Monday 14th September 1998

An even more ungodly start, this time 5am. Martin was again first out of bed, but his mental processes were moving at such a slow pace that he was quickly overtaken by everyone else, and was still the last one to be ready when Max and Leone arrived in the minibuses to take the main party to the airport.

Dejan had decided to get up with us to come to the airport to see us off, so we said our goodbyes to him and to Leone and Max, who had done a sterling job of running us around over the weekend. Martin let schoolboy humour get the better of him for a moment when faced with an illuminated sign advertising a brand of electrical appliances by the name of "Smeg". After saying our final goodbyes we went into the airport and checked our luggage in. Martin had to re-pack his rucksack in the queue, which caused Sara's agitation mechanism to once again start up. Fortunately, this time he hadn't lost his flight ticket, primarily because Liz had had the forethought to not give it to him.

We then went over to the airport cafeteria and joined a short but completely stationary queue for coffee, doughnuts and other such unhealthy sundries. Fortunately, this time they were used to foreigners, so it was no problem to make ourselves understood when asking for large cups of coffee instead of the standard Espresso measures. This woke us up sufficiently for us to be able to make our way through passport control and to the departure gate, where most of us hit the duty free shop that the airport designers had so thoughtfully placed right next to our gate. Sara's agitation mechanism went into overdrive when final boarding was called on our plane, but as usual all ended smoothly, and we boarded the plane and took off without incident.

Views from the plane

The flight was smooth, and we all took the opportunity to relax, chat and write up the notes of what has become this report. On every level, and with immense thanks to our hosts, this was our best tour yet.

Join us in Turnhout and on our return to Slovenia!