Home Sweet Home

I'm sitting at home this evening not quite believing I was in Amsterdam this morning, and our extraordinary trip has come to an end.

So many memories, new experiences,  and people we met along the way. The blog entries have captured the highlights, but there were so many other things that happened along the way: the jewelry salesman, our curious trip to a Croatian McDonalds, and  the sometimes irrational directons from our GPS. Overall, our first trip to Europe went well and  has whet our appetite to go back for more.

While I loved all the places we visited, it was the evenings we spent after a day of touring just hanging out at the villa playing cards, sharing laughs, and sampling the local wines that I will remember the most from this trip.

I have enjoyed writing this blog to share our travels with you and to help preserve the memories.  I appreciate the comments and positive feedback you have provided. I look forward to doing this again on our next big adventure, whatever that may be.

The Other City of Canals

We awoke in Zagreb and headed to the airport to return our rental vehicle and board our flight on Croatian Airlines to Amsterdam.

The airport in Zagreb is not very big or modern. There are no jetways at the gates. When your flight is announced, they scan your boarding pass and you exit onto the tarmac to board a shuttle bus that takes to the parked plane. You then climb a portable stairwell attached  to the back of a truck to enter the plane. Once on the plane, it was like any other flight, except for your snack of goat cheese and olives in olive oil.

Due to severe winds at our destination, the flight was delayed about an hour. After an uneventful flight, we cleared customs and took a shuttle to our hotel near the airport. We checked in, dropped our bags, and headed for Hoopdorf Station to catch the train to Central Station in Amsterdam.

When we emerged from the station and into the afternoon sun, we were greeted with instant chaos as hordes of pedestrians and bicyclists were competing with cars, taxis, buses and trams (street cars) in the public right of ways. And the bikes are everywhere in the congested core of the city. Not just those being ridden but countless bikes parked  up and down streets and along the many canals. As a pedestrian, you are more likely to be hit by a bike than a car.

We quickly found our way to a pedestrian mall full of shops and retailers, and of course the McDonald's, Burger King, and Subway. We eventually found less crowded streets along the canals to explore the central part of the city. We wandered for a couple hours, taking in everything and weaving among throngs of people around every turn.

We ended up in Rembrandt Square with a statue of the master and several statues of Dutch soldiers from the same era. The square was full of vendors representing several countries selling food, sweets and other wares. Just off the square we found a restaurant to enjoy a nice meal (and a Heineken) to savor our last night in Europe.

We barely scratched the surface in Amsterdam,  but we were impressed with what we saw.

Happy New Year!

As you might imagine, we got a little bit of a late start this morning after ringing in the new year last night in Venice.  We had a nice breakfast at the hotel restaurant before saying goodbye to Sam and Angie. They will be spending the day in Venice, then flying this evening to Dusseldorf and on to London early tomorrow morning. They will be in London until their flight back to LA on Sunday.

The rest of us packed up the rental vehicle to trek back to the Croatian capital of Zagreb. We began on an expressway headed northeast. Along the way we passed many large vineyards, industrial plants, and a couple of outlet malls. We exited and drove through Goriza and back into Slovenia.

Our sunny day turned gray and gloomy as we approached the capital city of Ljubljana  (lee-YOOB-lee-yahnna). We drove around the city center, but did not get out to explore. A large castle on a hill was perched above the city and snow covered mountains made a dramatic backdrop to the city skyline. Because of the clouds and gloomy conditions,  I didn't take any pictures during our short stay.

We resumed the drive to Zagreb, but as we climbed in elevation, we ran into a light snow mixed with freezing rain. We arrived safely at our hotel near the airport and are relaxing now before heading out to dinner.  When we arrived at this hotel nine days ago, we were trying to adjust to a strange and unfamiliar place.  Today, it was strangely familiar and welcoming.

Tomorrow morning we fly to Amsterdam and will spend the day touring the city.

Since I don't have any pics from today, I will share some more from yesterday in Venice. Ciao!