first mixed up flight

I have been blessed on my trip to have great flights and connections. However, I arrived a bit tardy at the airport in Athens, and thankfully, the flight to Budapest was running late as well. So, I sat and waited; mostly patiently.

The trip to Budapest was uneventful, but I was watching my watch the entire flight as were a few others on our late flight. We sat on board waiting to be let out and I watched the departure time of my connecting flight pass.

Thankfully, there were significant outgoing delays at the Budapest airport and so my Zagreb flight was still on the ground. I exited through E.U. Immigration (stamp) and went to my gate. Within a half hour, our flight of 22 passengers were told that our plane was canceled as the aircraft would not turn 'on.'

So, off we went to the transfer desk. At first, they told me I was going to have an all-expenses paid overnight in Budapest, but after realizing that the plane might not be fixed the next day, either, they decided to ship all of us to Zagreb via bus and taxi.

I re-entered the E.U. (stamp) to catch my ride. I was one of the four fortunate souls who took the taxi. We all bonded a bit on the four hour trek through snow, ice, and fog. Two hours into our ride, our taxi driver informed us that the other group was still waiting for the bus at the airport and that the airline had booked five more taxis for them. He also informed us that the airline paid 400Euro for the trip to Zagreb. That's the most expensive taxi ride I have been on!

At the Hungary-Croatia border (another two stamps), we realized that we were five people with five different passports: Hungarian, Croatian, Greek, French, and U.S. We all agreed to be dropped at the Zagreb bus station which is more centrally located than the airport and the Croatian man who rode with us generously offered to pay for my taxi to my accommodation since the tram service has ceased for the night.

I finally arrived at 1am. What a circus.