Croatia 2018 — Getting to Split

Croatia is a LOOONG way from Texas!  When we decided we wanted to visit this digital nomad and Worldschooler hot-spot, we started hunting for decent airfares.  Unfortunately, one-hop flights from Dallas or Houston are rare and expensive ($1800+ per person), which when multiplied by 4 people is WAY out of budget.  Instead we tracked down a deal that left out of Boston.  So, with Southwest points available, we booked flights from Houston -> Boston -> Toronto -> Zagreb -> Split.  Yes, FOUR flights.  Queue the marathon!

We left Friday morning to drive to Houston.  Our initial plan was to pick up a quick lunch on the way in and meet Payton at Houston Hobby for our flight.  Our flight to Boston was delayed, which gave us time to grab a tasty BBQ lunch at Corkscrew BBQ in Spring, pick up Payton at his work, and then drive to the airport.  The flight ended up being delayed two hours, so we had plenty of time.

The flight itself went just fine, and when we landed in Boston we grabbed an Uber to our AirBNB for the evening.  Per our hosts’ recommendation, we ordered pizza for delivery, ate a quick dinner at the table, and visited with our hosts a bit before heading to bed.  Kamy and Caden even got to watch a bit of Up that our hosts had on in the living room.  We were all tired and keyed up for the next day’s marathon flights.

Saturday morning we reversed directions and took an Uber back to the airport for our Air Canada flight to Toronto.  It was a fairly small plane, only 2 across on each side of the aisle, and a two hour flight.  We were there plenty early and managed to amuse ourselves in the small terminal area while waiting for departure.

Once in Toronto, we had a 2 hour layover — long enough to grab burgers for a meal and stretch before getting on our long flight.  We had a direct flight from Toronto to Zagreb … almost 8 hours long.  We didn’t realize at booking that we were booked on Air Canada Rouge, their discount carrier.  The flight itself went fine and we paid for an upgraded seat for Keller so he wouldn’t be as squished!  The food was marginal and the “breakfast snack” was inedible, but we got there safely.

Caden slept for about 2 hours on the flight.  Kamy managed to sleep for about 2 hours as well, though she felt poorly and was nauseous.  Poor girl!  She took some Zofran anti-nausea medicine on the flight, but it didn’t prevent her feeling bad.  Fortunately, I do think it reduced the severity and some of the jet lag for her.

We landed about 7 am Sunday morning in Zagreb.  We arranged for an early check in to our AirBNB and were glad to get out of the plane and airport and into the apartment.  We were all exhausted and went to sleep for about 6 hours, from 9am – 3pm.  We drug ourselves out of bed, tracked down a pizza place for some dinner, and then checked out a local park.  There were a lot of families and kids at the park and the weather was beautiful, so it was a great way for the kids to have some independence and run out their wiggles.  A band was warming up to play nearby, but they weren’t going to start until after dark.

We ultimately went back to the apartment, after stopping for some basic breakfast groceries for the morning, and went back to bed.

Our bodies were all sorts of confused!  We slept from about 9pm until 1am and then all four of us were awake.  Oh no!  Kamy struggled with feeling nauseous and fell back asleep pretty quickly.  Caden stayed awake and watched Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkeban and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  Keller and I went back to bed and dozed on and off until 7am.  Then it was time to wake up, pack up, and go BACK TO THE AIRPORT.  Again.  <sigh>

This time we were only taking a short little 45 minute flight from Zagreb to Split.  It was on a small turbo prop plane with Croatia Air.  We took a bus out to the tarmac and boarded the plane.  Poor Miss Kamy was still feeling awful, but she was a trooper and did her best to tough it out.

Once we landed in Split, we were met by a driver to take us to the apartment in Podstrana.  We were rolling the dice on our AirBNB because we were not really sure where near Split we wanted to be.  The kids continue to express an interest in spending time at the beach, so we made a point of finding a place on the coast.  Little did we know we wouldn’t make it to the beach for swimming until Wednesday (and after changing apartments).  <sigh>

Kamy promptly fell asleep on the couch at the apartment and slept from 1pm – 6:30pm.  She felt so much better after getting some rest!  Caden and I unpacked and walked down the hill to the small Tommy grocery store.  It’s more than a convenience store, but the protein and vegetable selection were extremely limited.  We got enough groceries for breakfast and snacks and left it at that.  Our host left us a ball for the kids to play with, so Caden and I kicked it around in the courtyard.

