Another Jones Journey

5 cups, Helsinki,Finland

3 teaspoons, Munich Germany

Sprinkle some Split, Croatia

Add 2 flights and a long train ride...and what do you get.....

*Zagreb, Croatia for 2012*

and a little adventure along the way.

Because I try to keep my blog post full of more pictures than me ranting about daily adventures I am going to try to keep it rather short. February 28th was the day I was supposed to fly to beautiful Croatia, but due to the fact that Malev (Hungarian) Airlines went BANKRUPT I found out the day before my flights were not only canceled but non existent...as you might assume that did not leave this Texan very confident about a trip that was supposed to take place in 12 hours.

So there I am scrambling around calling airline company s and trying to make since of the procedure of what to do in case a airline company drops off the face of the earth with flights that were already paid for. Like you probably imagine I was like tazmanian devil running around calling companies, emailing crappy hungarian websites facebooking coaches and board members etc. Well finally after what seemed to be hours got in touch with the president of the Zagreb Thunder and informed him of wonderful news. Ha, It was quite exciting to say the least, both of us working together calling travel agencies, hitting up booking websiites and calling the retarded Malev Airlines, just to realize that if you want to buy flights the day before a trip, you should probably sell a kidney or half a lung to be able to afford it. To summarize...I did not fly to Zagreb on February 28th, but instead got to spend one more wonderful day with my beautiful Finnish wife. ;) The very next day I find flights not to Zagreb, but even better WONDERFUL SPLIT, CROATIA!!! If you have never seen it I suggest a google search. The team booked my flights from Helsinki to Munich, then Munich to Split. Then from Split a 6 hour train ride to the capital city ZAGREB. Flights from Helsinki to Munich were fast and great, even the food on the flight was surprisingly tasty. Flights from Munich to Split were AMAZING!!! The plain I flew in, was a small propeller based flight with (Croatian, Airlines). But the part that was great, despite the loud and turbulence proned airplane, WE FLEW OVER THE ALPS! Some of the largest and most beautiful mountains on planet Earth! I was like a kid at a candy store, a couple times without shame doing and sitting next to a stranger to get a better picture out of the airplane. It was really quite beautiful. When I arrived to Split, even in February was what imagined it would be. WARM TROPICAL BEAUTIFUL...I cant wait to take some trips out that way later in the season with the guys on the team. Split was great. The 6 hour train ride also was rather exciting, somehow the train area I was sitting turned into a 6 hour talk with all the people in the rail car coming together and talking about topics ranging from war, politics, religion, ethics and even homosexuality. It was great, at the end of the train ride everyone exchanged Facebooks, numbers and emails and no one was disgruntled or upset despite covering the most controversial topic imaginable. When I arrived in Zagreb I was welcomed by lots of the guys on the team and got my first dose of Croatia hospitality. I am very impressed with the people here, everyone is friendly and willing to help out in any way they can. It has been a really wonderful trip. One might say even divine, "All things work together for those who love the lord and are called according to his purpose." ;) Who would of thought that a cancled flight filled with stress would lead to the opportunity to be able to spread love, hope and some encouragement to some once strangers but now, friends.