At the Airport

June 22, 2009
5.17 PM

I have arrived at the Dubrovnik airport and am waiting for check-in to start (in another hour or so). It’s pouring - I can hear the rain over the music of my mp3 player.

There are two buses a day from Herzeg Novi to Dubrovnik. The first would have been too early and I was worried the second was going to be too late. I asked the bus driver to stop at the airport, and he agreed (I had been told he’s known to stop at the airport on the way to Dubrovnik). Otherwise, I would have had to go to Dubrovnik and worry that the airport bus wouldn’t match up with my flight time. So although I arrived at the airport four hours before my flight, this option was preferable (and seven dollars cheaper!)

I didn’t manage to get out of the internet café until about noon. I actually wasn’t even sure I was going to go to Herzeg Novi until then. The rain almost stopped, so I decided to go for it. I walked quickly to the bus station thinking I would be waiting awhile. I bought the ticket and was pointed to a bus that was backing up. I ran for it. I couldn’t have timed it any better. And bonus: the bus was 50 cents cheaper than I had been quoted.

Rain fell the entire time I was on the bus, so I was actually expecting to end up sitting at a café in Herzeg Novi for a couple of hours. Fortunately, the rain stopped long enough for me to explore Herzeg Novi a bit. Fortunately, the old town isn’t big and I had no trouble seeing the town in an hour or so.

Old town entrance.

Main square in old town.

The fortress.

New town.

I headed back to the bus station early, just in case. I was anticipating something going terribly wrong - I couldn’t imagine 3 buses, 1 airplane, and 2 trains all going without a hitch. Surprisingly, my only hitch (so far) has been a problem with the bus ticket between Herzeg Novi and Dubrovnik. When I arrived in Herzeg Novi, I asked to buy a ticket thinking that I would spend the remainder of the money. I was told that I could only buy the ticket on the bus. Apparently, the bus driver hadn’t heard that, because he sent me back to the cashier to buy a ticket (which she did). I suppose it depends on who is working. Fortunately (how many fortunatelys is that?), the driver was really nice and told me not to worry, just get the ticket and come back; he would wait.

Unfortunately, since I wasn’t sure how much the ticket would cost (I was told 8 Euro, but I didn’t quite trust that information), I couldn’t spend much of anything. I got a couple of small snacks, but I am sitting here starving and will very possibly be starving until tomorrow morning. Even if I had money to spend, there really isn’t much of anything in this airport and nothing worth spending money on.

I need to move. The woman next to me is driving me crazy. She’s pacing around eating a banana and just sprayed herself with a ton of deodorant.