ND76

DAY ONE: 9 December 2014

I was in my office by 5 am, and was really motivated to get some work done so that I wouldn’t have to interrupt my travels to new countries. I finished in time to make the 0945 Metro train to DCA.

I did not have pre-check for only the second time this year, and I forgot to take my wallet and passport out of my pocket and put them in my backpack—thus, the public servants manning the TSA nude-o-scope at the entrance to the Delta/United gates at DCA made me be re nude-o-scoped. I feared that the TSA (thieves standing around) might snatch my wallet and ruin my trip, but, thankfully, they missed their opportunity, and I staggered into the elevator and up into the Delta SkyClub™ by 1015.

After a quick Miller Lite break, I went downstairs and boarded the 1100 flight for ATL on a 737-800 without AVOD and satellite TV. My upgrade cleared at the DM window, which was great. In praise of the Big D, they really have the DCA-ATL route down to a science. I can’t remember the last time they didn’t leave on time out of DCA. I can’t remember the last time I didn’t get friendly flight attendants. I also can’t remember the last time they didn’t pass out PDBs in F; I was handed a cold can and a quality plastic cup of Rodney Dangerfield’s favorite brew. The weather at DCA was light rain, low ceiling and generally miserable high 30s; we had to wait for six other flights to depart before we took our place at the top of runway 01.

Wheels were up at 1122 and down again at ATL 576 actual miles and 78 minutes later at 1240 (source: flightaware.com); the flight was uneventful, I napped most of the way, and then we descended through fairly rough clear air turbulence to land on runway 27L (Atlanta was having a much nicer day with no rain and temps in the mid 50s). We parked at A25, meaning that a stop at Chik-Fil-A in the A concourse food court was in the cards as I had not eaten any breakfast or lunch up to that point.

As the onward flight to Paris CDG was leaving out of E10, after my fast food repast was consummed I waddled onto the “Plane Train”, got out to the E concourse, and was welcomed into the Delta SkyClub™. I found a quiet place to work (at least until a Russian-speaking family commandeered some seats near the counter where I was able to plug in my lap top). I wrapped things up around 1445 and headed for the gate; my timing was impeccable as general boarding had just begun.

As I was headed for points in the former Yugoslavia, I searched for the cheapest fare that would put me closest to my destinations with full Delta miles and frequent flyer benefits. I could have bought a Delta “006” ticket for ZAG, with the final leg on Air France code-share partner Croatia Airlines (a Star Alliance member where my Delta status would not have mattered and no frequent flyer miles would have accrued), for around $1,200.00. Knowing that better bargains were to be had, I looked at VIE, where there was about an $800 fare, and then, in a moment of madness, checked BUD, where a DCA-ATL-CDG-BUD-AMS-ATL-DCA “V” fare was on sale for $704.00. I then checked my ground transport options, and found that a 6 hour train ride BUD-ZAG could be purchased for €29.00 (about $36.00), but a 4.5 hour express bus ride BUD-ZAG (the Zagreb train and bus stations are almost adjacent to each other) was a mere HUF 3,900 ($15.68). I went with the bus.

Getting back to the aviation aspect of the journey, when I checked-in on line for my eastbound trip, Delta made me an offer: upgrade to Business Elite for either $750.00 or 75,000 miles. As I had plenty of miles, I went for the mileage upgrade, and ended up with seat 1C on the 767-300ER, the one that seatguru.com warns out about because of the “proximity of the lavatories”. What seatguru.com doesn’t tell you is that the footwell for the flat bed seat is probably the widest (along with 1B) in business elite, and really makes this seat one of the best on the airplane. Also, this seat is recessed from the right-hand side aisle, meaning that people walking past can’t bump into you (1B is not so recessed). Finally, since deplaning goes through door 1L, you are among the first to get off the plane.

Andrea Robinson must get some special favors from the Jacquart champagne people, because Delta’s master sommelier never seems to want to try some other brand. Anyhow, I managed to coax two glasses of bubbly out of one of the great (and I do mean great) flight attendants on this trip. The door closed at 1527, 9 minutes ahead of schedule, and we got smartly away from the gate, and only four planes were ahead of us on the taxiway to runway 27R. Flightaware shows that wheels were up at 1549, that we flew an actual total of 4,507 statute miles, and that we landed on runway 26L (part of the runway pair south of CDG T2E) at 0525 CET, a total of 7 hours 26 minutes, 14 fewer than were announced by the captain. Flightaware’s depiction of our route showed us passing over Raleigh-Durham, NC, Ocean City, MD, Nantucket and Provincetown, MA, St. John, NB, Summerside, PEI, the northern tip of Newfoundland, then across the Atlantic to a point near Shannon, Ireland, then over to Cardiff, Wales and just east of Portsmouth, England, then approaching CDG over Rouen, flying past the field and landing to the west.

Usually normal, sane and rational people have a cocktail hour followed by appetizers, entrees and dessert before going to bed. As I am not normal and generally insane and irrational, I flip flopped the order of business, putting my seat back immediately after wheels up and then sleeping until we got south of Greenland. My flight attendant Deborah saw me wake up and rushed over to me, called me “Rip Van Winkle”, and told me that the crew was worried about me. I told her that between several hours of work, some Chik-Fil-A, and a couple of champagnes, I needed to sleep, and that my plan was to try to sleep the entire trip to France and then catch up on food there.

Deborah put together a number of the “small plates” that were designed by Atlanta celebrity chef Linton Hopkins, whom Delta retained to front their Business Elite menus on their flights from Atlanta to various western European airports. I enjoyed all of them: (1) Roasted Beets and Carrots with toasted faro, belle chevre and citrus vinaigrette (I think this was the first time I ever knowingly put goat cheese in my mouth); (2) Grilled Gulf Shrimp and Little Gem Lettuce, including pickled red onion, fennel, brebis cream and Caesar vinaigrette; and (3) Regional Charcuterie, including pieces of ham and salami from Heywood’s Provision Company and The Spotted Trotter (the latter is probably something I’ve bet on at places like Rosecroft Raceway I’m sure). They also had “San Marzano Tomato Soup” on board which I didn’t try (Delta had a tomato soup on another flight this year which was very good).

I passed on the entrees, which were: (1) Red Wine Beef Short Rib, with hominy grits, celery remoulade, blackberry macerated kale (just when you think you’ve mastered the English language they come up with a new word such as “macerated”, which means soaked in liquid) and piperade sauce (wasn’t this the Basque pepper recipe that Tony Soprano ripped out of a magazine in Dr. Melfi’s office, must to the disapprobation of Jennifer); (2) Creole Braised Chicken and Mushrooms, with low country tomato rice, sea island red pea gravy and baby bok choy; (3) Roasted Duck Sausage, with apple-braised cabbage, lyonnaise potato salad and persillade (for us non-gourmands, this is a parsley based sauce with garlic, herbs, oil and vinegar); or (4) Storico Fresco Butternut Squash Tortelli (why Delta didn’t use the Italian for Butternut Squash, “Zucca”, is anyone’s guess), with roasted hen of the woods mushrooms, lemony kale, garlic confit, mushroom broth and parmigiano reggiano.

