Adriatic → Iberia

Alex said "Sunday, probably." There are no JFK nonstops to ZAG or SPU — sensible filed routes for Sun 8/16 (arrive Mon 8/17):

His actual booking + which Croatian airport + his Mallorca leg(s) still TBD — placeholder until Alex shares. SPU is the useful airport here; ZAG means a long drive or a connecting hop.

Layover shopping — Thursday 8/20 (filed schedules, ~6 days out)

Layover shopping — Friday 8/21

Also Friday: ITA one-ticket via Rome (AZ81 12:50→FCO 14:30 + OU381 18:00→19:05) gets the only daylight arrival with a single booking — but its 3h30 is airport time, not a city day; noon–1pm ET flight.

How I'd play it

• If the layover IS the fun: Vienna, either day. Thursday buys 6h30 (land 14:35, city by 15:15, six clean hours), Friday buys a ridiculous 8h45. Price: land in Split after sunset 22:10–22:20 and take the evening hop mid-workday (3:05pm ET) — fine if work wraps by then.
• If work + daylight win: Munich early pair (Thu EW6890+LH1716, Fri EW6886+LH1716) — in Tisno for sunset, flight almost entirely outside 9–5 ET, but no city day.
• BCN Vueling only if "one ticket, one airline, done" beats everything — the Madrid leg eats 2 hours of the Friday workday either way.
• Split sunset mid-Aug ≈ 20:00 (civil twilight +30 min): the 20:10 arrivals are dusk; 22:10+ arrivals are night. The Tisno drive is a highway + drawbridge — fine in the dark, just less pretty.

Arriving: SPU → Tisno

Arrival time depends on the pick above — 16:15 (Munich early) through 22:40 (Munich day). Tisno is ~85 km / ~1h15 by road across the D8 + drawbridge (no ferry/tolls).

• Rental car, ~€50–120 total for 2 days — the pick: covers the Krka/Vransko/freedom days AND the Sat 17:10 departure back to SPU. Return at SPU before IB946.
• Transfer: Exploro €94.50 one-way (cheapest verified, 1–3 pax); AirportsTaxiTransfers €118.75; street taxi €180–220 — only makes sense without the day-tripping.
• Bus: no direct SPU→Tisno, 4h35–5h45 chained buses. No.

The festival you're joining

Dekmantel Selectors — 10th anniversary, Aug 20–24, at The Garden, Tisno (five beachfront stages by day, legendary boat parties, Barbarella's club at night). Lineup: Alex Kassian (the DJ — not your brother-in-law), Hunee b2b Optimo, CCL, Simo Cell, Ron Trent. Official program starts Thu 8/20 — days 1–2 for you.

Alex's "Tuesday start": nothing official exists before Aug 20 — no early check-in, pre-party, or Barbarella's event; The Garden's season calendar is dark Aug 10–20. Tuesday = almost certainly the house-rental check-in.

eMTB — the riding (pick-up evening before if possible)

Rental: JOP Rent E-Bike, Murter (+385 95 911 0566) — proper Bosch-powered fleet (Haibike/Cube/Whistle/Orbea Wild FS). Price unpublished — call/WhatsApp; evening-before pickup possible. Merki in Tisno center is city e-bikes/scooters only, skip for trails.

On the water

• Kornati & Telašćica boat day (top pick) — ~200 wild islands, salt-lake swim, cliff viewpoints, 8.5h, from Tribunj next door (Destina, ~$78–86 pp). Alt: 9h cruise from Biograd w/ lunch — GetYourGuide.
• Skippered sailing, Bavaria 44 out of Murter — hosts Domenika & Filip, 5.0★ (65 reviews), price on request (Click&Boat listing — verify via platform).
• Self-drive: Tisno Rent motorboats €150–280/day (license) + no-license RIBs.
• Kayak: Jamming Adventures Murter (site was down during research — price unverified).

Weather for the window

Heatwave now (94–100°F through Aug 16) easing toward ~91°F; Aug 20–23 is beyond reliable forecast today. Climatology for the window: highs ~84°F avg with 90–99°F spikes, lows ~70°F, sea 75–77°F, ~2 rain days/month. Maestral W/NW breeze in the afternoons — boats like it; riders should do mornings.

The one direct flight. ⏰ Saturday — no work conflict Depart SPU 17:10 CEST (=11:10 ET Saturday), land MAD ~20:05, ~$496 one-way seen (fare not bookable-verified from here). Morning free for a last swim/Krka after-15:00 trick — drop the rental at SPU.

Backup (risky branch): same-day Sunday OU651 SPU 06:15 → ZAG 07:00 + IB940/VY5531 ZAG 10:30 → MAD 13:25, game at 17:00 — any delay eats the match. Note: IB946 also has a Sunday 22:10 rotation landing 01:10+1 — useless for the game; don't book that one.

Morning & early afternoon with Alberto & family

Late-Aug Madrid midday runs 90–96°F — front-load outdoors, duck into AC by noon, be at the stadium by ~16:00.

Prado: €15 adult, Sun 10:00–19:00, good AC backup — but the official page was unreachable from here (403), verify on museodelprado.es before committing. Suggested flow: 10:00 rowboats → shady lunch / quick Mirador → optional AC museum hour → Metro L7 at 15:00–15:30.

The game

Kickoff confirmed 17:00 CEST (possible heat delay if >88°F — re-check the week of; La Liga moves times ~2 weeks out). Target the stadium ~16:00 — Metro line 7 to "Estadio Metropolitano" station, which drops you at the ground. With Alberto & family, who have the extra tickets.

After the final whistle: night drive to the pueblo

Game ends ~19:00–19:30 CEST, on the road after — ~410 km, A-3/A-31 toll-free, ~4h + stop → arrive ~23:30–00:30. Honest call: that's a late one (you'll roll in past midnight CEST if you stop for dinner). The upside: Monday in Alicante starts with you already at the house. Luggage + car logistics are handled — you drive with Alberto in his car. Fuel ≈ €50 (€1.699/L, Aug 13). ⏰ drive runs ~1:30–6:30pm ET Sunday — zero work impact

Depart Santa Pola (20 min from the pueblo side): ferries from €9 online, ~10 daily 10:00–18:30, 25 min crossing, last boat back 19:15 — schedule & prices. Water taxi ~€13/15 min. Take a morning ferry (~10:00), back by early evening (~17:30–18:00) — marine reserve, snorkel the coves, lunch in the village, siesta window after. ⏰ Mon = workday NY-side: ferry day runs 4am–1pm ET, so you're clear by 13:00 ET or shift calls to the boat-back hours

Morning coffee on the home front, slow pueblo hours, then the airport (~55 min flying time, all directs):

Morning gives you Mallorca by lunch and the afternoon to land the week; late FR6567 buys a final full pueblo day and lands 10 minutes after your workday ends. All ~55 min, all direct; nothing else flies the route. Note: landing late-Tue CEST = you miss the bulk of your ET workday either way on the ground, so it washes.

Handled without the family present. The Port de Pollença rental ends Aug 31 with no extension; move to the Escolasofia-area rental (Carrer Gremi de Velluters 14, Sa Indioteria, Palma) completes by then either way. FYI: the Palma rental itself is not yet secured — live housing search in progress.