Friday, April 6th. Vienna. 8 weeks ago, Arthur got his first round of vaccinations in Singapore. We told the doctor that we would be traveling until June and we asked what we should do about the second round of vaccinations. He said we should get the second round around 8 weeks after the first dose. It just so happened that we would be in Vienna on the 8th week. It seemed to be better to get vaccinations in Vienna as opposed to Prague or Bratislava. When we checked online, Vienna had an extensive vaccinations plan and they were given for free.
I had looked online for a doctor who could speak English but we also asked Russell, a friend of ours who used to live in Vienna, if he had a recommendation for a pediatrician. He gave us a doctor whose practice was right next door to our Airbnb apartment: Dr. Martin Zekert.
So on Wednesday, we popped in next door to ask if the doctor could give us the vaccination. The secretary was super nice. At first she asked us to make an appointment for another day. We told her we were only going to be in Vienna until Saturday. Then she said, “Oh, you’re a tourist!” I guess we should have explained that first.
In summary, the doctor was able and willing to do a check up and administer the vaccinations. However, since vaccinations are free only for Austrian residents, we would have to first purchase them at the pharmacy (with doctor’s prescriptions) and then come back to have them administer by the doctor. So, we got the prescriptions and headed to the nearest pharmacy which was just around the corner.
The pharmacist at Johannes Apotheke said that she had two out of the three vaccines. She said she should be able to order the third and it would usually arrive by the next day. Unfortunately, Rotarix was not available for order. She then explained how no other pharmacy in Vienna would be able to order it for the next few months. The only chance we had was to ask other pharmacies to see if they had Rotarix in their stock. We asked her to reserve the two that she had while we visit other pharmacies to find Rotarix.
We went to the closest pharmacy. No Rotarix. We walked to another one. No Rotarix. And a third one. Still no Rotarix. We decided to go back to Johannes Apotheke, buy the two vaccines, and go home to call other pharmacies in the area.
When we reached Johannes Apotheke, we couldn’t find the prescription. I must have left it in the other pharmacy!
Arthur, who had been in the carrier (we didn’t bring the stroller) all this time, was getting sleepy. So instead of the three of us going back to the pharmacy to get the prescription I left, Arthur and I headed back home which was just around the corner while Sean walked back to the other pharmacy.
When Sean reached back home, Arthur was still sleeping. We decided that we were going to order in some food for lunch and while waiting for the delivery, we’d call several pharmacies. We used the uber eats app to order some food. Then, while waiting, we started calling pharmacies. I’d get the name of the pharmacy from here maps and look up the phone numbers on google, and Sean would call them to ask if they had Rotarix in stock.
We called 20 pharmacies. None had Rotarix. And uber eats got our food order wrong.
At some point, Arthur woke up and we played with him. When he showed signs of sleepiness, we put him back to sleep, got out of the apartment, and headed to Beldevere Palace. It was only a 5 minute walk from our Airbnb.
It was sunny and warm. We debated if we should go in or not. We decided not to.
So we continued on walking.
We decided to head to Stadtpark.
There were so many people there sitting on the benches or on the grass, enjoying the first warm day of the season. It was a nice 18 degrees day with clear sky.
I even got me some ice cream.
We decided to sit on one of the benches too. We watched as people passed us by.
Then Arthur woke up and I fed him. He hung out with us for a while, and when he started to get antsy, we decided to grab early dinner at a Biergarten nearby. On our way there, we saw a group of people hanging around near a tree. We thought it must be a tour group. It wasn’t. It was Pokemon Go.
Such an interesting contrast between them and those sitting on the grass.
When we got to the Biergarten, we made ourselves comfortable, and Arthur didn’t mind hanging out in the car seat.
One thing we noticed about Vienna was that people could smoke anywhere in the outdoor. People kept smoking near us. In the park, in the Biergarten, at an intersection… and there seemed to be a lot of people smoking.
Anyway, after the meal, we called an uber and went home.
Yesterday, we began our day at Schonbrunn Palace. We got there at 9:30 which was actually a perfect time because when we exited around 10:45, there were so many tour groups coming in.
Traveling with a large stroller, we got to see some parts of the castle that are generally closed to the public because the elevators were only accessible in the staff-only sections of the museum.
Arthur was awake throughout the whole 40-room audio guide tour of the palace.
We left the Palace at 11:15 to head back to the doctor.
Arthur got his vaccinations and the doctor did a full check up on him as well.
Then we went back home to monitor his temperature and to let him take a nap. This time, we used foodora app to order some lunch. After lunch and when Arthur woke up, we decided to go out again. This time we headed towards Karlsplatz. It was a 35-minute walk there. It wasn’t as warm as the day before but it was still a pleasant temperature.
From here we walked to Naschmarkt.
At one point, Arthur wanted to get out of the car seat but it was raining so I couldn’t carry him around the market. We decided to take shelter in a small cafe.
We wanted to head towards the museum quarter but Arthur was fussy. So we decided to go home instead.
This morning, we made our way to the historic centre. Passing through the opera, we walked to Hofburg Palace and went in to see the imperial apartment and Sisi museum. We then had lunch at a restaurant right by the Palace.
Afterwards, we walked around the Old Town.
Then we went home and had an early night. Arthur had been waking up every two hours last night so we were exhausted.
I hope he’d be better the next couple of nights.
two backpacks and a diaper bag 