The bread and rolls came from H & F Bread Co. and were served with Georgia churned Banner Butter. I missed out on the “Spiced Georgia Pecans and Crisp Cheese Straws” at the beginning of the flight, which they served during cocktail hour featuring the “Sorghum Squared” cocktail featuring Woodford Reserve Bourbon.

I didn’t miss out on dessert. I went with a “Pot de Crème” served in a small glass jar with a Ball Dome lid on it (nice little touch; I’ve never seen this before on an airliner)—the contents were a mousse of “Priscilla’s dark chocolate, caramel and hazelnuts”—outstanding. This went very well with the Ferreira Dona Antonia Tawny Port (between $13-18 per bottle in the USA).

The other desserts I could have had were: (1) Artisan Cheese Selection including Blackberry Farm Fromage Blanc, Sequatchie Cove Farm Shakerag Blue and Greendale Farm Sassy Sweetmilk Gouda, served with crackers, grapes oaten biscuits and smoked onion jam; (2) Eugene’s Warm Sticky Toffee Cake, accompanied by High Road cranberry ice cream; or (3) High Road vanilla ice cream sundae, with choice of sauces, whipped cream and chopped nuts (good to see that Delta still serves ice cream sundaes, which dates back to my first Delta flights back in the mid 80s).

In addition to the Jacquart Brut Mosaique bubbly, Delta’s menu showed the following other wines available: (1) Inception Chardonnay, Santa Barbara County, CA, 2011 ($19.99 per bottle in California); (2) Chateau Sainte-Marie Vielles Vignes, Bordeaux, 2013 (blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon and Muscadelle) ($13.99 to $16.43 per bottle in various USA locations); (3) Castello di Nipozzano Chianti Rufina Riserva, Tuscany, 2010 ($14.79 to $19.99 per bottle in various USA locations; (4) Chateau Ormes de Pez, Saint-Estephe, Bordeaux, 2007 (blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc) ($34.99 in California; $37.00 in New York state); and (5) Chateau Saint-Amand Sauternes, Bordeaux, 2010 (no price available); and (6) Jacquart Brut Mosaique champagne (anywhere from $27.96 per bottle to $47.99 per bottle, both in New Jersey to (prices for wines researched on wine-searcher.com).

I couldn’t fall back asleep, but had a couple more small glasses of Port while watching a movie (the AVOD system worked well), and then had breakfast, which consisted of croissants and pain au chocolat from H & F Bread Co., a fruit plate, and the H & F almond granola cereal with a portion of Greek yogurt. In place of the cereal I could have ordered a “Thomasville Tomme Cheese and Spinach Frittata” accompanied by sweet potato hash, black pepper sausage gravy and buttermilk biscuit.

ND76

DAY TWO: 10 December 2014

As noted above, we touched down at 0525, 45 minutes prior to scheduled arrival time of 0610, and had a relatively short taxi to gate M47 in the more eastern of the two mid-field terminals connected with the original Terminal 2E (now known as concourse K) by a driverless shuttle train. When we parked, the ground staff was not in position to position the jetway (I was speaking to both the captain and about half the FAs in the front galley while this was going on, and they indicated that this was their usual experience at CDG). Finally, the jetway was in place, the door opened at 0540, and I walked onto the loading bridge through a gauntlet of probably 20 airport workers and security people.

It took 35 minutes to make my way from the plane to the Terminal 2F Air France Salon, which included a 5 minute walk to the shuttle train, ride it two stops to concourse K, then get off the train, get an Air France boarding pass out of the kiosks provided, and then proceed through a new (at least new since the last time I connected from 2E to 2F which was in 2007) corridor to go through CDG security (about 10 people in “Acces 1” ahead of me when I joined the line) and then the French Border Police passport control to get over to Terminal 2F for the onward flight to BUD. The line was relatively long for passport control as there was only one policeman on duty for “Acces 1” passengers; at 0600 a number of officers reported for duty. I got to the Salon around 0615 where I had one-half of the breakfast of champions (I had the pain au chocolat but skipped the Armagnac).

Boarding for BUD on an AF A319 out of gate F28 was supposed to start at 0645, but it was closer to 0700 when boarding was called. The reason it took so long is that a wheelchair passenger had to be boarded first, and AF took its sweet time doing that, despite the main in the wheel chair being in position in front of the boarding dor at 0645 to be boarded. AF then boarded this intra-Europe flight in two zones: Sky Priority; and regular Economy. The Sky Priority boarding was a cavalry charge. I was lucky; I had a coach seat in row 11, one row behind the exit row, where the middle seat was empty. I fell asleep quickly, do not remember the takeoff, and woke up when the airplane hit the ground at the airport formerly known as Ferihegy and now known as Liszt Ferenc International Airport around 0925, scheduled arrival time. I received 775 miles in my account for this flight.

One more comment about this flight. Because of my tight travel schedule once in Europe, I could not afford to get separated from my bags. I tried to travel with only my backpack, but I couldn’t make that work so I used the smallest rollaboard we own together with my backpack where I carry my portable office of a laptop, Canon SLR camera, and various electronics and accessories. I got the Delta front counter agent in DCA to put red “Carry-on Baggage” stickers on both bags. I took a chance at CDG, where AF has traditionally been hostile to two carry-ons; reading Flyer Talk, it has appeared that AF has relaxed a little bit on this. I was able to get my bags through security and then, at boarding pass check for BUD, got both bags past the AF GA without any comment or objection.

As Hungary is now part of the Schengen Zone, there were no formalities, so I was able to get right out to landside. There is a booth for the Budapest Card (which offers unlimited public transit rides and free or discounted admissions to museums and various attractions); a 24 hour card sells for HUF 4,500 (€17). There is another booth on the other side of the lobby for the Budapest public transit system (I saw acronyms of BKK and BKV for this). A 24 hour unlimited ride pass (good through the time stamped on the pass, rather than expiring at midnight) sells for HUF 1,650 ($6.65 when I visited). As I had already booked and paid for a tour of the Parliament building before leaving the USA and only had one other attraction to visit, I went for the cheaper 24 hour transit pass. Credit cards are accepted at this booth, meaning that you don't have to change money at unfavorable rates at the airport, but rather can wait to get to a bank machine in town.

The bus 200E for Kobanyi Kispest station on the M3 Metro line was parked not even 50 feet away from the transit system sales desk and was about to depart when I hopped on at 0940, and I was off for adventure.

