Up at stupid o'clock but I made it. Of all the things that could have gone wrong, I am so grateful that I have made it and am sitting here in the waiting area getting ready to board my flight to Split.
I had an unusual encounter with a security screener today worth noting because it caught me by surprise and I came away with warm fuzzies. There I was on the other side of the scanner and all of my things were still in the screening box but the conveyor belt wasn't moving. Somehow it had stopped moving as I went through and the orignal girl had disappeared. At 6:15AM it was time for a shift change? Odd. I stood there looking around, admittedly annoyed a bit though I'll blame it on the early morning haze.
Moments later the new new security guy arrived. His first words were to his colleague and he said that he was sorry that he hadn't said good morning to him yet. I broke out into an instant grin and caught his eye to say good morning too. I was struck with his incredibly positive attitude and energy...moreso because it was in a place that it was SO unexpected.
He kept smiling back at me and told me that I had a nice smile. Guffaw!!! But while he was rather handsome, and if I wanted I could have called it flirting, I was mostly just grateful to have started the day with such a positive interaction with another person. And for that I have "grattitude"!
I was a bit worried about the connection time at Chrles de Gaulle but everything went swimmingly...well, except that I was flying with Easy Jet. Mental note...never fly with EasyJet again if you can help it. It's not just second class you feel with these guys, it's about twelfth - and it's not always cheaper. Today, however, it's the day they fly direct from Paris so you pick your battles.
I really don't understand why they don't assign seats on EasyJet. The typical Easy-Jet-elbows-up battle ensued once they were ready for boarding. But it was so funny as we went down the gangplank to board a bus! Ah the great equalizer! Speedy Boarders, you've just wasted your money. Ha! But what was funnier is that we then drove down 9 gates to our plane and went back up the stairs to board. It was odd but the lady said something about customs. In any case I got a window seat near the front.
I sat next to two teenaged girls who were so addicted to their phones that they checked their mail until moments before take-off and were actually reprimanded for talking on the phone during the safety briefing. Groan! They have ADDICTIONS! This will be an interesting generation coming of age now!
The flight was only two hours and we deplaned onto the tarmac that was just radiating heat. Oh it was oppressive but at least there was a breeze. We walked into the customs hall which, when I first saw it, caused my jaw to drop. It was PACKED and to make it worse, there were no line markers so it was elbows-up again. Grrr. I'm just too Canadian in those situations and am not aggressive enough. Several people passed me!
Once through it took a bit of time to get the car sorted but in time, I pulled away with a cute little, black VW Polo. There is one main highway in the country running north-south and once I found that the GPS was useless...particularly since it hadn't been updated with all the new roads. There was lots of 'recalculating' (translation: WTF?! Where are you going?!).
I was going so well until I got caught in a MAJOR traffic jam. I think I moved about 2km in 45mins. I had no choice but to wait it out. It was a challenge, espcecially with the heat but when I saw the two ambulances go by and then the smooshed cars, well, what's 45mins?!?! I get to keep going. Someone else's day just got ruined!
I met Michael at Galop restaurant in Medusici. He is the very friendly owner of the Villa we're staying at. After my long drive and after having read "Tales of a Female Nomad", I was grateful and receptive for his offer to join him for a beer. In the end there was a coffee too and a brief language lesson so I can mind my Croatian P's and Q's (molen's and walla's...or something like that!)
After Micheal got me sorted at the mini market with some provisions, I followed him down one of the steepest roads I've ever driven. In fact, I have NO idea how I'm going to get out of here tomorrow!
He lugged my bag all the way up to the top condo and I dropped my stuff before getting the rest of the tour of the place. It's either up-up or down-down here. Kari will have no problems keeping fit around here!
The pool is part way down the hill and the beach is a two minute, calf-burning walk down more stairs. It's absolutely gorgeous here. I did good. I don't even want to leave tomorrow but I should be able to get in a swim tomorrow (tonight was a reconaissance trip...it's too rocky to go in in bare feet!) and be nice and lazy before heading all the way to Split.
Dinner for me was bread, cheese, yogurt, a nectarine, and...Nutella...lekker! Dinner for the mosquitoes was ankles, ear, arm and toes! Damn...I hate deet but I had to get it. Wah! Next will be a glass of wine, a shower and likely lights out before 22h. Ooh, ooh! Party on!
