Our flight out of Zagreb was not until 2:30, so we were able to walk the city gardens in the morning and enjoy our last hours in Croatia. We left for the airport on schedule. Zagreb's airport is said to be one of the most depressing airports according to Trip Advisor. I'd say that was pretty close to being true. Once through the security gate, there is a small waiting area by the gates, a very overpriced bar, and refrigerators with water and soda. However, they have a note on them that says, "Not in service and do not ask the bartenders to help you."
Checking in for our flight was odd. The counter clerk was able to check our bags through to SFO, but not us. She just advised us to get our boarding passes to SF at a United counter in Frankfurt and then gave us the standard Croatian shrug when we asked, "Isn't that weird that our bags can go through but we can't?" Going through security was not fun. The Croatian
security woman gave me a very thorough body check. She fully got to second
base and spent way too much time there and was rounding to 3rd (hands
going down inside my pants along my waist), Matt was watching and wanted
to know what all that was about. I replied, "I feel dirty. She should
buy me dinner and drinks after that." As we boarded the plane, everyone was given new boarding passes. When asked "why," I was told because a different plane was sent. They shuffled everyone, even though the plane turned out to be just another airbus of the exact same size & seating capacity. Matt was seated about 10 rows in front of me.
When we landed in Frankfurt, we had a 90 minute layover. I was looking forward to having some lunch at the little Bratwurst and pretzel stand, but after getting our boarding passes and going through a security check which with some of the most lame questions, we had to immediately get into our group boarding line. They loaded us onto the plane a full hour before take-off. So much for lunch.
The flight was 11 hours from Frankfurt to SF. We would be landing at 7:30pm, so we had to stay awake for the entire flight home so that we had a better chance of going to sleep that night. It was a LONG 11 hours.
We came home to find chocolates and treats from Switzerland from Mom, Mark and Erika and a very nice welcome home note. It had been a good trip and an excellent wedding!
We had actually hoped to wake up to overcast skies and perhaps some misty rain. That would have made for some excellent photos and worth hiking back up the trails early this morning. That did not happen, so Yahoo weather was incorrect and we did not hit the trails again. We took in a morning walk after breakfast and then packed up our gear to catch the 10:45 bus to Zagreb, the country's capital city.
Upon check out, we asked the desk clerk what she thought of the bus loads of tourists that arrived last night. She said that 2 years ago, China, Tawaiin, and Korea finally could get Visas to come to Croatia. Since then, the Croatians joke that after winning their independence, they were once again invaded by tourists from Asia.
We walked up to the main road where the bus had dumped us off a few days earlier. It was 10:30 and were waiting for the 10:45 bus. The bus stop was covered in graffiti with comments about waiting for a bus that never comes. This was an instant red flag. 10:45...no bus. 11:00...no bus. 11:30...no bus. 11:45...no bus. 12:00...still no bus. 12:15....It's our bus!!!!...only 90 minutes late.
It was a 2 hour drive to the capital city of Zagreb. Zagreb is a really cool city. There are no tourists here, only people living their lives and having fun while doing it. There are no bus tours and no tour groups. We just roamed the city finding really cool little places to people watch. There are many pedestrian streets and people stroll them to see and be seen. As evening fell, the springtime outdoor summer concerts started in the various parks. We enjoyed the outdoor concert in the park across the street from our hotel. Tomorrow the plan is to do a more formal walking route as per our guide book. First impressions of Zagreb — this is a very cool city.
Lower Lakes...here we come! We caught the shuttle bus to the trail head to reach the lower lakes. Upon our arrival, there was instantly a noticeable difference...people...bus loads of tour groups...tour groups that had people seemingly too old climb a flight of stairs let along a 1000 foot elevation gain. It would seem that the "90 minute stop" for most groups was the lower lakes. We kept thinking if we could just get past the slow moving herds, that we could break free, but we would just hit another group.
Finally, we came to a cave area which dropped straight down to the river below. The steps were narrow and very slippery but the big tour groups were avoiding them. So down 700 feet we went, into the cave which spit us out at the base of a waterfall along the river. The paths wove across the river along the cascading waterfalls. It was really enjoyable as we made our way along.
When our trail met up with the switchback trail from above, the intersection became a complete traffic jam and continued all the way until the base of the largest waterfall that was on everyone's "must see" list. What a log jam. The trail was flooded. People were stopping to take photos and blocking the narrow trail. Old people were losing their footing and the giant tour groups were jostling their way through oblivious to others or any trail courtesy.
It was one of those places where you had to focus on the beautiful thing in front of you and not the crap that was going on in the background. It was fun watching tourists pose for photo ops. I would never think to stand that way in front of a majestic waterfall.
We took the switchback up, frequently saying "on your right" to get past the slow movers and had a quick lunch. The we escaped and caught the shuttle back to the top of the upper lakes. It was instantly quieter and much more peaceful. We just enjoyed some time hanging out on the grass along the river in the shade, watching trout jump out of the river. Finally, it was time to meander back down the trail which would take up the remainder of the afternoon.
Once off the trail, I had my first Croatian beer. I asked the man a little Kiosk which he liked better, but he just replied, "Light or Dark." Before I could respond, he just placed a big bottle of beer on the counter and asked for 15 kuna. It was dark beer and tasted like flat Guinness, but it was cold and well....it was beer!
