So, Sunday morning I woke up in Germany around 7am. Raymond, Jody and Jeanna were on earlier flights than me, Marc and Bill, so they left for the train station (right across the street from the hotel) around 7:30am. Marc, Bill and I headed there around 8:15am to catch a train to the airport for our flights. Bill was so nice! He took care of my suitcase the whole time, since he and Marc had checked their's through. I appreciated it because it wasn't as simple as we had hoped. We did a lot of back-tracking trying to get the proper tickets and then to get to our platform, but we found our train (which was quite a bit cheaper than the cabs we took the day before) and made it to the airport in plenty of time.
After that, it was just a waiting game. I got through airport security with no problems and waited. I did find a McDonalds in the airport where I had a breakfast of chicken nuggets and fries. It tasted similar enough to our version that I was satisfied, however I paid about 7 Euros for something that would cost me $4 in the States! Oh well, it was still good after not having any fast food for almost 6 weeks! ;)
One thing I found strange was that our gate had an additional security checkpoint, so I had to do the whole routine twice at that airport. Normally, it wouldn't bother me that much, but every time I had to take my laptop out of my backpack, which was stuffed so full, I had to do major rearrangements whenever I put it back.
The flight was a little less than 8 hours. I watched Spiderwick Chronicles and Definitely, Maybe. I could have watched more movies but the other ones I had already seen, so I just read a book for a while. We arrived in Washington D.C. around 3pm. I hate that airport! It was actually pretty organized when we got off the plane because they separated those of us with connections from everyone else, but there were so many of us with connections it was still a mad house. I waited for over 30 minutes (of my 2-hour layover) just to get my suitcase, so I could wheel it across the room after stopping at Customs for 2.5 seconds.
Then, just around the corner from where I dropped off my bag, security made me give them a tiny snowglobe that I had purchased in Montenegro because they said they weren't allowed. I gave the TSA guy a hard time about taking away one of my only souveniers from the country, but he didn't really seem to care. I told him they should update their website to include tiny snowglobes and to enjoy my souvenier. He said he was going to through it away anyway and that I couldn't even put it in the clear plastic bag. Jerk.
So, after the security fiasco, I was fuming and had about 45 minutes before my plane left, so I walked really fast to get to the shuttle which took us to the other terminal. I ended up getting to my gate and sitting down for about 5-10 minutes before I had to board the next plane. This plane was tiny! Only one seat on my side and two on the other. I was surpised when my carry-ons fit under my seat. One guy wasn't so lucky, he ended up getting his carry-on stuck in the overhead bin. They had to call maitenance to come and fix it, then he had to put his carry-on underneath. Despite the 10-15 minute delay while they pried open the bin, we still arrived on time in Indy.
I was off the plane and with my luggage in about 10 minutes from arrival. In fact, I was done and outside while Adam was still parking. We found each other and he helped me get everything to the car. We stopped at the Burger King in Mooresville for dinner and got down to Bloomington around 9pm. I spent about an hour unpacking and we were both in bed, sound asleep by 10pm (4am Croatia time). I got up around 7am today and plan to finish unpacking and going through my mail.
This is all for the travel blog for a while. I hope everyone enjoyed hearing about all of my adventures. I'll probably still add a few photos on here in the next week, but this will be the last entry for a while.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Day 39 - Frankfurt
Saturday I said goodbye to Croatia. My flight left around 4pm that afternoon, so I spent a good portion of the day saying goodbye to everyone that hadn't left yet. Our flight had 6 people from the group and Allysyn's flight left around the same time, so the 7 of us got a big sendoff from the hotel with everyone helping us get our bags into the van.
When we got to the airport, the 7 of us hung out with Matt G. and Stacey whose flight to London was delayed for a few hours. I was supposed to pay extra for the weight of my luggage, but he person I went to was nice and didn't make me pay because my flights had been booked seperately.
Our flight ended up being a little delayed but we arrived in Frankfurt around 6:15pm. It took us a while to get our luggage (for those of us that didn't want to check them all the way through), and change currency, etc. Then we took two cabs to the Hotel Colour. Marc and Bill (both from Pittsburgh) had their own room and I shared a room with Raymond, Jeanna and Jody. It had four twin beds, which was pretty cramped, but it worked.
