Croatia Holiday

Croatia is an amazing country to visit. We definitely recommend putting it on places to see (especially before the Euro takes over completely!).

We stayed in a lovely family run boutique hotel in Cavtat, which is a few miles south of Dubrovnik. Its easy to tell the two cities apart in the slide show. Cavtat is a very small village with a sheltered bay. Dubrovnik is a walled city that looks right upon the Adriatic Sea. Both are unique in their own ways, Cavtat with its tree canopied hills and water side cafes, and Dubrovnik with its war scars and historic feel. We spent our time relaxing, reading, and eating (of course). Each day we spent time in both cities, and if it was closer to summer weather the islands throughout the area are wonderful places to visit.

And then there is Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. Why were we there you ask? Per the beginning of the slide show, we went on an adventure sponsored by Austrian Air/Croatian Air/Vienna Airport. The trip didn't start out well, and got progressively worse throughout the first day. When we arrived at Heathrow, the liquid police decided Anna's bag was 1 inch too long so we were sent back to check our bags. Given United allowed for 30 minutes connection in Vienna, this wasn't good. After leaving 40 minutes late, we were pretty sure we were not going to make it (and if we did not with our luggage). It didn't help matters that we had matching middle seats, and Anna's neighbor was in a yelling match with another passenger.

"Luckily" as we were about to land, the captain informed us that the Dubrovnik gate was next to ours and the flight hadn't left. Much to our surprise, it hadn't left because it had been canceled. Technically, the pilot was right. Austrian Air decided on our behalf to given us 7 hours in Zagreb. This actually was a great side trip as it isn't the tourist haven that coast cities are, and it has its own historical charm. We are becoming extremely experienced with international public transit.

Finally, late that night we arrived in Dubrovnik. Of all of the areas of Croatia which had experienced war in the 1990's, the airport was the only one that showed it. We had a driver waiting for us as we got into the baggage area, and we were ready to go. Except as Anna predicted, our luggage wasn't. It seemed that for the 10 folks we traveled with from Vienna, Austrian Air forgot to put our luggage on our replacement flights. It would take another day for our bags to arrive (only 1 flight a day). As Anna filled out the paperwork and Nils called United to figure out what was happening, our driver cut bait and took someone else. Can't blame him, but it left us and 3 other victims with a problem. It seems as if there aren't many cab drivers in the greater Dubrovnik area who wanted to wait for the airport to close, so all 5 of us got in the only remaining cab. It wasn't a tough choice as the airport employees had locked the doors and turned out the lights. But hey, no luggage to clog up the boot!

Despite the excitement, we had such a wonderful time that we didn't think about it again until now. We can't wait to go to Croatia again, and next time to the islands near Split.