We are sitting in the Frankfurt airport, after a rather confusing effort to get us into the Gold Lounge. We did get in, but have been unable to find a way to upgrade from our Economy seats to something a bit more roomy. We will live with it.

The whole Croatian airport thing was a bit of a shit show. Getting to the airport was easy, finding where to leave the car keys much less so. There is no key box or door slot so you simply shove them through the crack of the open window.

The line up in the airport was insane. We had no choice but to join the masses, as we were unable to check in online. Loading the plane was a freaking free-for-all; everyone just ran when they opened the jetway doors. We were in the very last seats but it was a short flight so – whatever.

Yesterday was a long day. We were up early with enough time to take a short stroll around Ljubljana to check out the bridges and the market that had sprung up overnight. We strolled through the market and (not surprisingly) acquired some beautiful art at one of the stalls.

I cannot overstate how lovely the souvenirs of Slovenia have proven to be. In the end we bought a small watercolour of Lake Bled and a larger oil painting of some mountain scenery by the same artist. It will find a home in Ucluelet and seems well suited to that space.

We are both wishing we had another day or two for this lovely little city. As we wandered about we tripped on so many things we had not seen: the street market, the art gallery, a wonderful shopping street, multiple cathedrals… all too much to cram into a short hour or so before our departure.

Of all the places we have visited, Slovenia was one of the most surprising. We had never even really heard about Slovenia, from anyone, and would happily return. (I imagine that trip to include a visit to Trieste, a little bit of Italy, adjacent to Slovenia and known for its coffee. And a chance to visit Istria in northeastern Croatia, known for its truffles and hill towns.)

We were packed and in the car by 9:30, heading south by another collection of intriguing little backroads. The scenery was so beautiful, though my efforts to photograph it as we cruised along were less than stellar. The weather was ridiculously mixed, bright sun one moment and torrential rain the next. Many of the rivers were swollen over their banks. I wondered what state the caves would be in after so much rainfall?

Our first stop was a tiny cafe/bar in a random little town in the middle of nowhere. The coffee was good, though we certainly caused some curious looks from the local, completely male, population. We had clearly their hangout. While we sipped our coffee (at 11:00 a.m.) they had moved on to their afternoon beverages, beer and huge glasses of what was likely the local white wine. By huge I mean – probably 8oz in a glass?

We did fairly well navigating the back roads, though Siri steered us wrong a time or two. We crossed the border back into Croatia without any fanfare.

We made one very brief side trip to the Memorial Park for Nikola Tesla. It seemed fitting given that we currently own two cars named after him. He was quite an interesting fellow. Both the Serbs and the Croatians lay claim to him, though he was born in what is now Croatia. He is described as the child of Serbian parents and became a naturalized American after immigrating to the US.

We stopped every few hours for a short break, once for lunch in one of the highway stops. The sandwich we shared was actually quite tasty and we came away with another large collection of car snacks.

It was fun to fly past the road signs marking the turnoffs to places we had seen: Split, Sibenik, Krka, Skradin, Zadar. We had many opportunities to recall our adventures on the long drive.

We had a good amount of confusion trying to figure out the bypass and the bridge around Bosnia-Hercegovina – but we did it! And were greeted on the other side by this beautiful double rainbow. A good omen for sure!

The rest of the journey was just a haul as the rain continued, and night began to fall.

The road to Dubrovnik is surprisingly small and could not be described fairly as a highway. The traffic was very slow and the last hour of the drive took forever. Rick did an amazing job with 8+ hours in the driver’s seat. All I did was feed him Flips and hold on for dear life during some of the more rainy and windy bits.

Rick had arranged a hotel close to the airport. Smart. It was tidy and clean, though not much to get excited about. We were only there to sleep and be up at 4:00 to catch our early morning flight to Frankfurt.

The fellow at the desk recommended a nearby restaurant for dinner, just 3 km away. We ate a simple meal and enjoyed a last glass of fine Croatian Cabernet Sauvignon. We fell into bed exhausted though not really able to sleep with two early alarms looming (and one extra ‘just in case’ ). As it turned out, we were both up well before the first alarm.

It has been a wonderful adventure, though we are happy to be heading home. Now, the sun sets on our grand, and often challenging adventures in the Balkans. Love to you all and thanks so much for listening.