Successful Departure

---

Up at 4:30 to get dressed and drag our mattresses back into the family room. Check-in went smoothly for the first leg of the trip to JFK but the security line was ridiculous (especially for 5:45 am on a Sunday!) Our tolerance for the indignities of air travel was already pretty much shot and this was most unwelcome. Ultimately we made it on-board with a few minutes to spare and had a reasonably uneventful flight (Lauren had a drunken passenger almost pass out on her, but the flight attendant steadied him in the nick of time). Austrian Air from JFK to Vienna also went smoothly. The interior of the plane was decorated in a comical collection of colors, and the flight attendants were all attired in blindingly bright red from head to toe – making them look a bit like Oompa Loompas -but the service was excellent and the flight was smooth, arriving an hour early on Monday morning.

---