Wrapping Up and Moving On

 July 7, 2025

I woke up at 6 am, feeling like, oh, nothing happening, may as well just doze, then I remembered — it’s travel day! While last night I didn’t feel like going anywhere but home, this morning I was excited to get to Berlin, to see Ezra, Katharina, and the girls. Wahoo! It’s nice when the timing turns out to be perfect (despite fantasies of highjacking the boat), and to be exactly ready when one stage of a journey is done and the next stage is about to begin. 

I dressed in jeans (gasp!), mainly to lighten my bag to conform to Croatia Air’s weight restrictions. We had a typical ship’s breakfast that included just about everything anyone could want in the way of breakfast. I ate more than usual, knowing I wouldn’t get a proper lunch, since my flight to Berlin would be at 1 pm. 

The Four Pipsqueaks: Gill, Mallory, myself, and Jane; a sub-group of the Canada 8. You have to be 5'2" or under to qualify

We had to be off the boat at 8:30, bags and all, so that the crew could clean and prep for the next bunch arriving at noon, just as we did last week. We had to carry our bags across the five other ships strung together with ours. We sat on a stone wall alongside the string of ships, just as we has sad last week, when we were waiting and wondering about the adventure to come. I figure we were probably sitting today among some of the coming week’s passengers. And we were probably sitting last week among the previous week’s passengers. It’s an infinite loop, isn’t it?

Carol and Bettyanne were taking a bus to Zagreb at 10:00, and I was taking an airport shuttle bus, also at 10:00. Jane, whose husband was to arrive at the airport from Canada at 11:30, decided to go with me and meet him at the airport rather than hanging around waiting for hours in Split. I was happy to have the company. 

One last latte

We all had one last café latte, or some version of it (well, Carol had fresh orange juice) in a basic café beside the bus station. Said goodbye to my new sisters, saying we’d look forward to our Pender walks with the big group, so we could huddle and reminisce.

Jane and I have some friends in common. We found out a couple of months ago. Elly, my previous bike/travel partner, mentioned that her good friend Mike Theilman’s sister-in-law was also going to be doing a bike and boat tour in Croatia around the same time as me. That sister-in-law is Jane! I also consider Mike (along with his wife Maren) a friend, though we don’t know each other well. Yes, the world really is small.

Anyhow, Jane's company made pleasant the 40-minute through the suburbs to the airport, which is a rather beautiful, airy building. I had to check my bag, because it weighed 9.8 kg even without my jeans, and Air Croatia’s allowance is 8 kg. It was totally unnecessary, since the plane was only half full and the bins were almost empty, but since it was a nonstop flight, I figured they probably wouldn't lose the bag. Jane and said our goodbyes. 

Split airport

In row four there were only two passenger, myself and that woman. My bag could have had a seat, for goodness' sake!

 

Aerial view of Split. If you know what you're looking for, you can see the Riva. I notice that our ship has sailed, as have the six others it was tied to. 

Clear skies and clear views ended  about half way into the flight, and when I landed in Berlin, the air was fresh with recent rain. I swear there used to be one guy in the bowels of the Berlin airport, getting all the luggage from the planes to the carousels, it was that slow. They seem to have hired extra help, because I only waited 20 minutes. Ezra, Katharina, and the girls timed their arrival perfectly, getting to my exit just as I came through, bag and all.

We took the long S-Bahn ride to their neighbourhood and walked ten minutes to home. The girls were shy at first, but then re-introduced me to their stuffies, and showed me their drawings, and compared the size of their feet to the size of mine, and all was good. 

We went for Indian dinner at Yogi Haus, just down the street. The cost of dinner for five was not much more than I was paying for just myself in Croatia. Berlin is still reasonable, in an increasingly pricey world. It's good to be back.

No more kitties. Just these: