Mis-Adventurous Start to our Adventure
The morning of 20 October dawned clear and cool. We had moved most of our bags to the car the night before, so after the whole showering and dressing thing (and fortified for the drive to Albuquerque with coffee and tea), we said good-bye to the cats (Missy & Foxy) and hit the road.
Talk about a smooth operation! Drive up – smooth. Leaving our car at the long-term lot (we use Fast Park & Relax) – smooth. TSA check-in, boarding, flight to Chicago – smooth. Grabbing a Cuban sandwich for the flight and boarding for Brussels, flight to Brussels – smooth (including people being amenable to changing seats so we could sit together). We were even given dinner, which was a surprise, and which meant we would have our sandwich for later…like about 0500 local time. The first hint of something being not-quite-so-smooth was the announcement that customers with connecting flights to Venice would need to see an agent when they deplaned as the flight was canceled.
We soon learned that while the flight was canceled, they had at least 4 more flights, so we should be fine. We just needed to go out almost to the exit door and make our way to the departure lounge on the departure lounge on the next level to re-book. If only it were that easy.
What we learned after speaking with several other people along the way: to get to the departure lounge, you needed to have your passports checked and go out through customs so you could come back in. The line for passport control took an hour and change. With every minute that passed, we fell deeper into the well of “this is never going to work out.” Finally it was our turn – and it went very quickly with a very friendly and helpful agent. As we had been assured that re-booking would be easy, we opted to not collect our bags – certain they would meet us in Venice. So we went right back upstairs to the crowded Departure Lounge. There was no line to rebook – but that was where the easy part ended.
It seems it wasn’t just our flight that was canceled. It was every flight into Italy. The air traffic controllers were on strike for 24 hours. Perfect.
The conversation to rebook went a little like this:
Agent: The first flight I can get you on is for Sunday.
Me: We have to be in Trieste tomorrow (Saturday) to board a cruise ship.
Agent (blinking): So, you don’t want to book the flight for Sunday?
At this point, we realized we really needed to get our luggage as we sought alternate transportation. We found the Lost Luggage desk, and the attendant let us in through a secret back door to baggage claim. Chuck wandered through the room looking at the few suitcases circling on the belts then sat with our carry-ons to look for travel options while I went to the desk. We had our bags within minutes and were headed to the train station in search of Plan B. The attendant at the ticket counter was incredibly helpful. He checked several possibilities before letting us know the train was questionable at best but that there was an afternoon flight to Ljubljana (Loo – blee – ah’ – nah), Slovenia. We hustled back up to the departure lounge and were happy to be working with a different attendant from earlier. We got the last two seats on the flight – with no extra charges (not even for our extra bags), as it wasn’t our choice to have the Italian airports shut down.
On arriving at Ljubljana, we gathered our luggage and found a place to sit while I looked for transportation to Trieste and Chuck looked for hotel options. First, I found a car service that would let us book a private vehicle to take us to Trieste that night for 208 Euros. Not wonderful, but I set those gears turning while I looked for other options. A bus would get us to Trieste at 10 PM and for considerably less money – YES! I bought the tickets online, reserving specific seats, just to make sure we wouldn’t get bumped. Chuck was able to book us a room at the Trieste Best Western. We stepped outside the rapidly emptying airport and Chuck spotted a shuttle a half block away and across the street. We hustled over there – and he had two seats left for the beautiful but long ride to the bus station.
The station was not much bigger than our living room, but we were able to verify exactly (or at least kinda-sorta) where we would catch our bus – after a wait of a couple of hours.
We were also able to pick up some dinner at the food stand inside, which was great because I really did not want to try to drag our bags around looking for someplace to eat. I had learned about bureks (spinach and cheese wrapped in phyllo dough) when I was researching regional food, and they were as good as I had read. Of course, the fact that we hadn't eaten in close to 12 hours may have had something to do with it.
I was amused to find Arizona Iced Tea available…
But we opted for lemonade, instead. We also enjoyed a tasty dessert…
This was our first time in Europe, and as we waited outside for the bus, we were introduced to one big cultural difference – smoking in public is definitely part of the norm there. One thing that spans cultures, however, was very evident…graffiti.
After an hour or so, the crowds thinned out enough that we were able to sit for a while, jumping up to check the sign on the front of each bus, as there was no way of knowing which FLIX bus would be ours. The temperature dropped, but our new seats were out of the wind, which was good as our layers were packed away. The bus finally arrived – OK, it was right on time, it just seemed like we had been waiting forever – and not only did they not charge us extra for all of our luggage, but the woman who had reserved the seat next to me agreed to move so Chuck and I could sit together.
Shortly after this was taken, we were sound asleep. I slept at least a half an hour, and Chuck slept until we were just outside of Trieste. We peered out the window to watch the city lights as we wound our way down a steep hill. On arrival at the bus station, we asked about where we could find a cab. “Oh, it doesn’t come here. You have to go to the other side of the train station. Take a right, then a left, then another left.”
So, it’s late, and it's cold, and it’s dark, and the streets are fairly empty, and all of the signs are in Italian…
But we made the right-left-left turns and Chuck said, “There’s a taxi sign right ahead.” Sure enough. The seemingly enigmatic directions were spot on, and we were soon on our way to the Best Western.
After checking in (no key cards here)…
and barely squeezing ourselves and our bags into the elevator, we made it to our no-nonsense room with its hard twin beds…
...and shower that was barely big enough to turn around in.
We rinsed off the 30-plus hours of travel grunge and slept like babies.
A couple of take-aways for future experiences
Let the cruise line book the flight. That way if something goes wrong, they take care of the details to get you to the ship. As an alternative, go a couple of days early so there is more time to deal with unexpected circumstances.
Learn how to use the international calling on your cell phone. While we had free international data (thank goodness) and supposedly could make calls for 15 cents a minute, every time I tried to make a phone call, things did not work out.
When alerting your credit card companies that you will be traveling, consider adding a few neighboring countries to the list of places you will be. I was unable to use my credit card in Slovenia because it wasn’t registered with the company
Try to stay positive. It isn’t always easy, but it helps.
Find the fun in the situation, whether it is trying new food, people watching, or looking out the window at a beautiful country you never even considered visiting. If we get a chance, we will definitely go back to Slovenia.
And now this crazy start to our trip, with all of its unexpected turns, frustrations, and moments of freaking out, is a great memory.
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