Croatia: Malinska & Home Cooking...Part 8

Hello again...we are back online. I'll try and catch you up on the last three days without making this as long as "War and Peace."

Saturday morning at 10am we were picked up by our cousin Mirella (Meerrrela) and her two boys Ivan & Luka (ages 10 & 7). She drives a decent sized Renault, so there was room for all our ridiculous luggage. (Next trip over I say we go directly to the sea with 3 swim suits, 4 throw-em-over your-head-and-go dresses, a couple of tank tops and skirts, 2 pairs of flip flops, toiletries and a hand bag. Sooo much easier!! :) It was a lovely sunny day and I was able to just hang out in the back seat with the boys and not worry about navigating this time. It was an easy 2 hour drive this time with no rain. Our destination was Malinska on the island of Krk. Mirella's parents had come in from the Istra peninsula (where Pula is) in order to get to see us.

The home we stayed at belongs to Mirella's mother-in-law, Nada. She is a widow now and lives in Malinka 6 months of the year, renting out the two upper apartments of her house for tourists. It is very good money for this lovely woman who otherwise would live on 70% of her late husband's pension. During the winter months, she lives in Zagreb. It was great to be in a home setting and enjoy home-cooked meals.

They truly spoiled us with food, coffee, and desserts. The first evening we had delicious braised chicken, fresh salad and amazing mashed potatoes. This is the midday meal. At what would be our dinner time we had fresh tomatoes, hard boiled eggs, fresh bread and cheese. Nada had also made a fresh peach crisp. That evening we all went into Malinska to a new coffee shop owned by their friend and neighbor, Milan. This particular place serves Illy coffee, which is Mirella's favorite. She and I had what she called a machiatto. It was a small cup of kava (coffee) with a little bit of steamed milk on top. Very tasty. They always serve sugar packets on the side, but I rarely use any sugar. The espresso generally tastes very good without it. They also treated us to gelato - or "sladoled" in Croatian. I was admiring the stylish coffee cups there and asked if they had any for sale. A few minutes later Nada showed up with one for me. She had asked Milan if she could have one to give me and he agreed. It is the perfect souvenir. :)

The next day we started our meal with a light chicken soup, then had pork and chicken baked in a broth of onions, tomatoes, and salt &  pepper. She had boiled some potato quarters and served them in the sauce from the meat. Along with this was a shredded cabbage and vinger salad, and a creamy cucumber, pepper, and red onion salad that had a hint of garlic. Very delicious! Just when we were thoroughly stuffed, Nada pulled out some delectible desserts that she had purchased for us that morning at Milan's caffe. Oh my goodness!!

They like to spend a good deal of the day by the sea. We went down with them the first day just with our clothes. Since we had not expected to spend time by the sea, other than as tourists, we did not have swimsuits with us. The second day, Mirella's mother, Marianna, let us borrow comfortable dresses to wear with our sandals so that we would be cooler. She then insisted that we keep the dresses.

Ah, yes, Marianna! I was so busy talking about the delicious food that I haven't told you about our hosts. Marianna is Darko's sister. (He is my mom's second cousin that has been taking care of us while we're in Ogulin.) She and her husband Jurko (Yoorrko) are Mirella's parents. She is a lovely woman in every way and Jurko is very kind and generous. They are a very handsome couple. Marianna is also the very doting grandmother of Ivan & Luka. Grandmother's are the same the world over! :) She and Nada seemed to be in a sublte competition to see who would spoil us the most. It was all in fun, but it was funny see them make faces at one another, then laugh like the good friends that they are. It is nice when "in-law" families get along. Marianna understands most of what we spoke in English, but could not speak as well. She found this very frustrating since there was so much she wanted to talk to us about. Mirella was our faithful translator. On Sunday morning a couple from Austria stopped by for a visit, Manfred and Maria. So Mirella was speaking in German, Croatian and English. At one point Mirella turned to me to translate what Manfred was saying. She looked me right in the eyes and started rattling off in Croatian. When she realized what she was doing we both had a good laugh. She certainly got a brain workout trying to help us all communicate.

The two boys were fun to be around as well. They both kept busy swimming most of the time. But Luka, 7 also enjoyed playing games on my mom's phone or trying to teach her Croatian. Ivan played video games a lot and liked to tease me whenever he could.

We said our goodbyes on Sunday afternoon and headed back to Zagreb. We had such a great time and spoke of returning one day. Marianna wants my mom and I to come and stay with her for 3 months. :) It would be wonderful, but "oh my!" Mirella drove us back to Ogulin and spent some time with Darko and Mato also. Darko is her uncle, Mato is her grandfather. She spent much time here in Ogulin as a child and loves to come back and visit.

We are staying near the park again and get to hear the church bells every morning. We will be here in Ogulin till Sunday morning. While we are here we will see family again and my mom will do some poking around for family tree info. We may yet go to Plitvice Lakes National Park or a small town just north of there that is a smaller version.

Today has been quiet so far. Mom and I have been on our own for breakfast and enjoyed a lunch of "pancakes," which for those who have been to Russia, are a lot like bliny. She had one with fruit and I had mine with zucchini, onion, and eggs. Very good. We have also done a little shopping and sat in the park. It is a sunny day, but breezy, so the warmth is bearable.

I will sign off now. I've surely forgotten some details, but that's enough for now. It takes more time for me to write on this laptop. It has a Croatian keyboard so letters and symbols are in different places. Here's an example...if I type something like I would at home it turns out like this:

ČI will sign off now. Ićve surelz forgotten something, but thatćs enough for now. It takes more time to write on this laptop. <it has="" a="" croatian="" kezboard="" so="" letters="" and="" szmbols="" are="" in="" different="" places="" the="" word="" comes="" out="" breeyz.=""></it>

Love to you all...doviđenja.

Bernadette