I had an unusual encounter with a security screener today worth noting because it caught me by surprise and I came away with warm fuzzies. There I was on the other side of the scanner and all of my things were still in the screening box but the conveyor belt wasn't moving. Somehow it had stopped moving as I went through and the orignal girl had disappeared. At 6:15AM it was time for a shift change? Odd. I stood there looking around, admittedly annoyed a bit though I'll blame it on the early morning haze.
Moments later the new new security guy arrived. His first words were to his colleague and he said that he was sorry that he hadn't said good morning to him yet. I broke out into an instant grin and caught his eye to say good morning too. I was struck with his incredibly positive attitude and energy...moreso because it was in a place that it was SO unexpected.
He kept smiling back at me and told me that I had a nice smile. Guffaw!!! But while he was rather handsome, and if I wanted I could have called it flirting, I was mostly just grateful to have started the day with such a positive interaction with another person. And for that I have "grattitude"!
I was a bit worried about the connection time at Chrles de Gaulle but everything went swimmingly...well, except that I was flying with Easy Jet. Mental note...never fly with EasyJet again if you can help it. It's not just second class you feel with these guys, it's about twelfth - and it's not always cheaper. Today, however, it's the day they fly direct from Paris so you pick your battles.
I really don't understand why they don't assign seats on EasyJet. The typical Easy-Jet-elbows-up battle ensued once they were ready for boarding. But it was so funny as we went down the gangplank to board a bus! Ah the great equalizer! Speedy Boarders, you've just wasted your money. Ha! But what was funnier is that we then drove down 9 gates to our plane and went back up the stairs to board. It was odd but the lady said something about customs. In any case I got a window seat near the front.
I sat next to two teenaged girls who were so addicted to their phones that they checked their mail until moments before take-off and were actually reprimanded for talking on the phone during the safety briefing. Groan! They have ADDICTIONS! This will be an interesting generation coming of age now!
The flight was only two hours and we deplaned onto the tarmac that was just radiating heat. Oh it was oppressive but at least there was a breeze. We walked into the customs hall which, when I first saw it, caused my jaw to drop. It was PACKED and to make it worse, there were no line markers so it was elbows-up again. Grrr. I'm just too Canadian in those situations and am not aggressive enough. Several people passed me!
Once through it took a bit of time to get the car sorted but in time, I pulled away with a cute little, black VW Polo. There is one main highway in the country running north-south and once I found that the GPS was useless...particularly since it hadn't been updated with all the new roads. There was lots of 'recalculating' (translation: WTF?! Where are you going?!).
I was going so well until I got caught in a MAJOR traffic jam. I think I moved about 2km in 45mins. I had no choice but to wait it out. It was a challenge, espcecially with the heat but when I saw the two ambulances go by and then the smooshed cars, well, what's 45mins?!?! I get to keep going. Someone else's day just got ruined!
I met Michael at Galop restaurant in Medusici. He is the very friendly owner of the Villa we're staying at. After my long drive and after having read "Tales of a Female Nomad", I was grateful and receptive for his offer to join him for a beer. In the end there was a coffee too and a brief language lesson so I can mind my Croatian P's and Q's (molen's and walla's...or something like that!)After Micheal got me sorted at the mini market with some provisions, I followed him down one of the steepest roads I've ever driven. In fact, I have NO idea how I'm going to get out of here tomorrow!
He lugged my bag all the way up to the top condo and I dropped my stuff before getting the rest of the tour of the place. It's either up-up or down-down here. Kari will have no problems keeping fit around here!
The pool is part way down the hill and the beach is a two minute, calf-burning walk down more stairs. It's absolutely gorgeous here. I did good. I don't even want to leave tomorrow but I should be able to get in a swim tomorrow (tonight was a reconaissance trip...it's too rocky to go in in bare feet!) and be nice and lazy before heading all the way to Split.Dinner for me was bread, cheese, yogurt, a nectarine, and...Nutella...lekker! Dinner for the mosquitoes was ankles, ear, arm and toes! Damn...I hate deet but I had to get it. Wah! Next will be a glass of wine, a shower and likely lights out before 22h. Ooh, ooh! Party on!
So I'm almost all caught up with my travel journal now. It's nice. I'm eager to add this to my sgosplore blog with a few pictures. Next I think I should create "www.grattitude.com"! a site where people post the little things about their days they're grateful for, similar to that TED talk on awesomeness or Elizabeth Gilbert's 'grateful journal', and with stories not unlike the nice security guy from this morning story. It CAN help steer the course of a day!
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