Zdravo!

No, I'm not drunk. That is how you say hello in hrvatski (Croatian). So...where do I begin?

Let's begin with the airport where I was supposed to meet JJ at the business lounge but that didn't really work out so well. And apparently RK didn't get that memo either, because we didn't meet up with her until we were in line to board the plane! Talk about seeing JJ wound up! But, alas, we all boarded and found our seats. I was wayyyy in the back of the plane and they were seated up towards the front. When do my Frequent Flyer miles kick in? Oh wait, this is my first trip.

HO-kay, so. I was quietly sitting in my aisle seat, 36B, minding my own business, reading the last book of the Golden Compass trilogy because most of the mini tv screens were malfunctioning on our flight, including mine. Before I knew it, Lyra was being woken up and saved from ms. Coulter and theUnited crew started serving drinks and dinner. Chicken and pasta were on the menu but by the time they got to my row, pasta was the only choice. This was fine with me as I prefer pasta over chicken anyday. This was about the time that my neighbor introduced himself to me. Chris, a pilot in the navy from Norfolk (small world, huh?!) on his way to Bahrain for his first mission. Chris just happened to stop in one of the duty free stores prior to his flight and purchased a liter of Maker's Mark. (OttoBock take notes.) We quickly became friends in spite of the fact that he was a UVA alum and discussed politics, sports, and world peace. I'm not sure if the flight attendants noticed that we didn't eat any of our meals or how quickly we were going through cans of seltzer water and cran-apple juice. Oh well. All I know is that when I landed in Frankfurt, I immediately regreted ever meeting this fellow. I didn't sleep at all during my 8 hour trans-Atlantic flight and the time change and dehydration probably didn't help.

Frankfurt: Local time 915am. My body think it's 315am. The Lufthansa business lounge is pretty nice. Croissants, pretzels, streudel, cheese, beeer, wine....what more could a girl want? SLEEP! So, I did. After chit-chatting a bit with the Sultan of Swat and JJ about our game plan, since we didn't get a chance to talk before departing IAD, and eating an amazing croissant, I curled up in a ball and snoozed until it was time to catch our Croatian Air flight.

Croatian air flight: I slept more. I'm not gonna lie. I think they served us food on this flight but I have no idea. It was a little over an hour long and I slept from take off to landing. ZZZzzzZZZ!!

CROATIA:Maybe I am a dork, but I think it's the coolest, yet strangest thing to get off a plane on a runway and walk to a shuttle or building. I have only had to do this maybe once or twice before in my life before, so it always make me really excited. I stepped of the plane and it was a little bit chilly, but it was still awesome to be here! It's beautiful here! Honestly. It reminds me of Puerto Rico. The way the mountains and hills give way to the Adriatic...it's breathtaking! I love it! Everything from the architecture of the little houses to the layout of the gardens with vegetables and trees is so quaint and unique but seems so familiar to me. There are grape vines, olive trees, figs, and then gardens with rows and rows of veggies! It's awesome!

It's been a little bit chilly and drizzling on and off, but the water is still clear and this pretty aqua-teal-blue-green color. Our hotel...oh man. I don't know where to start! Swanky. I'm not coming home. Check out the view from my balcony!!! (that very first photo...I suck at this blog. So take what you can get.) :) More about the hotel later.

Wednesday after we arrived to the hotel around 3ish local time, we went to our rooms, unpacked a bit and met up with the person who's name is spelled like Italy, but doesn't really rhyme with Italy. We walked along the marina and the seashore looking for a restaurant to eat dinner, doing some recon for the participants and VIPs. This was a very interesting walk, as I was starving, the adults were very giddy, and it was very chilly. We walked up several hills, into some apartments, and almost got hit by speeding cars multiple times. But it was all for the sake of finding a good place to eat. In the end, we dined at a restaurant adjacent to the hotel. Go figure!