We all settled in for a few minutes and then went downstairs to redeem our free drink coupon in the hotel lobby. We had a beer that was really good and then ventured out into Frankfurt to explore. We walked for quite a while along a river where I took a lot of pictures. Frankfurt isn't a particularly beautiful city, but it has some charm mixed in with modern architecture which I found interesting.
We eventually made it to an area where our hotel receptionist told us there would be traditional German food. We decided to eat at Adolf Wagner. It was so good! We ordered a pitcher (and this was no ordinary sized pitcher) of apple wine (what Frankfurt is known for) and a platter of pork (supposed to feed a group our size). It was so much food but so good! There were about five cuts of pork...chops, belly, shoulder, ribs, etc. and a sausage for each of us. They served it roasted and mashed potatoes...and of course, sauerkraut. I loved it! Bring me back to Germany any time. :)
On our way back to the hotel, even though we were absolutely stuffed from dinner, we stopped at an ice cream shop. I had a cookies and cream scoop in a home-made waffle cone. It was very delicious. Some of the others had strawberry cheesecake ice-cream with chunks of strawberries in it that looked really good too. As we ate our dessert, we wandered over to a local fair that was going on.
It was so similar to a county fair in the U.S., but smaller size. There was a ferris wheel, bumber cars and some other rides and games. It was cool because it reminded me of home, but everything was in German and the food offerings were definitely different. I didn't have anything to eat there but just walking around and looking at everything was really cool. After that we headed back to the hotel. By that time it was around midnight, so we went to bed pretty soon after that.
When we got to the airport, the 7 of us hung out with Matt G. and Stacey whose flight to London was delayed for a few hours. I was supposed to pay extra for the weight of my luggage, but he person I went to was nice and didn't make me pay because my flights had been booked seperately.
Our flight ended up being a little delayed but we arrived in Frankfurt around 6:15pm. It took us a while to get our luggage (for those of us that didn't want to check them all the way through), and change currency, etc. Then we took two cabs to the Hotel Colour. Marc and Bill (both from Pittsburgh) had their own room and I shared a room with Raymond, Jeanna and Jody. It had four twin beds, which was pretty cramped, but it worked.
We all settled in for a few minutes and then went downstairs to redeem our free drink coupon in the hotel lobby. We had a beer that was really good and then ventured out into Frankfurt to explore. We walked for quite a while along a river where I took a lot of pictures. Frankfurt isn't a particularly beautiful city, but it has some charm mixed in with modern architecture which I found interesting.
We eventually made it to an area where our hotel receptionist told us there would be traditional German food. We decided to eat at Adolf Wagner. It was so good! We ordered a pitcher (and this was no ordinary sized pitcher) of apple wine (what Frankfurt is known for) and a platter of pork (supposed to feed a group our size). It was so much food but so good! There were about five cuts of pork...chops, belly, shoulder, ribs, etc. and a sausage for each of us. They served it roasted and mashed potatoes...and of course, sauerkraut. I loved it! Bring me back to Germany any time. :)
On our way back to the hotel, even though we were absolutely stuffed from dinner, we stopped at an ice cream shop. I had a cookies and cream scoop in a home-made waffle cone. It was very delicious. Some of the others had strawberry cheesecake ice-cream with chunks of strawberries in it that looked really good too. As we ate our dessert, we wandered over to a local fair that was going on.
It was so similar to a county fair in the U.S., but smaller size. There was a ferris wheel, bumber cars and some other rides and games. It was cool because it reminded me of home, but everything was in German and the food offerings were definitely different. I didn't have anything to eat there but just walking around and looking at everything was really cool. After that we headed back to the hotel. By that time it was around midnight, so we went to bed pretty soon after that.
Friday, August 1, 2008
Day 38 (continued) - Farewell Dinner Cruise
You knew that a goodbye dinner here couldn't get by drama-free, so I just thought I would provide a little more entertainment. We all met up in for the dinner and it was a completely amazing view of the sunset in Dubrovnik and we were all having a good time. Some of us moreso than others...I didn't realize it at first but J.C. and Josh were already pretty intoxicated when they got on the boat.
