day 058

Good bye Croatia. I loved it but it was by far the hottest place I have ever been. Before we got to the border we had to exit off the island of Rab. My god, that was very alarming. Listen to my advice and never, never take this tour with Kasia as your tour leader. She gives a really great presentation and can make it very engaging but that's it.

When we took the ferry back from Rab island. Bojan didn't want to take the right hand ferry as it was listing badly, even empty, and part of it was below the waterline. So we took the left hand ferry. They loaded us on and loaded the cars around us so tightly that Bojan could not open the doors. We were stuck in the bus for the duration of the ferry ride. We all watched it happen and Kasia did nothing! I was sitting in the very front seat and heard Bojan say to Kasia, "I can't open the doors, they are blocked. What if something happens?" Bojan looked at Kasia and Kasia looked at Bojan and then they looked away from each other and nothing was done at all about the situation!

The seven of us, those of us sitting closest to the front, who realized what was happening, looked at each other and commented on what a safety hazard that is, made a few jokes, cast a few concerned looks right and left and then one of the guys pointed to the roof and said we can always climb out the portals. Right, 26 people through the roof?! Look, if the tour group starts suggesting various exit strategies, then you know how bad it is. Kasia should have stopped this before it even happened. This is a prime example of her piss-poor leadership and it left us in a fix if anything bad did happen.

26 of us were stuck on the bus with no easy access to an exit in case of emergency all due to her inaction. We all had plenty of time, watching what happened. Kasia got on the microphone and said that in case of emergency that Bojan would open the doors. Right, like how? There was no room to do that and Bojan had earlier stated as much and I could see out the window that unless the doors were capable of pushing a car out of the way it wasn't going to happen. She lied to us. Fortunately, nothing happened but it could have. We rode the full 20 minutes in the ferry, locked in the bus. This is just one example among many!

So my advice is the following:

Take the Eastern Europe tour by all means, it's a lot of fun - and it is!

Go with the Rick Steves Company, it's a great company - and it is!

But do not get Kasia as your guide. Her blasé and lackadaisical attitude towards her responsibilities is a hazard in and of itself.

Good bye Croatia!

We spent four hours here in Ljubljana. This is where I had an excellent lunch sitting in the shade on this hot, hot day.

Down this river on the left is an internet cafe. I wanted to make my next travel connections since the Rick Steves portion of this tour will be over in the next few days or so.

I walked out of the internet cafe totally shell shocked. Why? I was looking for easy transportation connections to Dubrovnik from Ljubljana and found, instead, a $70 dollar ticket to Berlin.

Now, how could I possibly turn that down? Berlin wasn't even on my radar till I saw that bargain. For 70 dollars I can fly all the way across the European Continent and only be a seven hour train ride away from Amsterdam! Easy Jet, you rock!

So I leave this cafe totally shell shocked. That's the thing about traveling completely open with no set itinerary, it evolves a life of its own. However, this does not make up for the anxiety that is caused by never knowing where I will sleep at night.

I am happy about the way this trip has turned out, but for next time I will be making some changes in the way I travel.

When we left the island Rab I mentioned to the tour assistant guide, Jayne, how much I enjoyed this town and how it was the best of all. Jayne said that I have said that about every destination I have been to. She is right. This is how I know that I truly love to travel.

We eventually reached our final destination for the day. Lake Bled in Slovenia. That evening I went to a posh hotel drinking with some of my buddies from the tour group. We chatted and drank and enjoyed the live pianist that was playing in the corner. So my day ended with laugher, music, good company, and good times. It was lovely and one of the memories I will always cherish.