I think this is day 1. Or maybe it’s technically day 3. But the first 2 calendar days of travel are always a blur where you feel like you sit in uncomfortable chairs for too long and stand up way too little. Movement while traveling 6 time zones east? Almost none other than walks to and from gates in Charlotte on Day 1 and Madrid in the wee hours (Charlotte time) of day 2. Airport comparisons? Not even close. Madrid wins by a mile. Huge wide concourses, impressively architected building, very roomy jetways and even the moving sidewalks were nice and wide. Rarely did you feel like you were in the way or that others were in your way. And the pre-flight queuing…so orderly. Even when they tried to load us on the plane and had to divert us back into the terminal the 200+ people acted like they were in a library. No one ran up to the person at the desk to tell them how important this flight was to them or worse just yelled out loud about the inconvenience of the delay. The calm and sense that everything would be ok was almost unnerving to me. Credit to the Spaniards – they just took it in stride. So nice.
And indulge me for one moment more. Dear American Airlines CEO or anyone from your company who will listen. You’ve taken it too far. It’s reached the breaking point. Yes, you’ve mastered flying people through the sky in a metal tube and do so frequently without issue. That’s not lost on me. But holy hell do you ever make it uncomfortable. We sat less than halfway back on the plane and either I grew 4-5 inches since the last time I flew, or you’ve taken even more legroom out of the plane in favor of cramming what, 10-11 more people or 1-2 more rows into your planes? I could not straighten my legs and fit them under my seat. And when that unknowing 20-30 year old in front of me reclined her seat for an extra comfy 2-3 degrees of recline choose to do so, I had to sit even straighter up on my seat to put down the tray to eat. I get it…revenues. But you should know, I’ve reached my breaking point. I’ll be trying out other carriers, yes, even from your monopoly-riddled location in Charlotte just to see if they too have the same cramped seats. Comfort matters. Especially paying the money we paid to get transported through the air over the Atlantic. I’m actually considering taking a boat home. The budget airline we flew from Madrid to Dubrovnik removed such “luxuries” such as reclining seas and seat back storage but I could fit my legs under the seat in front of me and get up and down and in and out of the seat without the assistance of others to move around. You must have all of the passengers you’ll ever need because you just don’t seem to be trying very hard to keep the passengers who’ve stuck with you for decades in good stead and care. But also thanks. If I’m honest, you’ve done me a favor – the rest of the vacation is only up from here.
Day 1 – started for me at 6:30 am where I was up after a few bouts of restlessness throughout the night. The first bout was 4 hours into sleep just past midnight, when I was worried if I didn’t get some added sleep past that point that I’d be off cycle for nights to come. But I did. Another 2 hours with the same worry. Then another 2 hours where I was feeling it would be ok to wake except 2 hours later I actually woke up. Once awake, I’ve learned on international travel that exercise is critical to establishing a good sleep cadence for future nights. So a quick map of a run using Strava and out of the door into a gloomy day I went. And straight uphill and then downhill and uphill and downhill…you get it – coastal running in Dubrovnik is not flat. But amazing beautiful. After running through town with kids heading to school and lots of people heading to buses and their mopeds and small cars I arrived at a beachside community with an unbelievable seaside walkway built into the cliffs. It lasted for about three miles – a much flatter option with views for days. The views are of the Adriatic Sea, a ton of tiny islands, some inhabited and some not so much and lots of boats and cliffs. The water is a deep clear and clean blue, even on a cloudy day. Just amazing. A little like the coast of Southern France and Maine combined. It’s hard to not just stop at every corner and take another picture. Which I did for the photography of course – never because my old bones were tired. I swear.
Back at the hotel, I showered and did some shower laundry, which is a bit of a pastime in an early a trip where you have fewer outfits than days. In fact, my exercise outfits this trip are spartan – one pair of shorts and one exercise shirt – one too few shirts for normal packing. Then downstairs to a great European breakfast of cheeses, breads, fruits, nuts, fresh yogurt (pumped out of a metal vat like you do with Heinz Ketchup at Five Guys) and of course honey and Nutella. Speaking of Heinz, they had Heinz beans to make the Londoners of the hotel happy. Super tasty because they aren’t sweet the way we serve our canned beans in the US.