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Bus 200E ran northwest along the Ulloi Utca for several miles to the Kobanya Kispest station, the south end of Budapest Metro Line 3 (one of the two that the Soviets built). I got Forints out of a bank machine in the large shopping mall at the bus/metro interchange (you get a more favorable exchange rate from an ATM operated by a bank than at one of the ATMs located in the airport). A few minutes later I got off at the Nepliget (People's Park) station, which is connected by a short tunnel to Budapest's main inter-city bus terminal, as well as being across the street from the ultra-modern looking redeveloped stadium which is the home of Budapest's famous soccer team Ferencvaros (interestingly, the formal name for this team is "Ferencvaros Gymnastics Club").

I booked a room at the Platanus Hotel, about 400 yards east of the Nepliget transit complex and across the Konyves Kalman korut (Boulevard) from a Planetarium in the park; this was an older but clean, quiet, friendly place that was a bargain at €35 ($43). I stayed there particularly to make it easy for me to catch the 0615 bus to Zagreb the next morning; this was the closest hotel to the bus station. Even though it was still early in the morning, the front desk clerk assigned me a room and let me drop my bags off there.

Back on the street, I took the M3 subway to Colvin Negyed station, then took the #4 tram to Ujbuda Kozpont, where I transferred to the #150 bus for the 36 minute ride to Memento Park, which is a collection of Communist Era statuary and relics on the southwest outskirts of Budapest. There turned out to be a much faster way to this place; I should have stayed on the M3 metro for one more stop to Kalvin Ter, changing to the ultra-modern Siemens built M4 metro to its southwest end at Kelenfold, and then catching the #150 for a 15 minute ride to the park. Admission was HUF 1,500 (about $6).

Bela Kun, featured in some of the photos, was the original communist dictator of Hungary, presiding over the short-lived Hungarian Soviet Republic in 1919 (he fled to the USSR where he ended up being executed circa 1938 in one of Stalin's purges, although he was thoughtfully rehabilitated in 1956). Among other highlights are a pair of metal boots placed on a high brick pedestal; these are a recreation of the 80 foot tall statue of Uncle Joe that once stood near the Varosliget (City Park), and was torn down during the 1956 Hungarian Revolution; the statue broke off at the top of the boots, and the statue location then became known as "Boot Square".

Here's a gallery of Memento Park:

http://pangborn76.smugmug.com/Other/...6109&k=Jj4xM5L

It turned out that I was able to get from Memento Park to the Parliament building in about 40 minutes, via the 150 bus, changing at Kelenfold to the brand new M4 metro line, and riding five stops to Fővám tér, where there was an interchange with the #2 tram line right inside the station. The #2 runs up and down the Pest (east) side of the Danube, and has stops on either side of Parliament. I got off at Lajos Kossuth tér, south of the building, and close by the Imre Nagy memorial (the leader of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution who was arrested in a move engineered by, of all people, Yuri Andropov, a KGB operative in Budapest at the time, and later sentenced to death in a secret drumhead trial and then hanged). Nagy's crime was not that he wanted to end the communist system in Hungary (he was a disciple of Marx and Engels), but that he wanted Hungary to be "non-aligned" similar to Tito's Yugoslavia. Nagy's execution was a message from Nikita Khrushchey to the other leaders in the Warsaw Pact that this was not to be tolerated.

It cost HUF 4,200 (including a HUF 200 on-line booking fee) ($16.93) for a non-EU citizen to tour the building (I think it was HUF 2,000 for EU citizens). The building is the third largest of its kind in the world (the People's Palace in Bucharest, the venue for the Romanian Parliament, is the largest; I can't determine which building is second). In the context of the construction of the great public buildings that was going on in the "Gilded Age" (in the USA, generally regarded as the period between 1870-1900), it was constructed roughly contemporaneously with the remarkable state capitol buildings in Albany, NY, Austin, TX, Indianapolis, IN, Des Moines, IA and Springfield, IL. Our tour guide took pains to point out that the building was conceived by a Hungarian architect, built by Hungarian workers and craftsmen with materials almost exclusively from Hungary (except for certain stone columns which came from Sweden). Some of the design elements are shared with other places (for example, I noticed Moorish archways/arcades in the state capitols in Hartford, CT and in Albany; one of the outer facades of the Hungarian parliament put me in mind of the exterior of the Connecticut capitol, which was built in the 1870s). The only downside to this tour is that we were not shown the active legislative chamber of the Országgyűlés (National Assembly). Hungary today has a unicameral parliament; the building was constructed when the parliament was bicameral (we were shown the ornate upper house, the House of Magnates). All in all, a really worthwhile tour for me.

My pictures of the Hungarian Parliament Building are here:

http://pangborn76.smugmug.com/Other/...2269&k=3BnKgPX


My last 90 minutes of daylight and twilight were spent photographing scenes on either side of the Danube. I was able to catch a public transit ferry and criss crossed the river, ending up north of the Margit Hid (Margaret Bridge). I walked from there downriver to the Széchenyi Lanczhid (Széchenyi Chain Bridge), arguably one of the most notable and beautiful bridges in Europe. In reviewing its history, it was constructed in 1849 (contemporaneous with the famous Wheeling Suspension Bridge carrying the "National Road" over the Ohio River). I walked the 375 meters (1,230 feet) across the bridge between Pest and Buda, enjoying every step. I then took the Budavari Siklo (Buda Castle Funicular) up to the top of the ridge on the Buda side, where the Sandor Palace, the seat of the Hungarian head of state, is located. The Siklo was not part of my transit pass, and I paid HUF 1700 ($6.85) for a round trip ticket. It was well worth it.

When I got back down to Danube level, it hit me that I had not had any food or drink since the Paris airport at 0615, and I immediately determined to go to Újbuda-központ, a major shopping district, which I had transited on the way to Memento Park, reachable on the #19 tramway, which runs down the west side of the Danube, with a stop just south of the bridge. Just as a tram was approaching, the powers that be turned on the lights of Chain Bridge. I'm a terrible night photographer, but I was lucky enough to get some incredible snaps.

Part of the commercial district at Újbuda-központ was a large public market containing many different merchants; this was located at the northeast corner of Fehervari Utca and Oktober huszonharmadika (October 23rd) Utca. In among the flower merchants and greengrocers I found a full service food market (CBA), where I purchased a repast of cold cuts, cheese, bread, mineral water and beer for under $10.

Got back to the hotel before 1800, ate my cold cuts washed down with a good Czech beer, Kozel (about $0.80 per pint can), and got some shut eye prior to leaving for Zagreb.

Fantastic first day in Europe on what turned out to be a remarkable road trip.

My pictures of various scenes around Budapest are here:

http://pangborn76.smugmug.com/Other/...4507&k=R6cBgcn

ND76

DAY THREE: 11 December 2014

Budapest was open for business at 0530 when I walked through the darkness to the entrance of the Nepliget metro station to use the pedestrian tunnel to get inside Nepliget bus station. A number of businesses were open in the metro station lobby, including a convenience store with a fruit stand, where for HUF 600 I put together a “reggeli” of some bananas, a sweet roll and a large bottle of mineral water.

