Flying (Ryanair)

Chris de Burgh's first album "Far Beyond These Castle Walls" includes his massive hit (in Brazil) "Turning Round". The song opens with the words "Flying, I thought I'd never....." A sentiment I identified with wholeheartedly when I heard that we would be using the services of Ryanair to reach this year's holiday destination. It's fair to say that I am not a huge fan of this particular budget airline. Before moving on, in an attempt to keep these holiday reports informative as well as (hopefully) mildly entertaining, an interesting fact about the song. The title "Turning Round" was changed to "Flying" for the single release, taken from the first word of the first verse. Each verse opens with a similar word, Flying, Lying, Crying, Dying, Sighing and Trying and I suppose Flying was used as it is the least depressing of the 6 options available.

Yes, it's that time again and I almost feel sorry for you. I believe this to be my 6th holiday blog and I have to confess to quite enjoying writing them. However, where previously I have hidden behind the guise of a fledgeling blogger, I fear this excuse is most likely to be no longer applicable and I do feel the pressure to do better. And while I am bearing my soul, I also feel the need to confess that I purchased a Bluetooth keyboard to connect to my phone / tablet just to simplify the creative writing process. This year, Laura expressed a desire to revisit Croatia and despite me expressing a desire to stay home, I find myself sitting on the poolside patio, armed with my new Bluetooth keyboard and staring at the clouds floating overhead in search of some inspired offerings. I'll let you be the judge....

We are in Sukošan, about 7 kilometres southeast of Zadar. Initially a small medieval settlement founded at the bottom of a shallow and sheltered lagoon known as Ziatna Luka, (Golden Harbour), the town has grown and is now one of the many tourist destinations on Croatia's Adriatic coast. In the centre of the old village, with its labyrinth of narrow streets bordered by old stone-built houses, is the parish church of Saint Casanus. The current building with its Romanesque and baroque details was constructed in the mid 17th-century, but there is believed to have been a church on this site since the 11th-century.

Our residence for the week is somewhat more modern, having been built earlier this year. It has 3 double bedrooms, air conditioning throughout and its own private swimming pool, situated within the south facing rear garden. And for the retired gentleman of the party, it thankfully also has a shaded outside dining area. Our party has divided into its usual teams, with Ben and I tech-focused and enjoying the air-conditioned indoor space, while the others lie around the pool area enjoying the late afternoon sunshine. There is a plan to venture out later to find some nourishment and explore the town and marina.

Before that, there is one final thing to say about Ryanair - it has been building inside me since yesterday and it is my hope that by sharing this with you, I will experience a sense of inner peace, or as they say here 'unutarnji mir'. If you don't want to pay extra for a specific seat (and I don't) Ryanair makes you wait until 24 hours prior to departure before checking in. Leaving aside the unnecessary 6 am alarm call and the numerous clicks required to navigate the "no I really don't want to pay for a seat, that's why I didn't do that when I first booked", the seat allocation algorithm finally relents and awards you 2 seats. They are at opposite ends of the aircraft but they do come with a helpful popup; "Don't like your allocated seats, click here to change them". At a price, naturally. However, I do feel I got one over on their mean-spirited algorithm. We had 2 bookings (it was cheaper that way), so when I checked in the other 4 travellers, they were also seated as far from one another as possible. Without the knowledge that we were all travelling together, the algorithm just assigned the seats adjacent to the previous booking. So despite their best efforts, we were more or less sat together in 2 groups, with Jackie, Ben and Lucy up front and the rest of us at the back. Take that Ryanair! And yes, I do feel better.Les mer