The journey home

While most of Split was still asleep or just stumbling home from nightclubs, we walked down the gangway and into a taxi at 4:30 in the morning on the 20^th of October. Tony from our boat had arranged the pick up for us and though he told us it would cost 250 Kuna, the driver insisted on 300. Brandon asked him to stop at a bank then because we’d made it work that we only had exactly the cash we needed left. Instead, he pulled into a gas station, put 300 Kuna worth into the car and then had Brandon come in and pay for it. Works the same I guess!

 

We arrived at the Split airport which was in another town about 30 minutes from the port in lots of time - before the airline staff even got there. There was a long line up but we checked in alright and then sat at the gate waiting to board our short, 45 minute flight to Zagreb where we would then catch our connecting flight to London. We arrived, made it through passport control, and then managed to finally get the attention of the crazy busy lady at the one coffee shop to get some breakfast and water. We then proceeded to wait, and wait, and wait some more constantly watching the screen above our gate willing it to give us more information other than just the word DELAY. We were supposed to leave at 8:30 and finally, after a nap, more coffee, a complete game of crazy 8’s countdown with our trusty Canada flag cards, and a trip through the duty free shop, they announced that they would have an update at 10:00. Then they announced they would have an update at 10:30. And again at 11. At noon they started boarding our flight. And then, because the crew had worked their maximum 6 hours already, we had to wait for the replacement crew. We were finally off the ground just after 12:30 and everyone was plenty cranky. We stayed pretty calm though, figuring there was little point getting too upset when there was really nothing we could do about it anyway. Would’ve been nice to sleep a little later though.

 

Now we had planned on having those four hours we spent stuck in the Zagreb airport in London. We wanted to go to Hamley’s toy store again and we didn’t want to have to hurry to get our train at 3:40 to Manchester. As it turned out, we had an hour and a half to get from Heathrow to Euston station. When we landed we made it through the customs line in record time, waited very impatiently for our back packs at the baggage claim and then hurried through the airport trying to find the trains into the city. We paid 38 Pounds to take the express train to Paddington station which thankfully only took 15 minutes. There, we bought Tube tickets and then pushed our way onto the first car we could trying to make our way to Euston. What should’ve been very easy was complicated by closures on both lines we needed to take. Great! Three trains later we piled off the Tube and ran up all the escalators to get into the main Euston station. And somehow, though I’m still not sure how we were that lucky, we made it onto our Manchester bound train with just six, that’s 6, minutes to spare. We sat there for a moment and just laughed at the ridiculousness of the situation and were thankful that we weren’t like some of the people on our flight from Zagreb who’d missed their connecting flights to the States.

 

Thankfully there was a café on the train and we were able to get packaged sandwiches and bags of crisps to eat as lunch/dinner and when it came time to change at Crewe, we weren’t as stressed or worried anymore about time. We arrived in Manchester at the airport station and after eventually locating a phone, we called the hotel to send a shuttle to pick us up. We were so grateful to Brandon’s mom and dad for booking us that hotel for the night because at that point we were so tired and looking so forward to the idea of a hot tub and a hot meal. We got checked in after what felt like pulling teeth at the front desk only to find dried puke all over the toilet in our room. But rather than changing us to a different room, they just sent someone in to clean it. Great, but then we just had to deal with the stench of it all night. They offered us a free drink as compensation which we declined and then went in search of the pool. That at least was a relaxing hour.

 

We ordered room service and while I dozed in and out of sleep, Brandon accidentally pulled the emergency cord in the bathroom. Because they put us in a disabled friendly room there were two of these cords, one next to the bathtub and one next to the bed. It wasn’t all that horrible, just embarrassing to get a phone call and then a knock on the door to reset the alarm. Oops! We had a good night’s sleep and then went down to a hot breakfast. Then, trying to brush my hair before putting all the toiletries into my back pack, I pulled the emergency cord. Agghhh! Anyway, we checked out and got into the car that took us back to the airport where we got into the long line to check into our flight. Security took a long time too and by the time we got ourselves put back together, shopped and picked our way through all the duty free to find our gate, it was nearly time to start boarding. And though it was a good flight, it was much, much too long and squishy. Not so bad as the Thomas Cook flight to London last September, but bad enough.

 

We landed safely, though a little late in Calgary on October 21^st, a year and a month since we left. Going through customs was quick, they didn’t question any of our time away or the very small value we put down for what we were bringing back into the country. It then took forever and a day for our luggage to come down onto the belt. We were actually starting to worry when they finally appeared. Then through the last check point and we were officially in Calgary. Our parents and Brandon’s brother were there waiting for us, complete with a bright yellow sign welcoming us back. The hugs and the tears were worth the early morning, the long flight and the wait in the airport. The snow was a bit of a shock and the cold was not all that welcome.

