From my Croatian soba:
As I write this, I am sitting on my bed in Nova Gradiska, Croatia. The trip here was long, but good and safe (yay!). We ended up having two hours to just relax while waiting to take off from the Dulles airport. While we waited, we talked about the trip that awaited us, took some pictures of our surroundings, (it's kind of hard to take good pictures in an airport, but hey, they're good for memory), and even grabbed a quick bite to eat before being subjected to the "delectable" airplane food (which we ate around 10pm). Dad and I were situated in the middle row in the two middle seats. There was a woman on my left and my dad and a man on my right. Let me tell you, I didn't make too many trips to the restroom during this trip. The flight was eight hours, eight of which I spent watching a couple of movies, listening to music, and trying to get some sleep.
We landed in the Munich airport thirty minutes ahead of schedule. It was nice to be there ahead of time because we only had about one hour until our flight to Zagreb took off. We took a small plane and were able to board it from the ground; I thought that was cool! Once on the plane, a lady was sitting in my seat; it was a window seat! Unfortunately, she didn't understand English too well and dad was kind of making a big deal about the fact that I had the window seat, but eventually she understood and let me sit in my "assigned" seat. She was a very nice woman. We talked a good bit to her and found out that she and her children, both college age if not a little older, were traveling with her back to their home in Zagreb. The one hour plane ride was enjoyable; it went by too quickly. I felt like we had just taken off when we were ready to land in Zagreb, Croatia. My eyes were glued to my window. The sights I saw were beautiful. We flew over the Austrian Alps at one point.
The Lord blessed. We didn't have any trouble getting to and from the airports, and when we landed, we were able to meet up with Betsy about ten minutes later. I remember coming out of the door and seeing Betsy's face through a glass wall. She and a teammate named Andy came to pick us up. It was great being able to reconnect with Betsy. Our first meal in Croatia consisted of burgers and fries. Well, mine was really a salad and water, but everyone else got a burger and fries. Yes, the first restaurant we ate at was a McDonald's. Betsy and Kruno were glad to eat there, because it's not too often that they get to enjoy the American food. It's interesting how they would treat it as a delicacy when I would put it at the bottom of my list of places to eat at. I guess it was a nice welcome to a country we had never been to before. From McDonald's we drove an hour to the place I am now, the place I called home for two weeks - the Slavonski Biser.
Here are some pictures representing the travels:
Dad at the Dulles airport
Enjoying the "delicacies" of airplane food
On the grounds of Germany getting ready to fly to Zagreb!
We are approaching the Alps!
Beautiful!
Good 'ole Mickey D's (Wow! I feel southern saying that)
The front of the Slavonski Biser
This is where we ate every morning
This is where we laid our heads at night.
