September 2021 trip
I’m in JFK waiting for my connecting flight to Dubrovnik for the tour that begins on the 26th. When I checked into my first flight in Boston, the Delta agent wanted to see proof of my negative COVID test. She hadn’t read that Croatia would accept either a negative test OR proof of complete vaccination fewer than 270 days prior. Fortunately, I had both (being a belt and suspenders kind of person). She did recognize it eventually —after I told her and she kept reading the requirements — that either would be sufficient. She also asked for the Croatia entry form, so — a word to the wise: if you’re planning to take this trip soon, do fill out the form from the link in the digital green book.
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Comments
Travel during these times does require attention to detail. All of the forms presented to us for our completion on our two recent trips were required and collected or inspected. Don’t throw away anything. You may need to present it again later. The Caribbean cruise was interesting in that it was our first cruise out of many where they did not collect our passports when we boarded. We were required to carry them when we went ashore.
HI MCD - we're on this tour next spring. Safe travels - and let us know your thoughts when you return, please!
Greetings from Zagreb, where we arrived last night. I’m very much enjoying this tour. My only complaint is that there isn’t enough time spent in each city. I’m very glad that I had arrived in Dubrovnik on a Saturday morning for a tour that began with dinner on Sun. night, so I could do some extra things (walk the walls of Dubrovnik and a “Sights and Bites” food and wine walking tour on Saturday and a boat trip to 3 islands for swimming (including into caves) on Sunday.). I’m really glad that we were able to go to Kotor in Montenegro and Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina, even though there was a lot of driving. We definitely could have used more time in Kotor. There is some spectacular scenery in Montenegro. There are 19 of us on the tour. Masks are required when entering and leaving and walking around the coach. Some people don’t wear them while seated, but many do. Masks are required in all public areas of hotels except when eating or drinking and in most shops. They were required in the Split airport and on the flight to Zagreb yesterday.
MCD - Did you take the sky ride up the hill in Dubrovnik? The views from up there are spectacular.
Yes, we did.
I'm baaack -- but, at the moment, sleep deprived, because I had to have my bags ready at 2:45 a.m .for a 6:00 a.m. flight. I was all packed before going to bed, but felt that I needed to be dressed before someone came into my room to get them. I really, really enjoyed this trip. I like history, and, between information what was provided by Tauck and in a separately-booked "Communism and Homeland War" walking tour during our free time in Zagreb, I have a much better picture of the background to the Balkan Wars of the 1990s.
Our tour director, Matt Manzanec, was wonderful (as are most TDs). This trip was the first time that I can remember that when we had a "Tauck-provided dinner," (in quotes, because I know that we have each paid for it) but not as a group, we had the option to say that we would like to "mix and mingle," which was a good way to meet people who were receptive to meeting others -- especially solo travelers.
There are a lot of border crossings during this trip. Each day trip out of Croatia meant going through Croatia border controls, then border controls into the other country (Montenegro or Bosnia and Herzogovina or Slovenia), and reversing the process on the way back. So, it's slow. On the first day, Matt told us that we had to be prepared to use the F word -- "flexibility."
There was a separate health declaration form to enter Italy, which Tauck referenced in the digital green book, saying that our TD would help us complete it. Matt did more than that -- he completed it for each one of us. We also needed a Covid test to enter Italy, which, for those of us who flew back to the US on the day the tour ended, also sufficed for the US re-entry test. (It was not a PCR test -- but apparently that is not needed any more. Things change daily!) Tauck arranged for all of us to be tested at our hotel in Rovinj. Because Tauck was paying for the Italy test, and it was acceptable to the US, I did not have to pay for the re-entry test. I provided my negative test result to the person at the check-in counter in Venice, but I'm not sure she cared about it or even looked at it. Before boarding my connecting flight in Amsterdam, I had to fill out a declaration that I had had a negative test within 72 hours, but no one asked to see the actual print-out showing the negative test result.
As usual, there is way too much food provided on these trips. So many of the experiences -- visits to olive oil farms, truffle farms, an artisan's shop -- involved food, that when the dinner that night "on Tauck" included 3 courses, I usually ate only 1.
I was struck by the differences among the various regions of Croatia -- the Dalmatian Coast, Central Croatia, and the Istrian Peninsula -- that we visited. Slavonia was the only one of the 4 traditional regions of the country that we did not visit. When we were in Zagreb (Central area), the Hapsburg influence predominated; when we were in Rovinj (Istria), we could have been in Italy. I think that many of us (myself included) really enjoyed Ljubljana, Slovenia, which reminded me of Salzburg.
Speaking in generalities, it seems that people in the European cities that we visited are much more receptive to mask wearing than people in the US. Having done this trip, I feel much more comfortable about traveling, which is a great feeling!
MCD, we were scheduled to take this tour in 2020, it was I think the first one we had booked that Tauck cancelled. We were so looking forward to it, we had booked it so long before then. We could not rebook it because of other tours we had already booked for 2021, but of course they were canceled too. Right now, we just have to wait to see whether our 2022 tours go ahead. It’s getting too complicated to think beyond those. We don’t really believe in bucket lists, life and opportunities change too much. We would really like to have the opportunity to take this tour again and tour feedback is appreciated.