 

Everything here remembers us as well as we remember it. We’ve moved into our house now and nearly everything went back into the place it was when we lived here last year. There are still a few pictures to put up, but all the boxes are unpacked and tomorrow the tv and internet will be hooked up. I start work on Monday, Brandon has an interview tomorrow, we’re going to band practice tonight…and as wonderful as it all is and as comfortable as we feel, I can’t help but wish that our address was still Elgin Terrace. I want to open my door and step out into Edinburgh. I want to go to Rosslyn Chapel or to Queensferry to take pictures of the bridge. I know I shouldn’t be sad and yet something in me is yearning already for the place we carved out for ourselves there. It’ll pass I’m sure, I just need a routine and some normalcy here that reminds me of how good it is to be in Canada. But I sure need to look a little harder for beauty here. It is good to be home.

November 1 - Catching up on the cruise

We’re home in Canada, the house is totally unpacked and we’re already sick of this cold weather. But before I get to that, I have to catch up on the last week of traveling. So, back to the boat and the salty Adriatic we go!

 

Rather than bore you with too much detail of each day’s events, especially since much of every day was spent lounging around and soaking up the sun, I’m going to try to describe the whole week in one shot. Sorry if it gets a little lengthy.

 

The first full day of sailing started early and after breakfast, we stopped to swim. Everyone was feeling a little more brave and Brandon got the jumping off the boat ball rolling by leaping from the front of the boat. This was quickly followed by a few other people, including me. I only did it the one time because I wasn’t smart enough to jump straight in - my entry was more on my bum and that hu-urt something fierce. It was an awful lot of fun though. The day was marked by really choppy water and I started to feel a little sick. I went down to our cabin to get something and made the mistake of laying down on my bed and then wasn’t able to get up. It was all I could do to talk myself out of throwing up and yet I couldn’t bring myself to get out of bed and get back out into the fresh air. Finally Brandon came down to get me and forced me up and outside. It was better then, but thankfully we were in port shortly after that and the solid ground did wonders. A few of us embarked on a hike up to where the map said was a little church. There wasn’t much of a church, but we did have a great walk. We climbed higher and higher up a gravel road to where we finally got a fabulous view of the bay down below. The people we met along our hike were very friendly, waving and saying hello as we passed by. The cats, that are everywhere in town, were also very friendly, though some were not very healthy. I felt bad for them because they were obviously strays but they didn’t look like they were starving so I guess they weren’t too bad off. We all stopped for a coffee at a little café at the bottom of the hill and those who had the ability made good use of the free wi-fi offered there. That night was the captain’s dinner on the boat but our package didn’t include this in the price because of the deal we got. We had dinner at a little restaurant in town instead which was nearly deserted and really quite romantic. We met a bunch of the others at a bar just beside the dock for cocktails. It was a tiny little place but the building had stood there for about 400 years. And since the tourist season had pretty much ended already, we had the place all to ourselves.

 

The next morning we had just a short sail to Dubrovnik. It was rough water again but because the weather report was promising worse weather, the captain made short time of it and we were there before noon. We spent the afternoon in the old town walking along the top of the city walls to see the breathtaking views of the sea and all the orange roofs down below. We also had a guided walking tour where we learned all about the narrow little streets - much like the closes in Edinburgh - and all the hundreds of steps people walk every day to get to and from their homes in the old town. We also saw some of the evidence and left over damage from the war in the early nineties. Dubrovnik suffered badly and though much has been done in the way of repair, it’s hard not to notice the replaced roofs and scarred walls. We broke with the group for a little while to walk through a small museum and then to get some chips to tide us over until dinner. We found everyone then at Buza, a pub that sits just outside the old town wall where the tables and chairs are perched on the rocks just above the sea. The waves crash into the cliff below you and you can watch the brilliant sunsets there with an unobstructed view. Brandon and I walked back to the boat then and got dinner at a gyro place just on the dock.

