After nearly 27 hours of breathing recycled air, I finally landed in Vienna and was welcomed by a pleasant winter breaze (as well as by my brother to acknowledge his importance).

The flight was long and tiring, what can I say. It had its up and downs, especially during turbulances.   Once I got strapped in, we were informed by the calm captain´s voice that we would be flying through a storm, which was a great start to my already apprehensive flight.  My thoughts of aircrashes were thankfully soon replaced by dealing with stiffness in my joints  and irritatingly dry air (I moisturised like a maniac!).  I also successfully managed to spill a glass of red wine into my lap, which serves me right for ordering free alcohol on board. It sent me to a washing frenzy in a squeezy bathroom and I spent the next seven hours flying ”comfortably” in wet pants.

Once we reached Dubai, they herded us like a cattle through an ubelieavably slow transit check and then I fought 4 hours not to fall asleep so that I would not wake up somewhere in a Middle Eastern harem.  The last leg of the flight from Dubai to Vienna really tested me.  Of course, the boarding took place from the most distant gate so after miles of walking, we were loaded on a bus and driven to a middle of nowhere until we reached our designated plane. I personally thought, we must have been already half way to Vienna, it took that long to reach the plane. 

The Austrian guy sitting next to me had a child on his lap so sleeping was impossible. I stayed clear of red wine this time but also consiously limited my fluid intake to avoid asking five times an hour whether he could let me go to the loo. 

Then, a wonderful thing happened. I felt prompted to open the window and peek outside. The brightness was blinding, just how I imagine the bright light, which all spirits are drawn to in order to cross over.  The view was spectaluar. I literally saw the heavens. We were flying over snow covered mountains in Syria. It was absolutely breathtaking. I’m enclosing a photo to share this with you. I later saw similar mountains over Romania too but those resembled the Alps with their sharp peaks. I wrote down the name of places as shown on the flight info map and will try to find out what these mountains were.

So to conclude for now, I am safe and well. I saw my family and slept my 9 hours. I have not eaten any pork fat yet but my sister in law is yet to cook.  I´m off to Prague in a couple of days and will send another post soon. Thanks for all your comments. Miss you guys.