While I was seated at the gate, a group of wheelchairs were collecting. There had to be more than 20 by the time the flight was called. Although I was seated in the rows of chairs, one of the attendants asked me if I needed a wheelchair. That was a first clue (more later ...). In talking to people in line waiting to board the plane, I learned that adult children arrange wheelchairs for their parents so that they are taken directly to the gate and don't have to maneuver in the airport on their own; sort of like renting a wheelchair at Disneyland to avoid the line.
The flight on Egyptair was different from any other flight I have ever been on. First, it left an hour late (no big deal), but before taking off, the entire flight had to pray. There were no pre-flight protocols .... no "fasten your seat beat, close the overhead storage ..." People were standing and getting in their bags when the plane was taking off! No movie or music in English was provided, and half way through the flight the flight crew changed out of their uniforms into civilian clothes .... it was a very different experience.
When I arrived in Cairo, I had a 12 hour layover, so I rented a hotel room to take a shower and a nap. The shuttle to the hotel was like 3 blocks, but when we got to the hotel, we had to have the dogs check the shuttle and x-ray my bags again before being allowed on the hotel property. And then back to the airport at 3am for my flight to Zagreb via Zurich.
OK, anyone who complains about TSA regulations .... suck it up. At the Cairo airport, I had to go through security before entering the airport, at the terminal, at the actual gate and again when I left the plane in Zurich. And then in Zurich, I had to have my passport stamped every time I moved from one terminal to another to eat or shop, so my passport has all these "in"and "out" arrow stamps. Fun.
Finally, 2 days later, I arrive in Zagreb, Croatia.
When I booked this trip, I didn't do a lot of planning. The dates worked out well, the price was right, they had one open spot, and it was someplace I had heard was pretty. Since my previous attempts to visit Egypt failed, I half expected this one to be canceled as well, so this was my back-up plan, more or less. I was very pleasantly surprised to find myself on a small ship of 49 passengers for 11 days. It was a great experience and I plan to do more of these. My fellow passengers were my new friends, the crew was wonderful, the program directors and tour guides excellent, the food outstanding, Diet Coke was free and available 24/7, and the scenery breathtaking. It was everything one could want. Since it was shoulder season, we were the only boat, so there were no crowds to fight, and we could pull into port at each island and just get off and walk into town. The weather was good, maybe a little chilly for some, with rain only one day. So what did I see:
The bridge spans the Neretva River, which divides the town into Muslim and Croat sections and was deigned by the Ottoman architect Mimar Hayruddin in the 16th century.
The city was a major focus of the fighting during the early 1990s in the Bosnian war. Many buildings in the city were damaged in the fighting and much of that scarring remains visible today.
Korcula, Croatia - With 15,500 residents, this is the second most populous Croatian island and the most populated island not connected to the mainland via a bridge.
Marco Polo was taken prisoner by the Genoese at the battle of Korcula and it was his cellmate in prison who wrote the travels of Marco Polo, the book that made his exploits in China famous.
St. Mark's Cathedral on the main square, which features a detailed Romanesque portal by Bonino of Milano depicting Adam and Eve on either side and St. Mark perched at the top, has more treasures inside with a sketch by Da Vinci, drawings by Raphael, and paintings by Carpaccio.This evening the on-board entertainment was an authentic Dalmatian dinner, followed by a demonstration of klapa singing. This a cappella singing style is an informal tradition in which friends gather to sing in four-part harmony, and is perhaps the most definitive of all Croatian music forms.
The next morning our ship arrived in Kotor, a picturesque walled city nestled at the head of Europe's deepest fjord. The city's walls, constructed between the ninth and 18th century, are barely visible against the dark grey stone of the mountains during the day. But at night, the walls are lit up, giving the city a spectacular golden halo.
The Cathedral of Saint Tryphon, named for the city's patron saint and protector, was consecrated in 1166.
In Perast, we took small boats to visit the baroque Our Lake of the Rocks shrine on a man-made islet. The shrine contains 68 paintings by local 17-th-century artist Tripo Kokolja, while it's greatest treasure is the icon of Our Lade of the Rock, painted by the Dubrovnik artist Lovro Marinov Dobricevic.