 

At breakfast the next day we got the news that we were staying in Dubrovnik another night. The water was going to be much too rough for us to sail and in the interest of safety and comfort, the captain decided to stay put. Fine by me considering my minor bout of sea sickness! We unfortunately also got a message that morning to call home to Brandon’s dad asap. Thankfully there was a shop right on the dock that offered international calling and we were able to get in touch with Alan quickly. That’s when we got the sad, sad news that Brandon’s Great Grandma Bryce had passed away. The grey sky and light rain seemed rather fitting just then. We couldn’t believe that we’d made it the whole year without any family catastrophes and now, one week before we were due home, we were faced with this devastating news. I asked Brandon if we should pack up and head to the airport but he decided that it was a better tribute to her 104 years for us to continue on and see as much as we could see as we’d planned. We joined with the rest of the group then and took the bus into the old town where we too connected to a coffee shop wi-fi network and sent some emails home. We pushed on, visiting a pharmacy museum and monastery cloister garden, a war photo exhibit that was very, very difficult to see, and then made our way back to the boat for lunch. We did a lot of just wandering around that afternoon, shopping, eating chips, and then Brandon and I went back to Buza for another look at the sunset. There, we toasted to Grandma Bryce and her fabulous life. We’d booked to have dinner on the boat so we went back there for what turned out to be a really great bbq. We met everyone back in town for a glass of wine and then ended up going to a local bar not far from the boat. We were guided there by a really nice Croatian man who then told us all about what it’s like living in Dubrovnik. I was struck by how open and willing to just visit with us he was. He walked with us part of the way back to the dock and we all appreciated how genuinely nice he was. Tony, the bartender on the boat was in fine form when we got back and he proceeded to show off a bit of his skill. He ended up pouring us a cocktail in which flames and a whole lot of alcohol were involved. It was a night full of much laughter, a few tears, and a wee bit too much liquor. But it sure was fun!

 

It was a little tough to get out of bed the next morning but we made it up to breakfast where we were met with a few nasty looks and comments about the noise level from the night before. Oh well, we had fun! Our first stop was Mjet and though we only had a short time here, we made the most of it. Nine of us rented bicycles and made our way through the national park to see the stunning salt water lakes on the island. With sore bums and aching legs we made our way back to the boat and onward we went to the island of Korcula. Here we bought much needed toothpaste and sunglasses (Brandon’s third pair since leaving Edinburgh) and found a bakery to fortify us with sugary dough before we hit the water for a rather chilly swim. We joined our usual group for a bit of a picnic on the top of the boat and then went in search of pizza for supper. We then climbed to the top of one of the old Roman towers for a cocktail delivered via a rope and pulley system from the main floor bar. Everyone was rather early to bed that night.

 

The next morning we once again stopped for a swim after breakfast and once again had a great lunch on the boat on our way to the next port. When we landed at Hvar we found this apparently bustling and very touristy town nearly deserted. But we made the most of the lack of crowds and hiked up the hill to the old fort to look around and take in the views. Brandon and I made our way back down and then found a great spot to perch and watch the sunset. We went back to the boat for drinks as Tony promised us two for one happy hour to try to clean out his bar. Being the last cruise of the season, he wanted as many empty bottles as possible. We went for dinner that night with what turned out to be a large group. I think we were 11 in total and we had a feast. Brandon and I shared a pot of garlicky mussels and then the catch of the day which was one of the best fish I’ve ever tasted. The restaurant grilled everything in an open fire oven on the outside wall and we sat on their patio watching a giant orange moon come up over the water. Brandon proceeded to win a rather intense game of Uno against Tony and one of our boat mates. It was a great evening.

 

Our last full day of cruising began beautifully with breakfast and then a nice long swimming break just off a rather popular beach called Zlatni Rat. It was a gorgeous spot and swimming to the beach from the boat was great fun. The beaches aren’t sandy though, they’re all just rocks and pebbles and therefore a little rough on the feet if you don’t have water shoes to swim in. I didn’t go up onto the beach, just stayed in the shallow water where the little fish could check out my toes and nibble at my ankles. I got chilly though and the fish wouldn’t stop bumping into me so I made it back to the boat before Brandon did and proceeded to warm up in the hot sunshine at the front of the boat. It was glorious. We were soon on our way again though and the last few hours went by quickly with lunch and showers and we were all of a sudden back in Split. Brandon and I spent about an hour getting our cabin in some sort of order and packing most of our things back into the back packs. Then we went into the old town to shop a bit and spend some time on wi-fi before going back to the boat to toast the sunset with our sailing friends. Dinner was pizza and chips with the group and since we had such a crazy early start to the next day, we played a few hands of Uno and then went to bed early. We had to say goodbye to all our new friends though which was too bad since most of them would get to at least spend breakfast the next day together. But it was such a good time and we agreed the very best way we could’ve spent our last week in Europe. And when you read about how stressful the next day went, you’ll understand why we were ready to jump on a flight and head back there if we could to do it all over again!