The 2024 Euro Trip: Chapter 1 - Take Off!

 Dear Koko, 

I would say I had the privilege of travelling with the most enthusiastic 9 YO ever on the most high-octane Euro trip ever. While we wanted to be lazy and relaxed, we ended up packing our days with so much to do, and you kept up at every step. There was never a complaint from you. I am so happy that you adjusted so fast and so well. I know you had a lot of fun, so did I. In fact we had so much fun that one letter would not justify what we did. 

I had in fact kept in mind about our letters so I had kept a short journal of sorts, which I will now transfer to your letters. So here is the first in the series. Let us start at the beginning. This trip did not start now when we took our flight and set foot far away from home. This vacation started months ago when we first started planning. Each of us had opinions which were tugging us in three different directions so zeroing in one place which covers all our interest areas was the first hurdle to cross. 

Once we had that figured out, of course what are we going to, how are we going to do and for how long were the next few questions. We needed museums and science stuff, Pokémon cards and dreamy European towns, board games and canal cruises, but most of all we wanted a seat at Roland Garros. How oh how shall we include all this in one trip I said, but then came your super dad, with his extreme project planning capabilities with an itinerary no one else could come up with. 

We had planned to travel light this time, because we really, truly suffered last time lugging large suitcases on cobbled roads. So we had two small suitcases (cabin sized) and one medium suitcase (in case we buy something there). Apart from this there were two backpacks which essentially just carried our jackets. We decided we will not buy anything so surely this would suffice. Just in case we packed the rucksack in one of the pockets in our suitcase, just in case. We were travelling on a Monday so we lazed on the weekend and just prepared for the trip, doing some last minute packing and shopping. Your father bought a jacket and said this one jacket would be enough, and smirked at me for overpacking. 

The airport formalities were smooth and our first visit to Bangalore T2 was great and we waited for our flight. I was wondering if Qatar Airways will give any goodies to you as are not a baby anymore. The goodie bag with books and puzzles and colors are still kept in your room. 

The fun however was in the new truth you unearthed on long international flights. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a child on an international flight, may stay awake and binge watch movies while the parents sleep. And you ensured to take complete advantage of the situation. You landed in Doha zombie eyed and happy, only to discover a FIFA store selling football jerseys. What! And a complete Oreo cafe - Oreo in milkshakes, and ice cream and just like that - is this place for real?

While we were looking for the next boarding gate and other boring things, your vacation had already started! We just had a couple of hours so we reached our gate and waited there. Airplane delays (albeit ours was just a bit) are such a great leveller - people from different walks of life and different countries all slowly giving up and sitting down one by one on the floor after scanning our boarding passes and waiting on the aerobridge. Your father and I exchanging glances on how long this wait will be, a group of chirping teenagers slowly starting to listen to their guardians (perhaps teachers) and quietening down, busy expensive suit wearing working people constantly checking their emails, two new parents trying to feed their son on a pram - an air of uncertainty all around, till said child flung his mashed apples on a glass wall and everyone started laughing. Assurances to the parents that there was nothing to be embarrassed about abounded and soon people were talking among themselves, like a child needed to do something outrageous to jerk people out of their reverie and get them talking. But it was just a matter of around 15 mins and we were boarded. We, relieved to be on the longer leg of of our journey and you totally geared up for some more movies!

After 7 hours we were in Amsterdam and what happened next is the next chapter :)

Love,

Ma