The apartment itself was fine — big space, three bedrooms, and a large kitchen.  Unfortunately the internet was spotty and the stove didn’t work.  The stove had 4 burners — 2 were gas and 2 were electric.  Well, there was no gas hooked up to the propane burners and when I tried to turn on the electric burners the breaker for the entire apartment flipped.  Ugg.

We had dinner on the beach in Podstrana at In — the food was tasty but a bit more expensive than we were expecting for Croatia.  Of course, we were on the beach and thus at a tourist spot.  The views were lovely though!  However, the jet lag monster caught up to Caden while waiting for dinner.  The poor boy was delirious and fell asleep at the table.  Granted, he’d been awake for almost 20 hours at that point on 2 hours of sleep on the plane and 4 hours in Zagreb.  He was tired!

Caden woke up a bit for the walk home.  He was riding on Keller’s shoulders when Keller slipped and fell!  Fortunately both guys were not seriously hurt — just a bit sore the next day.  Keller felt so bad, but Caden with his sweet heart told him it was okay.

Caden was hungry once we got home, since he slept through dinner, so I started to make some scrambled eggs for him.  I tried to turn on the gas stove … no gas.  Fine — I’ll deal with it tomorrow and will use the electric burners instead.  But NO!  As soon as I turned on the electric burners the breaker for the entire apartment flipped!  Totally dark.  I messages our AirBNB host who had someone come by and show us where the breaker was.  As soon as it was reset, I tested the stove and once again, it flipped.  So the stove is completely unusable.  Bread with nutella became Caden’s dinner.

I told our hosts that we NEEDED a working stove or we would need to cancel our reservation.  They promised to do everything they could to get a new one the following day.  In the mean time, they brought over one hot plate we could use in a pinch.

Tuesday came and went — we tried to stock up on groceries but my Uber app was not working, so we made do with Tommy.  Since I only had a hot plate and an oven to work with, I chose groceries that I could put together into a meal fairly simply.  Otherwise we just hung out at the apartment, took it easy, and waited for the electrician to arrive.

Once the electrician showed up, he discovered that the new stove top was larger than the current one.  He didn’t bring tools to cut the counter, so once again we had no stove to work with.  =/  We ultimately decided that we would change AirBNBs and move into Split.

Keller and I dug through a lot of AirBNB listings and ultimately decided on a two bedroom just north of Old Town.  We used an Uber to get into Split and got a settled into the new place.

OF COURSE, the gas part of the stove was not connected to any propane.  <eye roll>  I’m sensing a pattern here!  However, our host arranged for a new tank of propane and the stove was fully functional.  There are a few little niggles about the apartment, but we are trying to temper our “Western” expectations a bit.  We’ve since learned that aesthetics and landscaping is a low priority for much of Croatia, so we would get used to the concrete!  Parking is also a free-for-all.  Any place that isn’t currently occupied is fair game.

Since we’d been promising to take the kids to the beach ever since we landed on Monday (and it was now Wednesday), we made a point of heading to the Adriatic Sea as soon as we were settled and fed.  I walked to a local grocery store for some basic picnic foods and a rotisserie chicken, we ate quickly, and then took an Uber to a beach on the north side of Marjan Hill.  Beach Prva Voda was recommended by the lady who checked us into our apartment, so it was as good a place to start as any!

We started by walking past the beach-y area and further down the coast to the rocky shore.  We brought our water shoes from the US, which was a good call — there are a TON of sharp rocks both in and out of the water.

The water was pretty chilly, but everyone ultimately got in.  After floundering around by the rocks for a while, we relocated to the gravel beach area instead.  The kids played in the rocks and water for another two hours before heading back to the apartment.  I went to the grocery store (again) for dinner ingredients, cooked dinner, and put everyone to bed.  We were tired!

We’d finally settled in Split — it had only taken 4 days of travel and 1.5 days in Podstrana!  We are currently 5,662 miles from home!