Thursday, December 28, 2017: Zagreb, Croatia to Munich, Germany 

Last night our apartment host told me that if it was raining in Slovenia today, it will be raining in Zagreb tomorrow.  Guess what, it was lightly raining in Zagreb this morning when we loaded the car!!

We checked-out of the apartment, loaded the car and headed to the Zagreb airport which is about a 30-minute drive out of downtown.  On our way, we drove by the little chapel, near the airport, that Cal & I had seen on our first day in Croatia, so Cherie could see it.  At the airport, we checked-in the rental car, and immediately Cherie checked it out!!  

Yes, we had a wonderful Mercedes rental car, with all the upgrades which included an excellent GPS system.  Cherie has another 5 days of vacation, so she is going to drive to Venice, Italy from Zagreb, Croatia.  It is estimated to be a 4-hour drive, all on the autobahn.  Since she has been driving this Mercedes, and was accustomed the way it handled, plus the GPS, she did not want to switch vehicles.  

Cherie was on the road to Venice by 11:30, right after we checked-in for our flight, and said good-byes.  She communicated that she had a 45-minute wait at the Slovenian border!  Lots of traffic.  She was driving in rain.  She noted the temperature was dropping, when suddenly, she saw snow flurries.  Well, it was not just flurries, she was driving in a blizzard!  Thank goodness, this car had the winter snow package – meaning snow tires.  Within a very short time about 4-5 inches accumulated.  There was lots of slush on the highway, with only tracks clear in the passing lane. At one point, traffic was completely stopped on the autobahn for about 1 hour.  By the time she reached the Italian border, it was just rain again, as by then she was at a lower elevation.  It has been a long time since Cherie has driven in snow! 

As to us – our flight was to leave Zagreb at 13:10 or 1:10pm. At about 12:30 pm it was posted that our flight was delayed until 2:00.  WHAT?!!  We barely had enough time in Munich as it was, to make the next connection. What is our chance now to make the flight to Montreal?  However, what can we do???  Well as we expected, we did not make the second flight in Munich, but Lufthansa has re-routed us via Frankfurt tomorrow morning.  They also gave us a voucher for a hotel and meals.  Our evening meal was marginal!  We decided to stay at the hotel tonight, write this blog, and go to bed early, as we have a shuttle bus ordered for 7:30 am.  We hope to make it to Philadelphia tomorrow!!!