International Travel

I made it . . .

October 25, 2007

But oh my god am I tired right now. So I’m not sure if this will make sense. It’s interesting, I forgot how you really have to go with the flow when traveling. Because the shit flies.

My plane was delayed from Chicago to London, no big deal. It seems as though United flights are always delayed for me. As I got on the plane and wandered through, salivating on first class, business class and then economy plus, I found my seat at the back of the plane. With the other Eliza Doolittles (or Elizer as they say). My first thought was that it sucked because I had gotten used to flying the upper classes with Lynda and Carol when they worked at the airline but then I realized I had a whole row of seats to myself. All six so I could lay down and sleep. I wasn’t ready for that yet, but then after the flight took off a lady sat in the middle, one seat away from me. Then laid down on four seats – what a bitch! I maybe got a couple of hours of sleep on that flight. Then had to run for my flight (went through the wrong security) through Heathrow to Croatian Airlines.

As I sat and waited to board to Zagreb, I got a text message from Stacy saying that she missed her flight! She won’t arrive until tomorrow (Friday) night. I was so bummed. I at least wanted one of us to have brains when we first arrived in Zagreb. Once on the flight, which was also delayed I convinced myself that I needed to be positive. It was hard because I was tired and hungry.

One thing that came to mind was that in Chicago when the flight was delayed, the captain got on the intercom and apologized and such. But in London, there were no excuses and no one pacing getting furious because the flight was delayed – people seemed better equipped to go with the flow. I sometimes feel that I have such a grip on things in my daily life, that when things go wrong I get mad but really should learn to laugh or shrug my shoulders. Just let things happen. I remembered this from traveling, but haven’t traveled in awhile so I wasn’t using it.

Well, I had to remember this when I arrived at the hotel in Zagreb and they told me they didn’t have a room for me.  I had been traveling for good 12 hours or so and that was the last thing I wanted to hear. I did end up getting a room, but had a brief thought, as the lady was looking into it, that there are other hotels. I’ll deal with it.

After I got into my room, I walked over to a restaurant. They didn’t have menus in English, so I told the guy I wanted a vegetarian meal. I thought he said shrimp and cheese. I was wrong. My plate came out with breaded cheese and breaded mushrooms. I almost laughed. Whatever, I dug in.
It’s only about 7:15pm right now (I think I’m 7 hours ahead of Chicago) and it’s time to go relax. See if I can find any English channels on my TV (I can’t believe I have a TV!). I have a big day tomorrow in Plitvice!

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5 Comments

  • Reply Zel October 25, 2007 at 5:32 pm

    I’m so excited to see a posting from you…believe it or not, I had a dream about you and your travels. I think it was just that some of the flights went awry (esp or what?!?). Glad to see you’re adventuring on….and get away from the TV!! :)

  • Reply Ingrid Bonne October 25, 2007 at 8:04 pm

    Hey, I don’t know if this would work and if it’s super expensive, but if you have any questions, you can text me and I can text you back the answer? Just throwing it out there!

  • Reply Renee October 26, 2007 at 12:47 pm

    Hey Pete! Glad you made it! Thanks for sending me this link….it is going to be fun to live vicariously through you as I sit in my basement in Minnesota! I would love a postcard……

  • Reply brett October 26, 2007 at 9:16 pm

    Glad to hear that you arrived safely! Hope you are having a great time. We all missed you at work yesterday and today. Well, maybe not. (Really, we’re all too jealous to miss you.)

    Have a great weekend!

  • Reply Kelly October 27, 2007 at 4:35 pm

    I think it’s so cool that you are sharing your travels with those of us stuck at home. It’s wonderful that you are writing and I look forward to reading your blog. Have a great time and be safe!

  • Leave a Reply to Kelly Cancel Reply