Arrival!

After a long 24-hour trek, I've finally arrived at my new home in Zagreb Croatia. Getting here was quite troublesome, as initially I wasn't able to board the plane because my return flight was scheduled more than three months from now, indicating that I required a temporary stay permit. This was a problem since I was actually coming to Croatia to pick that up and all of this was arranged verbally, so I had no documentation indicating that this was indeed the case. As a result, I had to rebook my return flight before they would let me on the plane. Luckily, I was able to complete this with 3 minutes still remaining before my boarding time! Thanks Jeff for coming to see me off, despite me not having a second to say a word to you due to this rushed incident.

My flight took me first to Vancouver airport for a quick stop. Then I had an 8-hour stopover in Frankfurt. Let me tell you...longest 8 hours of my life! What do you do for 8-hours in an airport?! I read a bit of a Brave New World, tried to catch a bit of shut-eye, and went to eat at the Mcdonald's below.

I have a great fondness of going to eat at Mcdonald's in different countries. Despite it's status as maker's of "100% All Beef" patties with Supersizing effects, it is nonetheless a strong image of each countries cultural identity. At this specific Mcdonald's, I enjoyed some sort of Senf (mustard) burger, and if you've ever been to Germany, you know they love their senf. That was about the only highlight in that airport though... and with that, I was off to Zagreb, the capital of Croatia.

When I arrived at the airport, I was a bit worried that I'd be stopped at customs with another inquiry about my permit. As such, I rushed hurriedly to get through there as soon as I could, so much so that I'd passed by the baggage claim area without even noticing. Now Zagreb airport is a different setup from the Edmonton one, where people who are picking you up can get to the baggage claim area. Here, there were one way doors that separated the two areas, and I recognized that seconds after I had passed through those doors without my baggage. I was able to quickly track down an airport staff to help me get back in, and then I took the bus to the city centre, where I was picked up by the amazing EB from Zagreb, who then drove me to our MC flat.