Up, up and away to Zagreb, Croatia

 

Yesterday, Saturday, was an early day, as we headed to the airport a little after 6 am.  We thought the parking and the airport would have been packed.  I can't remember the last time I saw so many empty parking spaces at the parking garage.  We were lucky to find one right by the elevator.  Even better the shuttle was waiting for us when we got off the elevator.  There was a big traffic jam where the Southwest Airlines passengers were getting out but terminal three didn't have another vehicle by the curb.  No one was at the United kiosk.  We figured all the people must be at the TSA .  No one was in line for the Global entry and the TSA agent who checked our passports had time to chat with Bill about where he lived in West Virginia.  

We flew to Denver right on time.  I wanted three hours between flights when OAT booked our flights.  We're getting too old to dash from gate to gate.  It gave us a chance to grab a light lunch from a pick of fast food resturants.  

Once we boarded our next flight to Frankfurt we were very pleased to find out I had a window seat and then an empty seat and then an aisle seat for Bill.  Once we were on the plane it didn't take off for another hour.  Unfortunately for some, but since we had another 3 hour wait once we arrived in Frankfurt we didn't mind. It turns out they were waiting for more meals from the caterer and then the caterer broke down. 

I must say Denver airport could stand to spend some money for new seats.  The covers were all worn and when someone sat on one end you felt like you were on a see saw.

Of course that late departure meant that there was no gate so we had a "remote gate" and had to bused back to the terminal at Frankfurt, Germany.  Once again, no problem, we had another three hour wait.  While we were waiting I noticed a couple that had OAT luggage tags.  They are on our tour and from Portland, Oregon.  

We had to be bused out to our plane for Zagreb and once again climb the stairs with our carry on   In less than 30 minutes we had left the plane, gone through customs and retrieved our luggage.  An OAT local guide met us and took us to the van for a short drive to our hotel.  Our hotel is very conveniently located in the center of town.  The Christmas markets are all set up in the square.  

Zoran was doing a walk around the area to show us where we could exchange money, find a pharmacy, market and restaurants at 4 which gave us 20 minutes to go to our room and get a jacket and brush our teeth.

There were 5 of us that took this tour.  The others were either on a pre-trip or arrived earlier in the day.

Here's a picture of near the hotel.  Notice that they are getting the New Year's Eve decorations up.

They lights didn't show up very well in this photo of the park.

We're going to hear more about Tesla in the coming days, but here's a photo of his statue.

Zoran asked if we had ever tasted roasted chestnuts.  He bought these for us to try.  They put them in a paper cone and then you get a second cone for the shells.  They were very good.

Zoran said you need to be careful where you get these as some places burn them to much.

We exchanged some money  because the bars and Christmas markets don't do credit cards.  We had dinner with Murray and Dale at a pizza restaurant.  Everyone eats outside.  They had some kind of sheep skin and a blanket on the stools.  They also had some outdoor propane heaters going.  I picked a pistasho pizza that I thought was very good.  Bill didn't care for it.

Tomorrow looks like a very full day and we haven't had much sleep since Friday night.  

Turtle Safely......