa/whirlpool temperature kind of person until now, I highly recommend giving it a try!
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