I returned from Bonaire in February 2020, shortly before the Covid shutdown, and stayed in Canada for the duration of the pandemic. As the world was starting to open up, I became pregnant with twin boys. Eric and Ian made their grand entrance in April 2022, two months before their due date. Just over a year later, in May 2023, it was time to take the plunge and introduce our boys to international travel. Until then, the farthest we had ventured with them was across Ottawa.

I created multiple lists and dutifully ticked off boxes as items were packed. I pointed out to Chris that we never once during the trip said “Oh shoot, I left such and such an item in Canada.” “That’s because we brought the entire living room,” he responded. So yes, in true Helenka fashion, I way overpacked. We had more access to laundry than anticipated, so I probably could have left at least half their clothes at home. And we didn’t really need to bring the diaper pail, even though it folded flat. But the travel strollers, Babybjörn cribs, SlumperPod blackout tents, Flyaway kids beds, baby dishes, food bag, diaper bag, bottle warmer, travel toys, sound machines, baby helmets, baby carriers and all the other baby-related doohickeys turned out to be strictly necessary or at the very least extremely useful. There’s no such thing as travelling light with babies, and especially not with twins. The other essential items we brought were two extra sets of hands in the form of my parents, Babi and Děda.

I had imagined that we would walk onto the plane with twin babies and that everyone would give us the “oh no, please don’t sit near us” look. As it happened, I needn’t have worried. The boys turned out to be reasonably good flyers. I thought the noises and rumbles would scare them, but they didn’t seem bothered at all. On the first flight from Ottawa to Toronto, we encountered quite a bit of turbulence, which lulled Ian right to sleep. Maybe it reminded him of a bumpy stroller ride? They both slept for a good portion of the flight from Toronto to Vienna. We had bought seats and brought inflatable beds for the young princes, which certainly helped.

The only minor drama came as we were approaching the Vienna airport. I was holding Ian facing me for landing, as instructed by the flight attendant. He was moaning a bit, so I thought his ears were bothering him. There was nothing I could do about that except give him cuddles and encourage him to suck on his soother. All of a sudden, he started to cough that familiar cough. I quickly grabbed the barf bag and held it up to him. A few seconds later, everything he had consumed in the past 12 hours or so came out in reverse. He missed the bag entirely, but he got my shirt, my pants (right down to my underwear), my purse, the seat, the seatbelt clip…it was actually quite impressive. I did my best to wipe everything up as people exited the plane. The flight attendants were very nice and they told me not to worry.

We spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon with friends who live in a lovely house a very short train ride away from the airport. The boys napped for a bit in their cribs and blackout tents, but mostly they just moaned and cried. I really couldn’t blame them. It was hot; they were in a completely new environment; and they had only slept for about six hours that night, as opposed to their usual 11 hours (give or take). When it was time to check into our Airbnb, we took the train to the Vienna city centre. We met up with my brother Tony, his wife Alana and their children Hannah and Patrick in a gorgeous and spacious stroller-friendly ground floor apartment. Our whole family was together and ready for our European adventure!

We put the boys down for the night in their sleep stations, and they passed out right away. I had a fantastic shower (my first since getting thrown up on) and got all our stuff organized. Just as I was finally settling into bed, Eric woke up screaming. The poor boy was boiling hot. We took his temperature, and he had a mild fever. We gave him Tylenol and did our best to settle him. He screamed on and off for several more hours, until he finally cooled down a bit and went to sleep. He woke up the next morning right as rain and ready to start the day. Ian was chipper too, having thankfully slept through the entire thing.

Our Airbnb was close to Augarten, a beautiful city park with an awesome playground. The boys crawled around on picnic blankets while Hannah and Patrick enjoyed the play structures. I couldn’t resist trying out the giant teeter totter/tire swing hybrid with Tony. So much bouncy fun!

Of course, a stay in Vienna wouldn’t be complete without a visit to the Prater, a fairground in the middle of the city. Hannah and Patrick had a blast trying out ride after ride, and I joined Hannah on one of her first “bigger” roller coasters. She was nervous, but she hopped right on like a pro and ended up having a great time. We took the boys on their first-ever ride, a Merry-Go-Round, which they seemed to vaguely enjoy.

I spotted another twin family pushing around a Bugaboo Donkey 2 Twin, the double stroller that we have at home. It’s always fun to compare notes with other parents of multiples. The father told me that he found the stroller too big for Vienna, which I can definitely understand. European cities in general aren’t built for double strollers. The sidewalks are too narrow and the contraption can’t fit through most doors. Since we had so many extra pairs of hands for this trip, we opted for two single strollers that we occasionally tethered together. It made getting around much easier.

We had a magnificent dinner at the Schweizerhaus, my brother’s favourite restaurant on the planet. He’s truly at his happiest sipping a gigantic fresh Czech beer while surrounded by family. I don’t drink at all these days, but I appreciated the availability of two high chairs for the boys, the change table in the bathroom and of course the incredibly delicious food.

The following morning, we took the u-bahn (metro) to the Hauptbahnhof. Tony and Děda somehow fit our eighty gajillion bags into a taxi and met us at the station, where we boarded the train to the Czech Republic. Eric snoozed away in Chris’s arms as the train chugged along. Ian crawled over everything and everyone and went into full explorer-mode for the entire two-hour journey. Chris won that round of seat-mate lottery.

Auf weidersehen Austria!