On the Move

We get up early and are surprised that the Hilton has pastries, cold cuts, rolls and coffee out at 0400. We eat a pastry, Carol grabs a coffee, and we make sandwiches for lunch with a few extra pastries thrown in our bag as well. No hassle security, and then at the C gates, we have to wait 15 minutes for the passport control people to open up. That is 15 minutes of sleep I won’t get back. Through the passport police and to the gate where their door is closed into the room the gate is in. At 0530, they are open and we board shortly after. Even manage to spend 50 Norwegian Kroners on a couple of Coke Zeros for later. Nobody would take them in Denmark and I really didn’t feel like carrying the coins around for 2 more months.

I Think I See Croatia

The flight is smooth and we catch a shuttle from the split airport to Split where we have a few hours wait for a bus to Dubrovnik. That will be about the extent of today as we will probably just relax on the balcony of our apartment staring at the Adriatic Sea and having some cold beverages.
This might be a good time to reflect on phase one or 4 weeks in Scandanavia and the Baltic. We thoroughly enjoyed our travels there. The places we saw mixed history, culture, and natural beauty. We traveled by train, cruise ship, ferries, bus, metro, and now plane.

Our 4 Week Route

We are really happy with all of our hotel picks and hope that continues. Every place was clean, included breakfasts were good, and the locations worked well. The language barrier was non existent as everyone spoke English, but they always lit up with even a simple thank you very much in their native tongue. Food was much better than I expected it to be. I don’t know why I thought it wouldn’t be that good, but it turned out to be excellent everywhere we ate. The Norwegian people were by far the friendliest and you felt that they  had great pride in their work and for their country. Estonia and Latvia was the same feeling but the people were friendly in a slightly more reserved way. The Swedish people were also friendly and helpful, but I felt the Danish people overall were more rushed and abrupt at times than the other places. It also seemed that Danish staff were more into the money than the job, kind of like some places in America. We did not have much interaction with Finnish people so I will reserve any observations on them. The Russians we encountered other than our tour guide did not even crack a smile. I feel that they have a long way to go to change the culture that they once lived under. Still very beaurocratic and rigid feeling. It was apparent that the three countries, Norway, Estonia, and Latvia, 110 years, and 24 years old respectively had the most pride in their “new” freedoms and see to be embracing their future.
Now the last and most important observation. My wife is simply incredible. I can’t imagine going on this journey with anyone else. We work so well together as a team and every day she does or says something that makes me smile. Although I haven’t quite caught her optimism, it always helps me through my worries. I am looking forward to the next two months of this adventure. We are now in Croatia where the currency is the Kuna and 1 Kuna (HRK) = 15 cents.
Alright, just a little more to add. Our 3+45 hour bus ride turned into a 5 hour ride. Then due to some texting glitches, our ride from the bus station, who was the apartment owner, did not get my texts telling her we were lay and then we were here. After waiting 20 minutes, I saw a lady who looked like she may have been looking for someone and I ask, are you Ana? She is and we have a ride. She came down at 4:30 but we were not there and then they told her 5:00 so had been looking for us for a while. We apologize, but it is no problem. Ana is very nice and when we get to the apartment she goes and gets us cold beer to relax us and then tells us about the city, how to get around, the market nearby, and general information.
We decide it is too hot here ( over 90 degrees) to walk to town after our long day so go to the market to buy dinner. We get bread, gnocchi, a red pepper sauce we thought was tomato sauce, butter, beer, wine, and Croatian toothpaste for a whopping 12 dollars. Scandanavia shock is over. Nice dinner, good wine and a patio overlooking the Adriatic Sea. Things are looking good.
Expenses

Apartment Divanovic 792.5 HRK
Flight to Split
Two Coke Zero’s 50 NOK
Train Seat reservations for next week 16 HRK
1 Beer 6.59 HRK. Yea!
Paying to pee ( boo for this Croatia) 3x between us 9 HRK
Bus to Dubrovnik 246 HRK
Luggage Stowage fee. 16 HRK
Dinner and items from the market 80.53 HRK
Walked 4 Miles