Croatia Day One: Travel Day and Arrival

                This is actually day zero and day one because we left our house on Friday afternoon to travel to Boston, but did not arrive in Croatia until Saturday afternoon, partly due to the time change. We left Connecticut with plenty of time to get to Boston, park, and get to our gate. We had not flown internationally since we got married more than ten years ago, and we rarely fly out of Boston. For parking, we used a service that I had tried on my only other Logan experience – it’s called pre-flight parking, located in Chelsea. You pay a bit less if you reserve in advance, so that is what we did. I think it saved us $15.

                Getting to the airport definitely entailed some serious traffic, so I was glad that we got there when we did, but even with the traffic, we were still at our gate by 7pm for a 9:45pm flight. Security was a breeze. We somehow were ushered into the TSA Pre-Check line and it took maybe ten minutes while the regular line moved much more slowly. International flights at Logan are located in Terminal E. Unfortunately, Terminal E is too old and too small. I was not a fan. (But given that there were strikes happening that very day at LaGuardia, I was glad to have chosen Logan.) I had done my homework in advance and learned that a well-reviewed sandwich shop had an outlet in Terminal E. I also went to their website – Earl of Sandwich – and joined their “Sandwich Club” as it included a free sandwich for joining.

                The first thing we did after getting to the terminal was go order sandwiches at Earl of Sandwich. Well, it turned out that they had never seen this coupon before. Initially, I was patient with them while they debated back and forth as to whether and how to accept this coupon. But my patience did start to wear thin when they began implying that maybe this was fake. Um, yeah, I wish I was that good with Photoshop. I told them that it was quicker and easier to get through security than to order my sandwich, which was actually 100% true. I mean, honestly, I am pretty sure that if I am in Terminal E, it means that I have the financial wherewithal to purchase international airline tickets and probably do not need to commit fraud in order to obtain a free $7 sandwich. They claimed to be concerned that accepting the coupon would get them “in trouble” to which I said that I thought treating a customer like a criminal would probably be more of an issue. They did eventually honor the coupon. Long story short, upon return to the States, I emailed Earl of Sandwich, and they informed me that the Logan location is a franchise and therefore has the option of accepting the coupon or not (the coupon did not specify locations). They also sent me another coupon to use at a “real” location. The sandwich was just ok.

                After the sandwich debacle, the rest of the night was really boring. There is a duty free shop and one very, very crowded restaurant bar in Terminal E – and that was pretty much it. I did do some pacing to try and keep active before the long flight, but this was impeded by the crowd which was both dense and slow moving. 

Hanging out in Terminal E

                The flight we ended up on was Swiss Airways to Zurich. I went online way ahead of time to pick seats and ended up finding great seats with ridiculous amounts of legroom. The most I have ever had on a flight. That was a great, but the seats are very narrow. And I had a 400 pound man sitting next to me. He was very funny, and joked about it, which made me feel bad for being annoyed, but really, six plus hours is too long to have one’s body pressed firmly against a stranger in a hot airplane cabin while trying to sleep. He and his significant other were traveling to Madrid for an optometry convention and it was their first time out of the country. Very nice people, but dang that was close quarters.

                Two things that I later learned would have made this a much more pleasant flight. First, booze is free – yep, free! – on Swiss Airways’ international flights. Not sure if this is true on other airlines, but I did not know this and so did not take full advantage of the sleep-inducing properties of alcohol that might have helped me cope with my seating arrangement. The second is that the row we were in did not have TVs because there was no seat in front of us – see comment above about crazy amounts of legroom. Turns out, the TVs fold out from under the seats! I should have just asked.

                It has been a very long time since I have flown internationally, and I was pleasantly surprised by the little meals that we were given. They were really not too bad. I had the chicken on the way over, which was fine. The pasta on the way back was excellent – another lesson learned. The Swiss Airways vegetarian option is prepared in conjunction with a very fancy vegetarian restaurant in Zurich. So even if you’re a meat eater, just go with the veggie option! All in all, I would definitely fly Swiss again, though I would choose my seats earlier to have more options.

                Now, I mentioned that we would have a very short layover. In fact, it was scheduled to be about 45 minutes. That made me quite nervous because 45 minutes is a short layover anywhere, but in a foreign airport where we did not know whether we’d have to pass through security (we did) or customs (we didn’t), it seemed possible that we would miss our connection. Luckily, our plane landed on time and maybe even a few minutes early. They helpfully posted the connecting gates for us, and we learned that our gate was as far from where landed as possible. We would need to take a tram to get there.

                Zurich airport, as it turns out, is great. It’s well-designed, bright, clean, and super easy to navigate. We got to the terminal we needed to be at right when the plane was supposed to be boarding. We did have to pass through security again at that point, which was a hassle as they told us we did not need to take out our handheld electronic devices, but it turns out we did, so all of our bags were opened and re-screened with the electronic devices removed. We got to our gate in plenty of time, and then of course learned that the flight was delayed! It was only about a 20 minute delay, so not a big deal. We were hoping that made it more likely that our luggage would also make it onto this flight, and it did. We also mentioned our tight layover to the agent when we checked our bags and he put a special note on the luggage tack noting the short connection. That must have also helped, and I’d recommend noting that whenever you check bags on trips with short layovers.

Boarding in Zurich

                We arrived in Split, Croatia only a few minutes behind schedule – just after 2pm local time (six hours ahead of Connecticut). The first view of the country was from the plane and we were already in awe when we hit the ground. We flew in low over spectacularly blue water, and landed right next to a huge, imposing rocky mountain. It was very dramatic landscape.

