Travel Day Home.....

It's been four weeks since we left the US and today is the day we are heading home. We woke early and had an early breakfast - the hotel was kind enough to open the doors to breakfast half-an-hour early so we could grab a quick bite and some tea/coffee. 

We walked the eight minutes to the public water taxi stand and waited about 30 minutes for the boat to come. We boarded with a bunch of other airport-bound people......

 ...and enjoyed the 45 minutes journey to the airport.

 

The airport- maybe all airports are confusing if it's your first time there - but this one seemed ultra-confusing. We learned - by asking many people and the one not-very-forthcoming airport employee we could find - that one watches a board and eventually it'll say what floor to go to and what line to stand in. We were too early for our line number, so we had to sit around a wait. To add to the confusion - though we figured it our eventually - our Iberia flight was also listed as a Latam flight and American flight.

The second the line number posted, we checked-in our luggage (which took less than five minutes thanks to our business class seats), went through security via the Fast Track (ditto), and went to the Marco Polo Lounge for some coffee and eats. 

After about an hour, the board showed our gate and off we went. We enjoyed business class to Madrid, eating (yes, eating again) - a traditional Spanish salmorejo, baked cod (Brad) and mezzaluna pasta (Suzanne), and tiramisu for dessert. 

 

Brad took this picture of Venice as we flew over.....

When we landed, we had an email saying that the airplane to Miami had changed and therefore our seats were changed. We booked our seats using points/miles from different airlines, so we were re-booked separately. Some begging at the gate got us sitting together once again. 

 

The second flight was uneventful - 9 1/2 hours, so long - but always more enjoyable when in international business class. We ate (well), watched movies, napped.....

 

So that's it ~ another super cool vacation is in the books. Thoughts.......in no particular order:

• Were four weeks too long? Too short? About right?   Yes - about right.  We both felt like we could have headed home after Slovenia, but that was only until we got to The Dolomites - they were much more grand than the Julian Alps, which we did not know when we had the conversation.
• The Croatians are more reserved upon meeting them, and then immediately become super friendly. The Slovenians - Croatia's neighbor to the north - are friendly immediately.
• We were surprised how much pizza was served in all of the restaurants. 
• Someone asked, "What would we do differently?" Great question! Probably go in reverse order - start in The Dolomites and end in Dubrovnik - only because it may have been a bit warmer in The Dolomites and a bit cooler in Croatia.  That does mean that we would have been in Venice during the heat - never a good thing.
  
• Venice was beyond unique and an unexpected great experience. As we said, Venice was never on our radar, however we are thrilled that we went. 
• Flying international business is great for long-haul flights. Not sure how we will ever fly coach again. 😉
• The roads were super small and curvy - that got old. 
• Too many people, but that tends to often be our gripe.
• It was a great trip!