Croatia: The End and a Post Script...Part 19

And now for the end of the story...

The drive back to Zagreb in my cousin Tea's little yellow Peugeot on Sunday was lovely. She named her car a Croatian word that means little tweety, in honor of Tweet Bird. As we approached Zagreb we all discovered that great minds think alike...we all wanted to go to the restaurant Grana and have ćevapčići again - traditional seasoned ground beef links served with fresh onions, bread, and kajmak, which is a Bosnian cheese spread. Wonderful!

It was decided that we would stay with Tea and her husband that night and meet up with the others on Monday before our flight. After a walk to a nearby caffe bar for gelato - our last one - we settled in for the evening. In the morning we had a breakfast of coffee and toasted meat and cheese sandwiches. Mom was in search of a few souvenirs yet, so Tea took us to a nearby mall. It was very nice, and given more time and some extra cash, I could have brought home a pretty sweet fall wardrobe. Maybe next time. 

After shopping, finding a place for these last minute finds in our already bulging bags, and piling it all into Tweety, we headed off for Mariana's house. A lovely lunch awaited us...roasted lamb, chicken, pan fried potatoes, bowls of the best tomatoes in the world, fresh bread, and an assortment of cakes. A perfect meal to prepare us for our trip, which would include a 14 hour layover in Frankfurt that night. 

Our last visit with all of them was wonderful and we all prepared for a sad goodbye. Even the skies seemed to have sensed the mood, for it was pouring down rain - the only really wet weather we'd had for the entire 3 weeks. Everyone went to the airport...Mariana, Mirela, Jurko, Tea, and Mirela's sister Neves. We had plenty of time to kill, so we invaded the airport gift shop then sat and visited over coffee. Did you know that neckties were invented by the Croatians...as well as ink pens? I just had to buy Ty a necktie magnet from Zagreb. He has said for years that if he ever met the guy who invented neck ties he would like to string him up by one. I find it ironic that they were invented by "my people." After we took a few pictures it was time to head for security and to get our "going home party" started for real. Lots of hugs, a few tears, and we were off. 

The flight to Zagreb was uneventful, the night spent at the airport...well, not so fun. After heading to Terminal A and being told, no, you need to go back to Terminal B, then being told at B that we really wouldn't want to hang out there either, we decided to land in some reclining chairs that we'd seen on our treks between terminals. It seemed a great idea till a group of one man and two women showed up several rows of chairs behind us with several bottles of alcoholic beverages. They were very loud and for some reason thought that playing techno music at random internals was an appropriate activity for 1:00am in a public space. We left that area for some place quieter, but eventually returned for the sake of having comfortable chairs to rest in. Mom read a bit, then fell asleep around 2:30, so I prepared to stay awake and keep watch over our bags. For the next three and a half hours I alternated between playing solitaire and doing crossword puzzles, with an occasional break to stand and stretch and move around to get warm. Finally everyone - including the partyers - slept, and the only distractions were the airport employees walking up and down the corridor. I kept up the forced activity circuit until 6am when Mom woke up and we decided to venture through security to the restaurants in Terminal B. Breakfast at McDonalds. (Sorry there were no other choices at 6am in the Frankfurt airport.) I decided that I would try and forget that I'd now been up for 24 hours straight, but when we finally got through to our gate in Terminal A I could no longer keep my eyes open, so I laid my head on Mom's shoulder and napped for about a half an hour. We finally boarded the plane for Seattle at 9:00am. At last we were truly on our way home.

That flight went well, though I slept only a little over two hours. I watched a total of three movies (exhaustion meets desperation), but as we approached the US border from the north I had the best show ever. The in-air display said we were flying over western Canada, Jasper National Forest. As I looked down and marveled at the amazing Rockie Mountains, in my sleep deprived state of mind, they looked like miles of rugged chocolate mountains dusted with powdered sugar. Dark chocolate, at that. The mountains soon gave way to some flatlands, but not for long. Crossing over into Washington State and descending quite a bit I was given a glorious view of the Cascades. To me they looked even more spectacular than the Rockies, but that could have been because we were closer to them. Soon I saw water off to the right and realized that I was seeing the Puget Sound and all of the San Juan Islands at once...with the mountains of the Olympic Peninsula looming behind. Descending even more, civilization came into view and we flew right over downtown Seattle. So glad to not have been sleeping for all of that! What an amazing sight!

We landed in Seattle about a half an hour earlier than expected and had to wait another two and a half hours before we could check in with Southwest for our flight to Spokane. One last time through security and then another couple of hours till take off. By then I gave in to the need for caffeine. Starbucks is not my favorite, but out of sheer gratitude for being back on US soil and so close to home, it was a welcome sight. I found an outlet at our gate near the floor by some windows, so I settled onto the carpet and plugged in my dead phone. Leaning against a large column and enjoying the sunshine, I finally sent out text messages and made some phone calls to help pass the time. How good it was to hear familiar voices! The plane arrived a little late, but we were finally seated, belted, and ready for our last flight. More mountains, miles of patchwork farm land, then trees! Even from the air seeing the trees let us know that we were close to home! I could feel my anticipation building. "One last good landing, Lord." Tires on landing strip, despite the few bobs and weaves, was such a great feeling! I didn't know whether I would cry or do a happy dance when I saw my family. I did both.

We had a trip of a lifetime. Our relatives there are anxious for us to come again and to bring more of our family. We would love that, of course, but only the Lord knows if we'll ever make this trip again. So for now we have our memories, our photographs, new friends in far off family, and this mini-series of a travelogue. For those who "came with us," I hope you enjoyed the trip. For those who prayed for us, thank you so much! We were blessed at every turn and have returned home with full hearts, fully satisfied...and so grateful for God's provision, protection, and grace. 

Love to you all and dovidenja,

Bernadette