I was able to book my bus journey on the internet before leaving the USA, so I had my HUF 3,900 ($15.68) ticket in hand when the Volanbusz/Eurolines coach pulled up at position #3 at 0605. With my rollaboard in the hold, I climbed aboard and got a seat in the back row of 5. The bus pulled out one minute late at 0616, headed westbound over the Konyves Kalman boulevard to the Rákóczi híd over the Danube, then through the southwestern precincts of Budapest out to the Autópálya M7 (expressway), a modern tollway with at least two lanes in each direction, 233 km (about 145 miles) to Letenye on the Croatian frontier. In the southwesterly direction, we passed by Szekesfehervar, then rolling down the southeast side of Lake Balaton past the city of Siofok, then to the outskirts of Nagykanisza and finally Letenye. The terrain was quite similar to that one would see driving on the Ohio Turnpike or Indiana Toll Road between Toledo and South Bend, generally, rich farmland with many cornfields, with the exception of uneven, rolling terrain east of the Balaton, and the dramatic Kőröshegy viaduct. The speed limit is higher in Hungary, too, at 130 kmph (80.8 mph); Maryland and Pennsylvania have maximum 65 mph limits; Ohio and Indiana are 70 mph.

We stopped for the driver’s mandatory 30 minute rest break at 0815 at a modern service plaza near the 140 km marker and the town of Balatonlelle, called “Marché” (operated by the Mövenpick firm), with many more appetizing food and beverage choices than one would find at USA service plazas with names like Tiffin River or Booth Tarkington. There was a charge of HUF 100 (about $0.40) to use the “clean toilet” (sign in English only), which was, in fact, sparkling clean.

Since Croatia is not yet a full-fledged Schengen member, our bus came to a stop just before we left Hungary, where a border policewoman named Bernadett collected my passport. After about 15 minutes we then pulled forward to another barrier; the stop was much shorter, and the border police did not come on board. My passport was handed back to me by the bus conductor (all of the inter-city buses I used on this trip had both a driver and a conductor). We then crossed the river Mura and entered Croatia. The onward tollway, Autocesta A4, was a quality highway, and we quickly covered the remaining 100 km or so into Zagreb. After crossing the Drava river basin east of Varaždin the scenery changed significantly, as the highway was now flanked by low mountains. The bus slowed down through toll plazas where its “ENC” toll transponder (think E-Z Pass here in the mid-Atlantic) was read and the bus allowed to proceed. We finally emerged into the valley containing Croatia’s largest metropolitan area, arrived at Zagreb’s “Autobusni Kolodvor” about 25 minutes ahead of schedule at 1050. This bus would continue on to Ljubljana, Slovenia, then to Trieste and finally Udine in Italy.

After an infusion of Croatian Kuna from a bank machine (about $85 bought HRK500), and a stop at the bus ticket office to buy my onward bus ticket to Split and also at a Tisak kiosk inside the station to purchase tram tickets (HRK10 each), I caught the northbound #8 tram directly across Avenija Marina Držića from the bus station, found the validator and inserted one of my tram tickets, and headed for the hotel.

Zagreb is a tram lover’s dream come true, as many of its central streets have tram tracks and the accompanying catenary. My ride lasted about 10 minutes, when I alighted at the Draškovićeva stop, just south of my lodgings, the Art Hotel Like at 44 Vlaška Ulica. This turned out to be a cute little hotel located on the floor above a Spar grocery store at a busy intersection; 250 meters or so away from the “trg” (plaza) in front of Zagreb’s Roman Catholic Cathedral; 400 meters or so away from Trg Josip Jelačić, the city’s central square; about 1,500 meters away from the Croatian seat of government at St. Mark’s square; and about six tram stops and 2,500 meters away from the Stadion Maksimir, the home of GNK Dinamo, arguably Croatia’s most famous association football team (although the folks down at Hajduk Split would have a dispute about that). In other words, a great location; an adequate, clean comfortable room (actually slept four people, as it had a climb up loft); friendly staff; and priced right ($73.00 per night all in).

At the hotel I met a gentleman, a Scot, whose father was a professional footballer for 20 years (his contemporaries with similar career lengths in American baseball would have been the likes of Stan Musial, Warren Spahn and Nellie Fox), and who was a Celtic standout for several of those years as well as a Scotland international. He and I talked Celtic while having a fun filled walking excursion around central Zagreb, taking in the sights, climbing up a long and steep staircase to the top of Zagreb's version of Capitol Hill (makes the one in DC look like a pimple) (there is a short funicular up this hill, but why ride when you can walk), where the Hrvatska Sabor (Parliament) and the Banski Dvori (seat of government) buildings form the square dominated by St. Mark’s church (with its fabulous roof tiles).

Great beers at Mali Medo, shots of local fruit liquors from street stalls, enjoying the "Celtic vortex" at the Ritam Grada caffe bar & night club featuring a large balcony overlooking Trg Josip Jelačić (the main square). We met a number of fans who took the bus all the way from Glasgow and were on the road 46 hours one way. Kudos to them. Somehow I know they recovered in time for the next Celtic match Also met some men from the Celtic supporters club based at Jack Demsey's near Madison Square Garden and Penn Station in Manhattan. I also came across an Australian who was in town for the match. Moreover there was a great band playing Irish and Celtic favorites. The friendly bar staff were moving a lot of adult beverages in there.

For Flyertalkers who are intrigued by European sport but don’t know who to follow or support, you can’t do much better than Celtic. A club like no other; a team that plays for a people and a cause. Supporters who are generally fun guys. Fantastic music and craic. Win, lose or draw, you always have memorable experiences, and you always want to go back for more. Celtic’s next big European adventure will be on February 26, 2015 when they play at the world famous San Siro against Inter Milan (the same club Celtic's immortal "Lisbon Lions" famously defeated 2-1 at the Estádio Nacional in Lisbon, Portugal in the European Cup final on May 25, 1967).

As far as the match was concerned, Celtic lost 4-3, despite holding a 2-1 lead after a half hour. 19 year old midfielder #20 Marko Pjaca scored a hat trick for the home team in front of a disappointing attendance reported at 4,056 (including about 1,000 Celtic supporters) in the 37,000+ capacity Maksimir. The match went into half time tied at 2-2; Dinamo burst out of the gates in the second half to score two goals in the first five minutes; the Bhoys got a goal back after 75 minutes but could not get the equalizer. The Celtic team did not quit, even though they played poorly throughout much of the contest and really never seemed to be dominant, even when they scored twice in six minutes in the first half. I thought that Celtic striker Scepovic scored the third goal on a tap in after a Dinamo defensive lapse (it was scored as an own goal). Substitute Henderson made a brilliant shot around the 85th minute which suddenly dipped and was going in when it was tipped over the bar by the Dinamo GK. On the ensuing corner a good shot hit the outside of the right post. That was the last time Celtic threatened.