Then it was the donning of a rain jacket for each of us and out into the rainy streets towards Old Town Dubrovnik where we were warned to get out and beat the “boat lice” (not our words) – the people who landed into port overnight. Port is a ways away, so walking the block to the old town put us at a distinct advantage. We also found that once in the wall of the old city that you could put some distance on the crowds by heading up and boy does Dubrovnik have up. Stairs for days – all the way to the top of the wall – probably 4-5 stories high and directly on the ocean for much of it. Along the way you pass some unreal apartments – just an amazing place to live if you love stairs and maybe don’t need a lot of space and love cats. Cats in Dubrovnik are apparently a thing – they are everywhere. Cindy has taken a picture of every one of them. Seriously, maybe all of the cats of Dubrovnik are catalogued on her phone. I’ll spare you of all but this one.
After a quick hour tour of the city on our own and a nice coffee drink – not having coffee yesterday one time was a mistake for me that I won’t be making again today. In fact, I’m going to overcompensate almost for sure. By 9:40am I’m on cup number four except two were Americano’s which only count for halve strength coffees in my book. The old town is hundreds of years old and absolutely gorgeous. Yes, some touristy spots, but also tons of cool cafes and nooks and crannies. One of this is the Buza Bar where you can walk through the wall, to the ocean side and sit on a bar on the cliffs above the ocean. Pretty incredible – but for later given the rain of this morning. We wandered down to a small pocket marina in the old town and sipped our coffees while watching the people pass by and the boats rock around the harbor. Super peaceful. Super dreamy.
Back to the hotel to meet up with Alex and Tracy and their Swedish friends Felix and Paula. Delightful folks who Alex and Tracy met when Felix was an exchange student at…wait for it…Fort Mill High School! How crazy is that? They’ve kept up ever since and while we’ve heard of them, we’ve never met them officially until today. Great people. Felix may or may not be the head of all things law enforcement in Stockholm and Paula is a nurse working in several schools. They speak nearly perfect English – one of several languages they know. I’m very jealous of the multi-lingual people. I wish I even kind of knew another language. I can read Spanish and speak in various phrases with what is likely terrible, terrible verb structure. And in a moment when asked something in it, I’m as likely to freeze up and respond with “si si” as I am to say nothing at all and shrug. How is it America just can’t seem to value stuff like this enough to make it work for our citizens? Our driver from the airport knew FOUR languages!
We ventured out again, this time into an even heavier downpour where the water ran down streets and stairs like a waterfall. We found a bar and hovered inside waiting for a table to free up. As soon as the rain lightened we were lucky enough to find one. Then we walked, back to an open Buza Bar and then around the city where we had a lunch and another beverage and eventually back to the hotel where we took some needed quiet time. No sleep – still afraid of interrupting a full night’s sleep. We did what we do each afternoon of any vacation – just sat and relaxed with the hotel balcony door open and a nice ocean breeze blowing in with the 75 degree temperatures. Delightful.
Then we met up for at 7:30 dinner reservation at Posal (Posat?) – a seafood restaurant recommended by many. After being greeted with what seemed like a hundred hellos, thank yous, Caio’s, gratzi’s we sat at a table with a view of the lighted castle wall and turrets and a full size grand piano positioned over the stairwell entrance in the open air. The food was excellent – most fresh seafood but ordering was difficult. We all ate at 3-4pm and weren’t that terribly hungry. We asked the server to bring an appetizer they recommend and then help us with 2-3 meals we could all share. Instead, he heard make us meals that would feed six that we could share. The mistake? Several hundreds of dollars more than we thought the bill would be. Holy crap – that one sits with you a bit. Great food – but be warned, order carefully. One more tip – don’t skip dessert and if they have something with Almond or Hazelnut, get it. Amazing dessert chef situation here. So amazing I almost took pictures of our food – but that’s not what I do. Instead, I ate it. #hashTagTooOldToSnapFoodShots
suttonscoop 