Vacations are Great – Traveling Sucks

We finally made it back from Croatia last night (one day late). The trip was GREAT and I’ll tell you more about that later. But before I do, let me just share with you our recent travel experience. It went something like this:

Tuesday, 6:30 AM
We pack our bags into the rental car and head to the bus station in Omisalj. There we meet the car rental dude and wait 25 minutes for our bus to arrive.

7:20 AM
We get on the bus and ride 3 hours to the Zagreb bus station where we run back and fourth looking for the next bus to take us to the airport. We find it, get on it, and wait for it to take off. Thirty minutes later we arrive at the Zagreb airport – several hours before our flight.

10:30 AM
We had 4 hours to kill in a tiny airport with NOTHING to do and hardly any Croatian money left. As if that’s not bad enough, the plane is delayed another 1.5 hours.

4:00 PM
We finally get on the plane – yeah! However it parks on the tarmac due to bad weather in Germany. Another hour goes by.

5:00 PM
We managed to take off and land in Frankfurt . . . AFTER our connection flight to the US already left. Now we are stranded in Germany. We run all over the airport trying to figure out what to do next. We finally find the right line to stand in and wait and wait for somebody to help us with our re-bookings.

6:00 PM
We go outside to find the shuttle that will bring us to our hotel. The next one was due in 7 minutes – yeah! Only problem was that by the time it got to us, it was full. 25 minutes later the next one comes. Also full.

7:00 PM
We are still waiting for the stupid shuttle and we are fuming. Just when we were about to give up and get a taxi, the next shuttle arrives and we get on.

7:45 PM
We arrive at the hotel, check-in, have dinner and get online.

9:00 PM
Quick shower (with no luggage) and go to bed.

6:00 AM – Wednesday
Grab a quick breakfast and get on the shuttle to the airport. Get through the double security fiasco and wait around in the smoky airport for our 9:55 flight.

10:00 AM
Our flight takes off for Washington!
8.5 hours in the air.

6:30 PM or 12:30 PM local time
We land in Washington and now have to get through a 4.5 hour layover. Did I mention that I’m exhausted, dehydrated, grubby and completely sick of this by now?

4:30 PM
Our boarding time finally arrives and so far the gate says “on-time.” I can not wait to get home. We board the plane and start to taxi . . . then the plane pulls over and parks. Engines shut down.

5:15 PM
Captain announces a delay. Thunderstorms are preventing us from leaving. Next update in one hour . . .

6:00 PM
The toddler behind me refuses to shut up and the baby next to her is still screaming. Right about now I’m glad they don’t allow knives on board because I’m seriously considering slitting my wrists.

6:35 PM
After 3 take off attempts, followed immediately by “Sorry folks, air traffic control changed their minds again . . .” the Captain finally said that THIS time we are REALLY going to take off after all. The completely packed aircraft cheers with glee and we are on our way home.

8:30 PM
We arrive at Bradley to a completely gray sky and muggy damp weather, but who cares? We are (almost) home. We run out to Andover to get our mutts.

9:15 PM
We finally walk in the door at Dad’s. I drop my bags, let out a big sigh and tell Dad that was the most hellish two days of traveling in my life. It took us 44 hours to get home. Dad asks “Was it all worth it?” and without any hesitation, I say “YES.”

The trip was amazing and I will have lots of details for you to come. Stay tuned.