Sometime during the night both Tserka and I received notifications that our bags had arrived, or at least some of the had! Also during the “night” (we actually went to bed around 7 pm) each of the guys independently woke up starving and contemplated texting the others to see if anyone else was awake and hungry. Tserka spent part of the night planning all the possible ways he could get back to Frankfort to get his bag, going as far as looking up bus schedules! We decided that our best course of action was just to drive back to the airport and physically see if our bags were there. The hotel had the best German breakfast I could have hoped for! Crusty bread rolls, tasty jam, salted meats and cheese, creamy yogurt and musli, all followed with coffee and cream! Bellys full, back to the airport we went. Tserka and I went in and Josh and Steve drove to a coffee shop to get Wi-Fi and wait for our text. Getting back in to look for our bags was pretty easy, just had to get a special pass from the ticket counter and go back through security. Once down there, we checked in with the Lufthansa baggage people and were told that 2 of the 3 bags were located and waiting for us. We headed over to collect them with much excitement! After handing over our bags and ensuring us that the next one would arrive from Frankfort that afternoon, I went out to text the guys and see if we wanted to wait or move on. As I walked out of the bag claim office, I looked down and holy shit, there was the missing duffel! I literally screamed “there it is, it’s right here” and jumped up and down! We grabbed all the bags and got the hell out of there as fast as we could!

The plan now was to drive about 5hrs south to the Metelkova Art Center in Ljubljana Slovenia where we had reservations at the Hostel Celica. This hostel has an amazing history, as does the whole square it is part of. Not sure of where we were going, we rolled into the first parking area we found. There were several groups loitering around waiting for the bar to open and looking super punk with great mohawks. They kindly let us know that the hostel entrance was around the block, all without laughing at our completely out of place attire and general vibe!

The checkin lady at the hostel gave us loads of recommendations for food, especially saying to go wander the Christmas Market that was still in full swing. I guess I was thinking of something like the quaint and small one up in Carmel so when we found the hoards of people and the block upon blocks of vendors, it was a little overwhelming! The square had a magnificent Christmas tree and live music was playing on several different stages. We spent about two hours wandering around, drinking some mulled wine, tasting some sausages and eating at an authentic Slovenian restaurant our hostel recommended. We headed back to our cells (remember I said it had a great history??) and packed up what could for our early departure. The next day involved driving south to Croatia and that required a border crossing since they are not yet part of the EU. The hostel lady said that the border crossing could take as long as 2-4 hrs on a holiday weekend, which this one was. We elected to scrap the original plan of leaving around 6 am, to leaving around 4:30 am. All told, I think I got about 2 hours of sleep this night.