I had secured a ticket through the Dinamo website, and was actually able to print it out before leaving the USA. I paid HRK 70 ($12.00) for a seat in the east stand, 20 rows up, on the half-way line; I was not in the Celtic end, which was in a separate stand fenced off from the rest of the stadium, located beyond a former running track and at least 50 yards south of the by-line. In stark contrast to the events in central Zagreb, where things were relaxed, the police were mere spectators and mirth and merriment abounded, security in the stadium was quite visible and quite intimidating.

I was patted down by a security steward entering the stadium (although he did not pat down the pocket in my parka where I kept my small Canon powershot camera). There was a van parked in front of the Celtic end with a surveillance camera on top of a pole pointed at the Celtic support. The local Policija dressed up like actors from Robocops, with their black uniforms, helmets with face visors, blackjack style billy clubs and stout leg protectors worn outside the pants. They seemed to be looking for trouble.

The fuzz got their pretext to invade the Celtic stand when someone lit a red road flare. One of the Glasgow newspapers, the Daily Record, reported that the police used CS spray on some of the fans. I saw a report that there were 11 arrests. I only hope the guy who lit the flare didn't burn himself or people around him. It was an awesome sight, however.

After the match, the authorities made the Celtic support remain in their stand for 15 minutes before they let them out of the stadium.

At halftime, the home team was selling popcorn, of all things, for HRK20 (around $3.25) per carton (I paid something like $5.00 for the same size at a Notre Dame basketball game in November). It was quite good, and, as it turned out, was my supper.

My lasting recollection of this match will be of the Celtic support singing the chorus from the 1986 hit song "Last Christmas" by Wham. It turned out that during halftime the public address system was playing various English language Christmas season music, and, just before the start of the second half, started playing “Last Christmas”. The booth abruptly cut the music off as the whistle blew to start the second half. The Celtic support, seemed to pick up the song where it was cut off and then kept singing it over and over for probably close to 15 minutes, not missing a beat when Dinamo scored their 3rd and 4th goals in the first five minutes of the second half.

Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
But the very next day, you gave it away
This year, to save me from tears
I'll give it to someone special

Things like this are what make attending Celtic matches absolute magic.

After the final whistle I was able to slip out of the stadium without incident and get on a tram to get back to the hotel, where the combination of a lot of walking, a lot of drinking, and the cold (although it was not that cold, in the mid 30sF, and not noticeably windy) caused me to crash the moment I got into the room.

My pictures of the day are at this link:

http://pangborn76.smugmug.com/Other/...5432&k=fNv6kVP

ND76

DAY 4: 12 December 2014

I woke up in the middle of the night at the Art Hotel Like. It was a little bit like the scene in the "Blues Brothers" movie where Ellwood takes Jake back to his room in the Chicago Loop and EL train after EL train passed by their window almost minutely while they were trying to sleep. It never occurred to me that street railway systems such as the one in Zagreb are maintained at night; as it turned out, a service train rumbled by my window on the street below every 15 minutes or so. It was just as well, as I needed to get some e-mails out to people in the USA, and also get washed and dressed and ready for breakfast and then the tram ride back to the Autobusni Kolodvor for the trip to Split.

I got to the station around 0745 for my 0800 departure to Split. When I realized that the station did not have any signage or monitors indicating where my bus was located, I started to panic, until I looked at my ticket, which stated that the bus was leaving from "Peron 604". My ticket cost HRK 111, with an additional HRK 7 collected at bus side when I put my rollaboard into the hold; the total for the 250 mile trip was $19.35. The operating company was Promet Makarska. There were very few empty seats; I was in the last row and was lucky enough to have a vacant seat between myself and my neighbor. We left promptly at 0800 and after navigating Zagreb traffic reached the entrance to the A1 Autocesta, the Croatian tollway that would take us all the way to the outskirts of Split--an absolute engineering marvel, that makes the Pennsylvania Turnpike look like a goat path (well, not that bad, but you get the idea).

We stopped about half-way to Split for the driver's 30 minute rest break. This was at a service plaza at km marker 201 called Odmorište Zir. This featured the usual gas station and convenience store, but also a full service Macola restaurant and motel, and a cafe/refreshment bar serving ice cold Karlovačka pivo and bracing shots of Maraschino liqueur. I enjoyed a pauza za piva (beer break) for the value price of HRK15. By 1045 we were on the road again.

The Zir service plaza was about 50 km north of the first exit for the Adriatic coastal town of Zadar, and ensconced between two major highway tunnels, Tunel Mala Kapela (5.801 km/3.61 miles) and Tunel Sveti Rok (5.727 km /3.55 miles) (by contrast, the Allegheny Mountain tunnels between Somerset and Bedford, Pennsylvania are only 1.1 mile long). I think "Mala Kapela" translates to "little chapel" and Sveti Rok translates to "St. Roch". Both seemed endless as we passed through them, even at 100 kmph.

Once off the autocesta and on to surface streets, we made a number of quick stops to drop off passengers, and finally on the stroke of 1300 reached Split's main bus station (also known as the Autobusni Kolodvor), almost next door to Split's railway station (only one round trip per day to and from Zagreb, at over 6 hours each way).

I thought Split was really great--one of the best tourist towns in Europe that I have visited. All of the beauty and charm of Monaco (the comparison is due to the splendid sheltered harbor), but relatively little of the phony glitz and none of the pretension. Add in a wonderful harborside pedestrian promenade with lots of cafes and little stands serving good food and cheap adult beverages, plus friendly, helpful people, and you have a day to remember.

Having a limited amount of time, I wanted to visit two spots: (1) St. Duje (in Latin, St. Domnium) Cathedral, the world's oldest, ironically constructed on top of the masoleum of notorious Christian persecuting Roman Emperor Diocletian, who died about eight years before Constantine won the battle of Milvian Bridge and ended the persecutions. Diocletian had his palace constructed in Split 1700 years ago. Some of the walls of his palace still remain, and the "old town" district of Split is within the footprint of the palace; and (2) the Ivan Mestrovic home and gallery.

The main bus station and main railway station are located on the harbor, about a 10 minute walk from St. Duje, which is adjacent to the city's market place on one side (a big flower market was taking place on my visit), and the harborside promenade on another side. Sadly, the inside of St. Duje was closed to visitors at the time of my visit.

After walking through the old town I headed for the Mestrovic estate, located about one mile northwest of the harborside area overlooking the sea. Mestrovic was one of the most notable sculptors in Europe in the first half of the 20th Century, working in Zagreb, Split and Paris; he was even commissioned to do two statues of American Indians, the Bowman and the Spearman, in Chicago (these pieces still stand, on Congress Street beyond the east end of the Eisenhower Expressway). After WWII, Marshal Tito attempted to enlist Mestrovic to build Tito monuments all over Yugoslavia. Mestrovic sent his regrets from New York--he got out while the getting was good. After a stint at Syracuse University, he joined a number of other Eastern European refugees at the University of Notre Dame in the mid-1950s, where he became Sculptor in Residence until his death in 1962. Notre Dame displays a number of his remarkable works, including a Pieta, and, my favorite, the "Prodigal Son" (both of these are in side chapels in Sacred Heart basilica).

