Recently my days have been very busy trying to raise money for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. The Take Steps Walk was this past Sunday, June 2nd and the Team Reiss team members came through again. As of now they have raised about $115,000 with more still coming in. This is the most the team has ever raised and put us in a great position to next year bring the grand total to over $1,000,000. Our family, and millions of other sufferers, thank you. If you are interested in joining Team Reiss and making a donation, it is not too late. Here is the link.
Join me in helping end Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis
https://takesteps.crohnscolitisfoundation.org/participant/TeamReiss
With the Take Steps Walk behind us, Patrice and I could get back to traveling. We are now on our way to Croatia. You might be asking why Croatia and I have to admit it was not our first choice. Originally we planned to go to Norway and Sweden. The agent we contacted told us that the trip would be expensive because Scandinavia was much in demand with the lessening of travel restrictions enacted during the Covid pandemic. Even that didn’t prepare us for the quote of $52,000 for a 2 week trip. Apparently they didn’t realize we just planned to visit the countries. We didn’t plan to buy them.
So it’s off to Croatia we are. Our travel company recommended we arrive at the airport 3 hours early for this international flight. That seemed a bit excessive but Patrice suggested we even add another 30 minutes and leave 3 and a half hours before departure. I told her “No way, I’m the man and I decide when we will leave”. So we had our bags packed this morning and ready to head to the airport 3 AND ONE HALF hours prior to departure. Patrice can be very scary at times so I do what I am told.
Turns out it was good we got an early start because the taxi was 10 minutes late. I prefer a cab over Uber because they typically arrive early and know where they are going. This driver was the exception, plus he didn’t help with our luggage and was on the phone the entire trip to the airport. That wouldn’t have been so bad if he seemed to know where he was going. We passed terminal 3 and we were still in the far left lane as we approached the Bradley International Terminal. Getting over to the right was an adventure in that we almost got hit by two different cars. I don’t want to be melodramatic but, is about 8 inches from another car equivalent to almost getting hit?
Once we arrived at the airport TSA security was also an adventure. Prior to going through TSA security we needed to walk past what I assume was a bomb-sniffing dog. We finally made it through security and after a short rest in the lounge we were ready to board.
Our flight was on Lufthansa. Did you see the recent Lufthansa landing at LAX? If not, here’s the link.
With that in mind I was a bit nervous about the flight. One of my patients, Barbara, works for Lufthansa and I told her that the video made me very uneasy about the flight. Barbara reassured me and even contacted the flight purser, Vera, who welcomed us on the plane and assured us that our pilot was very capable.
The flight was very smooth with a rare episode of mild turbulence. I did have a problem getting the headphones out because they were stuck under the remote control. I tried everything I could think of to free the cord. I then asked the flight attendant who couldn’t possibly weigh more than 110 lbs (oops I forgot we are heading to Europe, I meant 50 kg) and she popped it out like it was a child’s toy. Oh well, bullied by my wife this morning, now shown up for my weakness by a flight attendant, this trip is off to a great start.
Next it was time for some food. The very sweet flight attendant offered me for a starter seared ahi (no, I like my food cooked), vegetarian (maybe), or veal. When I heard that veal was being offered I jumped at it. I remembered back in 1990 when I was a doctor for the PAC 10 all star basketball team tour of Germany. We were greeted in a variety of cities and almost every night my pregnant wife and I were treated to veal. We were told they wanted us to experience an authentic German meal. So I told the flight attendant that I’d have the veal, “It’s traditionally German, no?” She replied “No, it’s a baby calf”.
Landing in Frankfurt was smooth and we headed to the lounge because we had a 5 hour layover until our next flight. Patrice was able to get some sleep on the plane. She is my idol when it comes to being able to sleep. I, on the other hand, am a horrible sleeper. I was exhausted getting off the plane and was happy to see that the lounge had a sleep area. I headed there and found 1 of the 4 “beds” available. I made myself as comfy as possible and did manage to get about 30 minutes of sleep. There were 3 women in the other cots. One was snoring and another was coughing. It is amazing I got any sleep but what I did get gave me some renewed energy.
We then had a short flight from Frankfurt to Dubrovnik. The plane was not full and both of us had our own row. See below.
The Dubronik airport had very few passengers when we arrived. Getting through customs was a breeze and at baggage claim I only saw people from our flight and our bags came out very quickly.
Recently we have had some problems with our guides meeting us at the airport. That was not the case today. We quickly found the guide with a Tauck Tour sign, met a few of our fellow travelers and then had a very comfortable bus ride to the hotel. The scenery on the way to the hotel was gorgeous. We are looking forward to starting the tour tomorrow. I hope you will join us for the ride.
Robert Reiss Travel Blog and Other Ramblings 