Well today was all about keeping a sense of humour.

We didn’t have to check out until midday so wandered next door to Starbucks for a coffee and what I thought was a danish but turned out to be a very soft and tasteless croissant. Mike opted for the swirl/donut thing so got some flavour. Another blue sky day but a bit chillier.

For the rest of the trip we are travelling with our friend Barbara McDermott who was flying through from NZ and would meet us at the gate.

We didn’t really think through that check in closed at 1pm and didn’t open then so by the time we located the Uber driver and got out to the airport it was nearly 1pm, which was still 2 hours before our flight. Unfortunately there were no seats left together where I could get an aisle so I opted to take the empty seat beside Barb with Mike further back. By the time we got to the gate I realised it was still not an aisle seat but the gate people offered 2 seats together right at the back with one on the aisle. All good.

Barb didn’t get to the gate until we were almost boarding and she looked remarkably chirpy for someone who had just had an 11 hour flight with little or no sleep. We said our hellos and hopped on the plane ready for our 10 hour flight to Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. Mike and I were at the very back of this huge A380 Airbus. The flights to Frankfurt and then Zagreb were operated by Lufthansa and I was interested to check the difference with Air NZ.

Apparently it was windy. So windy that one of the 2 runways in San Fran was not operational. So we sat at the gate and then at the runway for 2 hours. We watched an entire movie before even taking off (Darkest Hour). It became apparent that we would not make our Zagreb connection, which was pretty tight anyway, but we certainly weren’t the only ones.

Everything about the Lufthansa service was excellent (except the scrambled eggs weren’t as good as Air NZ). They gave us proper stainless steel cutlery and a pre dinner drink with snacks. Air NZ told us a lot about how they are the best in the world but none of us could see the difference to be honest. Also, when I had my dizzy spell on the way to San Fran, Mike went to get 2 lots of water and some ice and flannels and not a single crew member came by to check if I was ok or if there was something serious. Hmmmm.

With a tail wind and more speed the captain made up an hour but we were still an hour late and arrived just as our flight was leaving. The ground staff directed us to the Lufthansa service desk for a new boarding pass as we were rebooked on a later flight. The nice lady decided that the 9.30pm flight (we arrived at noon) was not the best they could do and got us on another one that left at 6pm. Yay. We also each got a €10 food or beverage voucher so found our way to a restaurant with windows overlooking the gates and runway. Being in Germany we opted for sausages, potato and sauerkraut matched with beer. Perfect. We stayed there for a couple of hours (they weren’t busy) then had a walk and then a snooze on these recliner seats for an hour, then it was time for off again. This has now been 28 hours of flights and airport time for Barb but she was still pretty chirpy.

The flight to Zagreb only took just over an hour (Air Croatia) and they still managed to offer us drinks! The big question was whether our bags would arrive and thankfully they did.

Zagreb airport is new (the winner of most improved airport in Europe for 2017/18 evidently) and large and empty. We were the only flight at the time so didn’t have to queue for long and there was no customs checks at all. Just immigration where we got a stamp.

The man from the Peregrine tour company was there with his sign. I had phoned from Frankfurt with the new flight details. He had a nice big Mercedes van thing and we had a 20 min drive into the City through the drizzle to our hotel – The Astoria Best Western. It’s old and quaint and very nice. Quite small but still stylish and everything works well. The room is bijou compared with the Omni but the bed is large and the bathroom is clean. Perfect for 2 nights. We are all on the first floor and have opted for an earlyish night with a cup of tea in our rooms. Breakfast is from 6.30 – 10.30 which is civilised.

We have a day to explore tomorrow. Our tour group meets at 6.30pm for a briefing but otherwise we can please ourselves. I can already see that Zagreb is lovely. Quite leafy and old and pretty. Fingers crossed for some sunshine.