It cost 30 kuna ($5) to get in. When I mentioned "South Bend" I got a broad smile out of the curator.

My visit to his gallery was meant to show that I'm not all about riding buses, trains and airplanes, drinking cheap alcohol and attending football matches and horse racing meetings.

Here are my photo galleries from the day:

http://pangborn76.smugmug.com/Other/...8043&k=JvVtWzN

http://pangborn76.smugmug.com/Other/...2903&k=hpp6q5j

One last piece of trivia: Split is virtually on the same parallel of latitude as the town I grew up in, Fremont Michigan (43.51 degrees N vs 43.47 degrees N)--the two places turn out to be 4756.7 miles apart. In Split, I saw a temperature reading at 15C, and beautifully sun drenched. I looked up what it was in Fremont on the same day, December 12: 1.3C (34F) was the high, with foggy/misty conditions.

I had checked my bags into a coin-operated luggage locker inside the railway station; the charge was HRK15, all in coins (the largest Croatian coin is the HRK5). This worked out really well. Fresh from an exhilarating, sunny and warm afternoon, I purchased my onward bus ticket on the carrier Globtour to Medjugorje for HRK 125 (with the luggage charge of HRK8, the total tariff was HRK 133, $21.80), and boarded in time for the 1730 departure. Sadly it was after dark, so I wasn't able to fully appreciate the stunning coastline between Split and Makarska along Highway 8.

After Makarska the bus turned inland, and stopped at Vrgorac before reaching the Bosnia & Herzegovina (BiH) border at Orah, Croatia/Orahovlje, BiH. After about 25 minutes of formalities on both sides of the line, including a very large and unkempt (wrinkled uniform, no tie) BiH border policeman ordering our driver to unlock the lavatory so that it could be searched (I noticed that on all buses in Croatia, BiH and Serbia the on-board bathrooms were kept locked and out of service). Finding nothing, the BiH policajac departed, the gate was raised, and we were allowed to proceed. We then passed through the town of Ljubuški and, a few minutes later, we pulled up to a small station on the side of the road with arrival and departure monitors. This was Medjugorje.

Being semi conscious and otherwise disoriented, I was easy prey for the cab driver who offered to give me a lift. I accepted. Fortunately for me he didn't take advantage of me too badly, charging me €5 for about a one mile drive to my hotel, the Hotel Grace, located less than 200 meters from the entrance to St. James the Apostle Church, the main pilgrimage site in town. This was advertised as a 4* hotel and turned out to be a wonderful, modern hotel; in the off season it was a steal at BiH KM88.00 ($55.00) for the night. It was 2100 when I unlocked the door to my room and then collapsed onto the bed.

ND76

DAY FIVE: 13 December 2014 (Feast of St. Lucy, Virgin and Martyr)

I got up before dawn and wandered around the church area and the town. I found an ATM operated by the ubiquitous Raifessen Bank (an Austrian firm that seems to operate in every Eastern European country), and withdrew 100 Bosnian Standard Marks (KM) ($62.50), which was dispensed in one banknote. I returned to the hotel and had their version of the full English breakfast, which was edible. Mass in English at St. James was 10 am; it was celebrated by an Irish-American priest appropriately named "Fr. Kevin Devine". I then went to the Apparition Hill trail by cab, as I wasn't sure where it was (the driver took my $10 bill and gave me $2 in change); it turned out to be about 2 miles away from the church. It took me about 90 minutes to walk up the hill, and then down to where the Queen of Peace statue is, and then finally back to street level, over an extremely rocky path with very sharp stones, that was more dangerous to descend than it was to ascend.

Never did a bottle of mineral water taste better than the one I purchased from a small store at the bottom of the hill at the end of the hike.

Here is my gallery of my pilgrimage:

http://pangborn76.smugmug.com/Other/...5054&k=Qzt5FH8

Under the protection of Our Lady and St. Christopher, I managed to get up and down the hill without falling or hurting myself. For those that want to go on this pilgrimage, make sure that you have a sturdy pair of hiking boots, a hiking pole, and bottles of water.

As luck would have it, a taxi was waiting at the end of the trail. I got him to take me back to the Grace, where I retrieved my bags, and then drive me about 27 km (17 miles) to Mostar, the biggest city in Herzegovina. The fare was €40, and well worth it, as I only had a couple of hours to see Mostar before getting on a bus to the capital city, Sarajevo.

There are two bus stations in town, on either side of the river Neretva, and I mistakenly picked the wrong one, the Kolodvor. The main bus station in town is on the historically Moslem side of the river, co-located with the railway station (there is one round-trip per day between there and Sarajevo). After walking around for about 45 minutes and not reaching my objective, the Stari Most (the old bridge), I hired a cab who gave me a great short tour of the city, including a panoramic spot to photograph the Stari Most, and then got me to the correct bus station for my onward journey to Sarajevo; he only charged me KM15 (a little less than $10.00). This town well and truly is where west meets east, as there are both Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians as well as adherents of Islam (the taxi from Medjugorje drove by the modernist Roman Catholic "Crkva na Kamenu" (Church on the Rock), which was out of character with the other Catholic places of worship that I saw on this trip.

http://www.cnak.ba/index.php?opt=15&d=1

Here's the Mostar gallery:

http://pangborn76.smugmug.com/Other/...3084&k=ktmwT3J

I paid KM16.00 (right on $10.00) for a one way ticket on the Globtour bus departing Mostar at 1525. There is a direct two-lane highway from Mostar to Sarajevo, Bosnia highway M17 (also known as E73), that makes the 80 mile jaunt in the Neretva valley cut through some impressive stone mountains via Jablonica and Konjic to Sarajevo. Remarkably beautiful; it was sad that the view was lost after sunset. I made it to the Hotel Grand located a couple hundred yards north of the Sarajevo bus/rail complex, and fairly close to Sarajevo's modern landmark "Avaz Twist Tower" around 1845. I was so tired that I immediately went to bed. Fortunately for me the bed was one of the most comfortable I've slept in away from home in some time. This hotel was constructed sometime during the Tito administration, but was clean and comfortable and served an edible (if not terribly exciting) breakfast buffet, for the total price of KM58.60 ($36.60).

ND76

DAY SIX: Sunday 14 December 2014

My goal for Sunday was to photograph the Latinski Most (Latin Bridge), the place where Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, were gunned down by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip just over 100 years ago on June 28, 1914, igniting World War I, and then work my way around central Sarajevo. I got some decent photographs of the bridge and neighborhood featuring the river Miljacka. I also photographed the building which is the seat of the BiH government; catty corner from it was a Catholic Church (St. Joseph's) were I found Mass going on. I got to ride on the Sarajevo tramway system, the oldest in Europe. Tickets were KM 1.60 ($1.00) each. I rode it to the east end of the line, Baščaršija, and reached the centuries old bazaar.

