Zagreb

(Let me preface this by apologizing in advance for the lack of proper punctuation and any substitutions of Ys for z's and vice versa - the Croatian keyboard is a bit tricky)

So, our trip started in Amman as usual, and as seems to be the norm these days we saw a familiar face. This time it was a close friend who recently departed post for a next assignment in Angola. Surely we shared a few beers and were on the same flight to Istanbul, from where he continued onto his home in Europe to gather up his family for the long haul to the US and then onto west Africa.

Chris and I spent the night in the Airport Hotel, nothing great and certainly a bit of a rip-off, but hey, you cant beat the commute from the one end of the international terminal to the other. Bought some spices and a bottle of some Turkish licorice liqueur for our dads and boarded our flight to Zagreb with what turned out to be the Turkish, Singapore, Turkmenistan and Kazhikstanian national shooting teams. I'm telling you, I haven't had that much fire power on a plane since sharing a flight with a bunch of PSDs into Baghdad. Thankfully I told Chris for once we are off the hook at customs, that's for sure.

On final descent into Zagreb we marveled at the greenery, and realized just how much we have missed it, since we have honestly not seen any green pastures now for over 6 months (what with vacationing largely in deserts in the middle east and what not). Then I spot a small column of smoke rising from beyond one of the perfectly-manicured squares of farmland and commented that I wonder if I could ever see a thin column of smoke again in my life without thinking of a car bomb.

The airport is tiny, lacking even custom forms. We grabbed a taxi and are now enjoying two days in the beautiful Regent Esplanade Zagreb. Chris (insert apostrophe here) folks arrive tomorrow, but tonight we are planning on a traditional Croatian dinner, whatever that entails, I will be sure to update.

PS: Finished Cormac McCarthy's All the Pretty Horses on the plane today, I am hooked, very JM Coetzee'esque.