The dinner was pretty bad. It was white fish that had probably been caught this morning. They still had the heads still on and a few of us were not very pleased about that. I did eat some of it, but looking at the fish made me lose my appetite. I ate a little bit of salad that came with the fish and some bread.
The real entertainment took place after dinner. We were still anchored in the sea near Dubrovnik harbor and J.C. decided to jump from the boat. It wasn't a big deal, I guess but it ticked off our administrator, especially when Josh asked for her permission to jump off as well. Once J.C. got back on the boat he apologized to her and then ended up falling down the very narrow stairs from the upper deck to the lower deck. At first no one knew what had really happened, but he ended up with a big gash in his leg and possibly a broken ankle.
The boat docked in Dubrovnik and a few of us got out there. I think the mood had dampened quite a bit and there was a group of us that couldn't handle the drama anymore, so we decided to get dessert in Dubrovnik and headed back on Mlini on the bus. I am heading to bed soon so I can get up tomorrow to finish packing and head home!
The dinner was pretty bad. It was white fish that had probably been caught this morning. They still had the heads still on and a few of us were not very pleased about that. I did eat some of it, but looking at the fish made me lose my appetite. I ate a little bit of salad that came with the fish and some bread.
The real entertainment took place after dinner. We were still anchored in the sea near Dubrovnik harbor and J.C. decided to jump from the boat. It wasn't a big deal, I guess but it ticked off our administrator, especially when Josh asked for her permission to jump off as well. Once J.C. got back on the boat he apologized to her and then ended up falling down the very narrow stairs from the upper deck to the lower deck. At first no one knew what had really happened, but he ended up with a big gash in his leg and possibly a broken ankle.
The boat docked in Dubrovnik and a few of us got out there. I think the mood had dampened quite a bit and there was a group of us that couldn't handle the drama anymore, so we decided to get dessert in Dubrovnik and headed back on Mlini on the bus. I am heading to bed soon so I can get up tomorrow to finish packing and head home!
Day 38 - Goodbye Croatia
The day began with our last final. It went ok, everyone thought the questions were a little weird, but it sounds like I said the same things they did. A group of about 12 of us went to lunch at the pizza place because we didn't want to eat lunch in the hotel restaurant again. I had a big beer with my pizza in celebration of completion of the classes.
After lunch I went up to my room for about an hour and started packing. I don't have it all done yet, but I made a good effort and will finish the rest tonight. Then I went for my final day at the beach. It was really hot out today so we spent most of the time in the water. It was a great last day there.
Tonight we have our goodbye dinner cruise starting in a little less than an hour. After that I need to finish packing and get rid of some of my beverages. We are also talking about having a bonfire of our reading material on the beach. :)
My flight leaves tomorrow for Frankfurt around 4pm (10am Indiana time). Then Raymond, Jody, Jeanna, Marc, Bill and I are all staying overnight in Frankfurt. Then I'll be leaving Frankfurt around noon (6am Indiana time, I think), arriving in Washington D.C. around 3pm and then arriving in Indianapolis around 7pm on Sunday! I can't wait to come home and see everyone. This place was amazing but I am definitely ready to go home.
After lunch I went up to my room for about an hour and started packing. I don't have it all done yet, but I made a good effort and will finish the rest tonight. Then I went for my final day at the beach. It was really hot out today so we spent most of the time in the water. It was a great last day there.
Tonight we have our goodbye dinner cruise starting in a little less than an hour. After that I need to finish packing and get rid of some of my beverages. We are also talking about having a bonfire of our reading material on the beach. :)
My flight leaves tomorrow for Frankfurt around 4pm (10am Indiana time). Then Raymond, Jody, Jeanna, Marc, Bill and I are all staying overnight in Frankfurt. Then I'll be leaving Frankfurt around noon (6am Indiana time, I think), arriving in Washington D.C. around 3pm and then arriving in Indianapolis around 7pm on Sunday! I can't wait to come home and see everyone. This place was amazing but I am definitely ready to go home.
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