My information was that the bus to Belgrade was leaving at 1100 from Istocno Sarajevo, so I haled a cab at the bazaar and for KM20 I got out to the bus station. Unfortunately, the bus wasn't scheduled to depart until 1230. Fortunately, there were things to see and do out there, such as photograph the inside of a Serbian Orthodox church, and find a modern shopping center and buy some lunch as well as some beverages for the ride to Belgrade. My bus ticket to Belgrade cost KM41.50 ($26.00), including the KM1 fee to put my rollaboard in the hold.

Here's the Sarajevo story in pictures:

http://pangborn76.smugmug.com/Other/...2602&k=gGmr5sm

Sadly, the window next to me on the bus was simultaneously frosty and mud streaked, so my attempts at photography while the bus was rolling largely failed. Too bad, because the ride up highway M19 was breathtaking, crossing a gigantic mountain and then descending on a wet, icy road through hairpin curve after hairpin curve into the town of Vlasenica, then heading up to the Serbian border at Zvornik. The Serb frontier was 82 miles from our starting point, and took 3.5 hours, including about six stops. it took a total of 30 minutes to complete the dual formalities on either side of the River Drina bridge, including a spot of bother for one passenger who was traveling with large shopping bags; he was hauled off the bus by the Serbian border police and taken in for "secondary inspection". He was allowed to resume his trip with us, apparently with all of belongings, to the applause of those on the bus (the bus was about 75% full). The remaining 105 miles took another 3:30 to complete, and we reached the Beograd Autobuska Stanica on the stroke of 2000; in time for me to take a short walk around downtown Belgrade and buy a ticket for the train back to Budapest.

The lady at the ticket office in the Belgrade railway station, adjacent to the bus station complex, told me that the sleeping car for the Budapest overnight train indicated on the Serbian Railways website was not in operation, so I had to settle for a first class seat in a 1-2 open seating car, priced at 4,388 Serbian dinars (about $44.75). I went into a tavern operating in the station, and had a local cocktail, Pelinkovac with a couple of ice cubes and a slice of lemon, for RSD 150. Pelinkovac is described as something like Jägermeister, but my taste buds revealed it to be something like a more intense, more alcoholic and more bitter version of Campari. I have to admit that I liked it; not something I could drink every day, but something different and interesting. After saluting my waiver with the local toast word, Živjeli, I paid up and headed out for the train, which departed on time at 2145.

ND76

Late night 14 december 2014 and all day 15 december 2014

The train stopped in Novi Sad, Serbia's second city and the home town of tennis superstar Monica Seles, where most of the people on board got off, and reached the Magyar border at Subotica, 118 miles from Belgrade, where it took almost two hours to complete formalities on both sides of the border, including thorough search of the two Serbian passenger cars by the Magyar Rendorseg (border police) (the Hungarian state railway MAV then added a number of wagons and their own locomotive as well). 115 miles later the train pulled into Keleti Palyaudvar in Budapest, the end of the line, on the stroke of 0600.

I sat on a bench next to the train for probably 30 minutes, listening to the sweet refrains of a disembodied female voice speaking an impenetrable but beautiful language thanking God and St. Christopher that I had come through safely on such a remarkable trip.

After all of this, it was pretty simple to get back to BUD airport. I found a BKK transit ticket office, and the friendly male agent sold me two tickets, one for the metro, one for the bus, for a total of HUF 530 ($2.15). I took the M4 metro, which had just opened in March, 2014, three stops to Kálvin tér, and changed there to the M3 metro for the eight stop trip back to Kobanyi Kispest. The 200E bus for the airport materialized a couple of minutes later, and by 0730 I was inside BUD's Terminal 2.

I checked in using the KLM kiosk; the machine assigned me a seat in the rear of coach; I previously had a seat assignment in "Economy Comfort" row 6 (to be sure, there had been a change in equipment, and the 5 row "KLM Europe Select" front compartment was substituted to a plane with three rows of "Europe Select"). I brought this to the attention of a female front counter agent (whom I think was employed by Malev Ground Handling, the lone remaining vestige of Hungary's defunct flag carrier; MGH was KLM's ground service agent at BUD). She reassigned me to row 4, the first row of three Economy Comfort rows (only 5 out of 18 of these seats were filled; coach at row 7 and back looked to be close to 100% full). I checked my rollaboard, and it did get a Priority tag on it.

I was allowed to go through "Fastrack" Security Screening; there were no exit formalities for the flight to AMS. I was airside in less than 15 minutes after leaving the front counter. The airside public areas in BUD are quite nice, with the usual array of liquor, tobacco, perfume and toy stores and food court-style eating places. While I was under the impression that I had no free lounge access in BUD because of changes in the Delta medallion benefits, I walked past the Top Court lounge and saw the AF and KLM logos on the sign by the door. I decided to test the waters and see whether I could get in for free. I gave the pleasant female concierge my boarding pass and Delta DM card, and, after a moment, she welcomed me into the club room. There were meager food offerings to be sure, but plenty of beverages, including the Hungarian aperitif Unicum and splits of a Hungarian sparkling wine which were quite ice. Sandwiches could be purchased through a catering operation; I passed on those. The wireless internet connection was very good, and I spent most of my three hours in the lounge catching up on news and the activities on the Celtic website kerrydalestreet.co.uk.

1215 rolled around and boarding was called for the 1245 KL flight to AMS. As it turned out our flight was parked at a remote stand and we were bused out there. We were delayed a bit as MGH delivered the several assistance passengers by a catering truck turned into an ambulance of sorts which offloaded the passengers through door 1R. The doors were closed, the airstairs and make shift ambulance were withdrawn, and we taxied out and took off from runway 31L. The captain indicated that the flight would take about 1 hour 55 minutes. I fell asleep shortly after wheels up and slept to within 5 minutes of landing, which took place on the remote Polderbaan runway at AMS. When I got off the flight at gate D72, the first clock I saw read 1510. I had about an hour before I had to report to the security in front of gate E24 for the trans-Atlantic portion of the journey.

On the way from concourse D to concourse E, I walked by the KLM Crown Lounge 25, and, of course, not being able to walk past an airport lounge, took a frolic and detour into the club. The two KLM ladies smiled at me as they welcomed me into the club. The food offerings were disappointing at this hour; there was no good beef soup on offer. I settled for a banana. On the way out of the club I noticed a kiosk. I scanned my boarding pass, simply wanting to re-check my seat assignment (which was at the time 12F in "Economy Comfort"); the machine came back with a screen inviting me to upgrade to "KLM World Business Class" for €289.00 (about $355.00). As I had underspent my travel budget on this trip, it didn't take me very long to accept the offer, and I ended up in seat 1D, an aisle seat in the 2-3-2 configuration on the 777-200 aircraft.

