We did not go to Croatia!

 

This is a picture of why we did not make it to Croatia.

We went to the Cleveland airport on Wednesday afternoon to catch our 4:00 flight, which looked like this:

Cleveland -- Chicago -- Frankfurt -- Split

While we were waiting at the gate to board in Cleveland, they made an announcement that there would be a slight delay because a light was out somewhere on the plane. After about an hour, they made another announcement saying the flight would be delayed for a long time because of a mechanical issue, and we might want to look into getting other flights. It turned out they had to change equipment, and that flight was delayed by 5 hours. We did go to the United counter to book another flight, but because we missed our connection to Frankfurt, it got complicated. They wanted us to take a later flight to Chicago, stay overnight, and board a flight to Zurich. Once in Zurich, we had to wait 9 hours for that flight, which would connect to Split. 

We decided to call VBT and get some dinner at Texas Roadhouse.

VBT said to call the travel company they work with to see what they could do. They really couldn't do anything for us. They recommended going to the airport Thursday morning and speaking directly with United.

On Thursday morning, we went to the airport and got booked on this flight:

Cleveland -- Chicago -- Zurich -- Split

We were happy with that and headed to the gate. We already missed the first day of our trip, but we were on our way.

We boarded our flight to Chicago on time (yay!), but not so fast. Before we left the gate, they announced that the flight would be delayed because of weather in Chicago. It would be a while, so we might want to gather our things and deboard the plane, but we were advised not to leave the area.

After an hour and a half, we were finally on our way to Chicago. We thought the connection to Zurich would be close, but we could run after we got off the plane.

As we approached Chicago, we noticed the plane circled the airport - not a good sign. Then, when we landed, the pilot announced that construction at the airport would cause a longer-than-usual approach to the gate. Once we got to the gate, there was another plane in the way. That plane was waiting for clearance to take off. Needless to say, we missed our connection to Zurich.

I don't know why we are smiling. 

This is where we met Derek (the guy in the first photo), who spent three entire hours trying to find a way for us to get to Split. At one point, he found four seats for me, Don, Greg, and Merry on this flight:

Chicago -- Brussels -- Munich -- Split

And he got John and Leslie on this flight:

Chicago -- Zurich -- Split

We were happy with that and were going to go our separate ways and meet up in Split. We missed the first two days of our trip, but we could catch up.

Just then, John got a call from the gate they were supposed to leave from. The gate agent told him, "You are not going to get on this flight - we are already overbooked by 20 people."

Don and I told John and Leslie they could have our seats on the Brussels flight, and we would just go home. They would not do it, so Derek searched some more. He looked for flights through Poland and Iceland and everywhere else. He even looked for flights into Dubrovnik. It turns out it is not easy to get to Split, Croatia. There was nothing available on Friday, and by then we would have been missing four days of our trip. To catch up with the group, we would have had to get to Hvar. 

I still don't know why we are smiling.

The only place to sit for four hours.

This is how we really felt.

We told Derek to get us flights to Cleveland. This took another hour because he had to figure out where our luggage was. Once he told us our luggage would be on the plane, we went to a restaurant in the airport and had dinner.

When we got to the gate, we were not surprised that our flight was delayed. But just for a half hour!

We landed in Cleveland at midnight our time. Our bags did not make it, so we had to file claims at the United baggage claim counter. You can't make this stuff up.

My bag got to our house Saturday morning. Don's arrived here Saturday night. As of now (Sunday afternoon), the other four still don't have their luggage. John has an AirTag in his suitcase, and it says it is in Terminal 5 at the Chicago airport, but no one can seem to find it.

We are pretty sure that even if we were able to get to Croatia, our luggage would not have made it. And I can't think of anything worse than being on a bike trip without my luggage.

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We are going to Croatia!

 

Up until last Thursday, we weren't sure we were going on this trip. Thankfully, Don's neurologist said he didn't see any reason he shouldn't be able to travel thousands of miles by plane and then cycle hundreds of miles, too. Woo Hoo! We leave tomorrow.

The Croatia trip is actually one of VBT's more challenging trips due to elevation changes (1,000 - 2,000 ft. elevation gains). But I don't think it will be much worse than Tuscany or Greece. We ordered e-bikes.

We get a day off in the middle of the trip to spend some time island hopping (from Brač to Hvar) on a private boat. If the water is too choppy, we will have to travel by large car ferries. Bring out the popcorn buckets! I'd better pack some Dramamine.

I will be blogging day by day as usual, so stay posted!

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Strasbourg, France

 

The biking portion of our VBT trip ended yesterday, and today we took a train to Strasbourg. It was a short 30-minute ride.

Layla, our walking guide, took us to the top two attractions in Strasbourg: Petite France and the Notre-Dame de Strasbourg. 

Shops handed out samples of their pastries and confections.

This building is where our VBT guide, William, went to high school. His mother is a diplomat from England to Alsace, and this school is for children of diplomats. Pretty nice!

Petite France is an island that was once a very poor area where fishers, tanners, and millers lived. Even at the turn of the 20th century, washhouses still lined the sides of the river. It wasn't until the 1970s that the area was cleaned up and turned into a lovely pedestrian area with footbridges to cross the river.

Map of Strasbourg. 

The area inside the circle of water is Petite France.

I've never seen a cathedral quite like this one! Notre Dame de Strasbourg is older and taller than Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. This Gothic-style cathedral took over 400 years to build (1015 to 1439). Standing at 466 feet, it was the tallest building in the world from 1647 to 1874.

The Astronomical clock inside the cathedral was amazing. 

Here is a video of the clock sounding at 1:30 p.m. today.

More photos of the cathedral.

Jon and Leslie hit the jackpot on rooms at our last hotel. They got a corner room with a king-size bed and a balcony. They invited the Cleveland group up for a glass of wine before we walked to a nearby restaurant for dinner.

They even had a great view of St. Paul's Church.

Time to sign off and go to bed. We have a 6:50 a.m. pickup and a 3-hour ride to Frankfurt Airport tomorrow morning! 

Bonne nuit!

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La Route des Vins

 

William and Paul do a great job of describing the day's activities. Today, we rode the northern end of the Alsace Wine Route along the Bruche Canal toward Strasbourg. We made a loop back in the afternoon.

Ready to do our sixth and final day of riding.

This morning, we made a quick stop at the stork nursery, a small, netted area where storks can live safely while they are recovering from injuries. What caught my eye were the two swans swimming just to the right.

We passed a baguette vending machine on our route today. Greg W. bought one.

This is the first time we've had to stop for a train while biking VBT. And just when we were about to cross the tracks, another train came!

We were here.

William and Paul surprised us by setting up a lovely spread for our lunch stop. We thought we were going to have to wander into town and find something to eat.

Leslie helped them set everything up, so lunch was served promptly. William and Paul thanked her by giving her a bag of Stork Eggs.

The wildlife thought they were invited to the picnic.

Fields of cabbage in Krautergersheim.

Krautergersheim is known as the Capital of Sauerkraut, and most of the cabbage consumed in France comes from this area. I know...so exciting.

We rode 33 miles today. The trip total was 172. My legs are fine. My bottom - not so much.

The vintage carousel, in the center of Obernai, has been there since 1900. It is just gorgeous!

This afternoon, we had plenty of time to relax and walk around the town. Don and I sat at an outdoor cafe and enjoyed an ice-cold Diet Coke and some ice cream.

We had our farewell dinner tonight. These weeks always go so fast. We met in the garden at the hotel for a champagne toast.

Then we took the group photo in which everyone was dressed nicely and without helmet hair.

Tomorrow we board a 30-minute train to Strasbourg, France, for one day before heading back home.

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