We have been scheduled a 10 day presearch in Croatia because in order to accomplish the above goals we have a lot of ferries to catch. We also had a special guest appearance from our Swedish, friend Inga. (Her name is actually Tanya and she's from Switzerland. Whatever...minor details.)
It can, at times, be difficult to break through the shell with Croatian locals BUT once you know them on a more personal level, they are the most sincere, hospitable, and loving people. Because "we" have been leading in Croatia for quite a few years now, we have many wonderful friends that we look forward to seeing during this time of year.
I can't tell you how many times I took a step back this week, looked around and though, "Wow. This is my life. How did I get here?" I know this may sound like a reoccuring theme, but it has never been more true. Stopping in to say hi doesn't happen here. It generally starts a long (and welcomed) chain of events including food, drinks, stories, and finally discussing the upcoming year's plans.
For example: we hire a private boat to do the transfers from island to island. The first night of presearch we drove to Omis to meet the owner and captain of our boat. He insisted we stay on the boat that night, greeted us with rakija and raffiolis, took us to dinner at the local pizza joint, invited us to the birthday party of a friend where they sang traditional klappa songs for hours, shuttled us back to the boat and then fed us breakfast in the morning. We finally talked about work mid-day...the next day. This is just proper etiquette.
Another prime example is after a long day of hiking, eating a delicious lunch at Mate's restaurant and then continuing our hike into Hvar, we were met by Mara who hosts the "Q&A night" for our guests. She announces that she has the "perfect evening" planned for us. One hour later we had changed clothes, downed some cappuccinos, and were on a speed boat bouncing across the water toward a private island for artichokes. The memory of us slowing to an idle and turning the corner to see the lights glisten on the far side of this hidden cove is permanently burned in my mind. The artichokes were prepared the "right" way...the Croatian way. The heavy handed owner of the island/restaurant not only fed us, but brought over a heater midway through dinner, found a turtle for a centerpiece, and gave us long sleeve t-shirts with his logo on them as a souvenir. On the way home we stopped to troll for 10 minutes under a full moon.
I will say this: Croatia makes me miss Florida a bit. It reminds me of my brother daily and all the good times we had in St Augustine. I miss that. I miss him. But I'm also glad that I left when I did so that I can now look back with such fondness and love. I was on a fast track to stagnant resentment and I know if I had stayed any longer that frustration would have overshadowed all the great times that I had there. As it is, I can just look back and smile.
How can you choose between the mountains and the coast when both are so exhilarating for so many different reasons? A little time with both each year is good. I'll get my water time in now.
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