                As I mentioned, we decided to go with the rental car over public transportation. We were so grateful for that over the course of the trip, but we hit the only real snafu right at the airport. The rental was from Sixt rental car, which is Europe’s largest car rental company but not as popular here in the US. Having done extensive research on my credit card’s policies, I declined their additional coverage for collision and theft (note that our regular insurance would have covered us in the US, but not in Europe). I was not told in advance that declining the theft meant that they would put what amounted to a $2500 deposit on my credit card – basically rendering it useless for the trip. Be prepared for this eventuality! Luckily we had plenty of cash and other cards so that it was not at all an issue.

                The rental car continued to be a hassle at first. Once we checked in, we were given a key and told to go wait for someone to help us. But the directions were not at all specific and we ended up waiting in the wrong place. A family that had been in line behind us in the office ended up getting ahead of us and getting their car before we figured out what to do, despite having asked a Sixt employee for help. We stared at this family in consternation and resentment, thereby remembering them very specifically – which proved hilarious when we ran into them not just once, but on three separate occasions during our trip.

                Finally, we got our car – an Opel Corsa, described as a “super mini” car. Luckily, our suitcases fit without too much issue! It was four door hatchback, and perfectly adequate for the two of us. As with most European cars, it was a manual transmission, which though it took me a minute to get back in the swing of it, was fun and easy. If you do not know how to drive a manual, it might be possible to get an automatic, but you can’t count on it as they are very rare there.

                We decided that we would head straight to our hotel to get checked in and enjoy the town we chose for our first night, Brela. We had originally thought that we would do some touring in Split first, but decided at that point that it was too late and we were too tired. Getting to our destination, washing up, etc, all was very appealing. We were able to get on the highway without too much trouble, and I was pleasantly surprised that the road was not crowded, it was in good condition, and signs were very easy to follow. We made it to Brela in about an hour using the coastal highway, which is slow, but beautiful. At this point, we were a bit dazed but soaking in all of the spectacular scenery. Outside of the cities, Croatia is surprisingly undeveloped – lots of open space, with dramatic rock mountains rising up on one side and the spectacular Adriatic on the other, all interspersed with little villages and beach communities. 

                 Once in Brela, it was a bit confusing to find our hotel. We followed signs to the “centar” and ended up at the small port, where I had to do some fun maneuvering to turn around at the dead end. We ended up deciding to ask for directions, and by happy coincidence, the people we asked found someone who knew the manager of our hotel. They called and she arrived at our car in about five minutes to guide us to the hotel. She was a lovely, warm person, I believe named Adriana or something very close to that. When we got to the hotel (I had just taken one wrong turn), she insisted on carrying one of our bags and welcomed us with a toast. We tried some cherry brandy and some harder stuff, both specialties of the region.

                At this point, we felt very sure that this hotel was a great choice. It was even nicer than in the pictures. We had a seaview apartment reserved, and Adriana brought us to it. The view really was great, and the apartment itself was incredibly modern and clean, well designed and decorated very simply. I was large and would have been perfect to stay in with our kids. The hotel also had two pools, a sauna, and a small gym, and offered guests breakfast. Ben and I were in a little bit of shock at how nice the place was, and were gushing to each other profusely. Eventually, after cleaning up and organizing ourselves, we walked out to try and find dinner and explore a bit.

Small dining area, nice for an extended stay with a family

Full kitchen

Comfortable, modern bedroom

Spacious living area

Nice (unheated) pool and the view. The view slays.

                Brela and the surrounding beach towns have a very long boardwalk running all along the waterfront. It is a pedestrian walkway leading to the beaches, and going past restaurants and bars and the port area. Right near out hotel were cement steps leading down to the water, with a small pebbly beach. Eager to test the clean, turquoise water, we walked down there and dipped our toes in. Freezing! 

Directly below our hotel

Beautiful, cold water

Walking along the promenade

After playing around in the pebbles for a bit, we headed down the promenade and back to the place that we had asked for directions, where there were several restaurant options. We sat down at one, but discovered that they only served dessert. Luckily, the waiter recommended another nearby place, and we decided to take his advice at try Konoba Feral. “Konoba” is Croatian for restaurant, and usually designates a small place with home-style cooking.

Nothing super special about Ozujsko, but it's refreshing and crisp

Croatia does apps really well

SO happy!!

                We started with cold Croatian beer called Ozujsko. I also wanted to try some of the antipasti style cold starters, including local ham and tomatoes with fresh cheese. Both were excellent. We then shared a shrimp risotto and beef kebob, both of which were good. We did not feel hungry enough for dessert, but they nicely gave us another little shot of locally made liqueur to cap off the meal. I had the cherry again and Ben tried walnut. Perhaps the best part about this spot was the unbeatable view. We sat out of the patio and just soaked it in. While not super private because people were walking by just a few feet away on the promenade, we loved it all as part of the fun.

                After dinner, we walked a bit more, stopping to explore a grocery store / market. I grabbed a bag of pistachios to snack on that was reasonably priced, but not overly cheap. We made our way back to our hotel, where we decided to rest “just for a bit”, and completely crashed without really meaning to! Due to the vagaries of jet lag, I woke up around 10pm and was up until about 2am, but Ben managed to sleep the whole night from about 8:30 until the next morning when we got up probably around 9am.