The only problem with getting from point A to point B in the AMS airport is the Dutch/Euro government obsession with passport exit controls. In the one line for non-EU passport holders trying to leave the Schengen concourse to get to the North America gates, the guy in front of me was trying to get back to the USA from Denmark (he owned a cottage there), when the crack (and I mean crack) member of the Koninklijke Marechaussee (Dutch Royal Border Police) determined that the man had overstayed his visa in Denmark. I had to wait close to 10 minutes until a supervisor showed up to lead the unfortunate traveler away.

As it turned out, the flight went out 100% full. The seats to my right were empty until a Danish musician and his wife (who turned out to be terrific travel companions) had been issued duplicate seats in Y in conflict with seats that had been issued to members of a large family, and then KLM ground staff resolved the problem by reseating them in WBC (although they were told that there were not enough meals on board--this problem was worked out also).

The hard product on this aircraft, the seats, were the old 160 degree cradle-type recliners; not in the same league with the Delta 767-300 flat bed modules, but, for me, on this trip, good enough. The soft product, the food, beverage and service aspects, were outstanding.

We left the gate around scheduled departure time of 1645, and took off almost immediately at 1654. Our route (according to Flightaware.com) took us over greater Manchester, the Isle of Man, Sligo, Ireland, then across the Atlantic to just south of St. Anthony at the northern end of Newfoundland, then to Miramichi, NB, Bangor, ME, Albany, NY, Westminster, MD, Montebello, VA and on into ATL, landing there on runway 27L at 2020 EST, scheduled arrival time. Our total elapsed time was 9 hours 26 minutes and our distance covered was 4,450 miles, just 55 miles more than the shortest possible routing, 4,395 miles.

Our menu was fronted by Executive Chef Richard van Oostenbrugge of Amsterdam's Bord'Eau restaurant.

The appetizer was a choice of: shrimp with grapes and mint oil served with ajo blanco (garlic and almond soup with croutons); or forest mushroom soup.

The salad course was a rice salad with beetroot, pine nuts and goat cheese

There were three main courses: (1) chicken medallions in a thai coconut sauce with bok choy, mushrooms, long beans and what turned out to be angel hair pasta; (2) Dutch fillet of sole with sauce of mussels, puree of celery and smoked potato, and seasonal vegetables; or (3) braised veal with jus, gnocchi and a vegetable medley (I chose the chicken; the FA indicated that veal was the most popular item).

For dessert, the choices were: (1) cheese plate with Moulin Bleu and Reypenaer; (2) seasonal fruit; (3) lemon cremeux with citrus salad and meringue (I had this and it was really good); or (4) mousse of Manjari chocolate and black currants. The FA also brought around a box of chocolates.

I slept for at least five hours and missed out on much of the remaining in flight service, which the menu described as: (1) a Sky Break consisting of croquette role, sushi, Dutch pastry and Australian ice cream; (2) a light meal "warm option" of Asian rice dish with vegetables and cashew nuts; and (3) a light meal "cold option" of a vegetarian club sandwich--these came with a Waldorf salad and cheese selection, and a dessert of "traditional Dutch apple pie with whipped cream, served warm".

Of course, no KLM flight in business would be complete without the ceremonial handing out of ceramic Delft houses filled with Genever shortly before landing.

The wines, attributed to wine writer Hubrecht Duijker, were as follows (price information from wine-searcher.com):

Nicolas Feuillatte Brut Reserve Champagne (average price $34.00 per bottle in USA)
De Kleine Schorre 2012 (Zeeland, Netherlands) (price unavailable)
Chateau Rives-Blanques, Limoux 2013 (the 2012 vintage of this sells for $17.99 at Schneiders of Capitol Hill in Washington, DC)
Map Maker Pinot Noir, 2014 (Marlborough, New Zealand) (2010 vintage of this sells for $18.36 in California)
Aaldering Lady M Pinotage, 2013 (Stellenbosch, South Africa) (2009 vintage of this sells for $37-40 in California)
Salentein, Malbec Barrel Selection 2012 (Valle du Uco, Argentina) (about $10.00)
Errazuriz Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc 2012 (Casablanca Valley, Chile) (average price $28.00)
Taylor's 2009 Late Bottled Vintage Port (their Fladgate port sells for $96 per 750 ml bottle; not sure whether this was the same stuff)
Croft Pink Port (average price $19.00 per 750 ml bottle)

You could have any beer in the world so long as it was Heineken.

The on-board spirits were:

Campari
Chivas Regal 12 years blended Scotch
Highland Park 12 years single malt Scotch
Jim Beam Bourbon
Bols Genever
Bacardi White Rum
Absolut Vodka
Bombay Sapphire Gin
Courvoisier VSOP Cognac
Drambuie
Cointreau
Amarula

Our flight attendant was a tall, incredibly thin blonde Dutch lady (I never got her name). She was very professional and really excellent. She made at least three watering runs during cocktail hour before any food was served. I had some Cointreau after dinner, served from a full sized bottle into chilled glasses. This got me ready to have a very pleasant sleep. Great flight; I'm really glad I shelled out for the upgrade.

We parked in the back of new international concourse F (didn't see the gate number). The US Customs and Border Patrol kiosks for US citizens worked really well, and I was out of the immigration hall in a couple of minutes. Unfortunately, my priority tagged-rollaboard took about 15 minutes to appear after the first bag had come off the belt. I started to seriously worry about missing my connection to DCA at 2145 out of T6 literally 1.25 miles away on the other side of the airport. Finally at 2045 my bag appeared. I had zero delay seeing the customs inspector and getting through.

However, there was no "Sky Priority" entrance and no Pre-check at the TSA security check-point to get back into ATL airside. There were at least 20 people in front of me, 10 in each of two lines, funneling through a nude-o-scope, where a zealous member of the TSA was waiting to pat you down. Shoes off, liquids out, laptops out, a stout female security trooper bellowing at the top of her lungs, this is what Dante surely imagined hell to be like. After my turn at the nude-o-scope, the frisky TSA civil servant guy subjected me to the treatment--I broke my usual rule of monastic silence to query him, "did you enjoy yourself?". Fortunately I didn't get the Jeh Johnson special, and I gathered up my belongings and hastened to the Plane Train. I made it to T6 by 2120 and was one of the last persons to board the homeward flight to DCA. Fortunately for me, I got upgraded at the DM window for this flight, and was handed, what else, a cold can of Miller Lite, which I proceeded to pound, and I slept the 75 minute ride up to the Potomac.

My bag was waiting for me on the belt when I got downstairs in DCA. I had to wait 15 minutes for the Metro train home. When I unlocked the door, December 16 had just begun.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!!!

ND76

My trip report is finished. I hope you like it.

offerendum

Thnks! I like to do a trip to Sarajevo and Zagreb. So really interesting for me!

dilbertsdaddy

Great report - bravo!

On a side note, I am really sick of the ATL F security antics, I almost missed my connection a couple of weeks ago because of it. Nothing like running through ATL airport after 16 hours on an airplane!

I am always happy when I arrive at E.