Croatia Trip, Part 1:...for those who like the details
Hi everyone. We are doing well here in Ogulin, Croatia - home of my mothers 2nd cousin Darko Prebanic. (I'm going to be including a bit of detail since this will also be my travelogue of this part of our trip. So if you're not interested in all that, know that we got here safely and are doing well.)
Our flights were all very good and uneventful. Despite a 1 1/2 hour flight delay in Seattle, we arrived in Frankfurt in plenty of time to meet Jim (my brother who flew in via Vancouver BC) and catch our connection to Zagreb, the capitol of Croatia. We were met by cousin Darko and flew, via the freeway, to Ogulin. (Darko drives fast and there were no seat belts in the back seat. Haha! I didn't panic...too much.) We then went to our hotel, a very lovely older building next to a 500 year old castle. Across the street near the castle is a lookout point to a very deep and wooded canyon. There is also a lovely park kitty corner from the hotel flanked by an older church and various shops. After napping and showering, we met Darko, his girlfriend Ivanka, and his daughter Tea (pronounced Tey-a) in the hotel patio. It is a nice outdoor area in the center of the hotel that has a retractable roof. It was lovely and breezy and very relaxing. After a little bite to eat we took a short walk and stopped at another outdoor bar/cafe type place just a few blocks away for coffee. We didn't get back to the hotel till almost midnight. Except for a brief nap, I had been up over 36 hours since I did not sleep on any of the flights. Needless to say, I slept hard that night and had to be awakened at 8:45 despite the fact that the church bells across the park had been going off every half hour. :)
After breakfast we met everyone again for coffee at 10 in the hotel patio. Tea brought her husband Hvroje. They are a very nice couple. They all left to shop in preparation for our lunch at Darko's house, so we explored the town center a bit more and took a tour of the stone "castle." We had a nice lunch and visit at Darko's. After a bit we heard honking outside and Tea told us to come look. There was literally a parade of cars honking and pulling up to the house across the street. To give you perspective, the street is not much wider than an alley. This procession was part of a traditional Croatian wedding. The groom and attendants arrive to get the bride and all the family and guests come too. Before we knew it there was the sound of accordions, a guitar and a standup bass....traditional Croatian music. The musicians paraded to the brides house along with all the guests. Apparently the tradition is for the best man to knock at the door and ask for the bride. Often he is met by someone who has dressed up as the bride - generally a man. He has to persist in asking for the bride, then literally offer an amount of Euros to get her. So being the best man is a very expensive undertaking. The guests and musicians stood outside the brides house for at least 20 minutes or so before she came out, then they all ate and drank for some time before leaving for the church. So we all stood in the front of Darko's house along with many neighbors for almost an hour. It was quite fun. After the weddings at the church in the middle of town (of which there were at least 3 yesterday) the cars would process through town on the way to the reception honking their horns and waving at people on the street. The cars often have bows attached to them in the wedding colors. It's all very festive. The wedding parties last into the wee hours as we discovered later...
We spent the evening on our own, walked a bit, enjoyed some gelatto, and a delicious slice of pizza from a small street side take out cafe. There was a wedding reception in the indoor patio of our hotel, so there was literally music and singing going on all night long. As couples spilled out onto the street between 4:30 and 5:00am, there was more singing that we could hear through our windows. I heard some of it sporadically, but still managed to sleep. Mom and Jim did not sleep as well. Also at 6am every morning the church bells across the park sound for about 1 minute straight. I've pretty much slept through that too, but it has woken Mom and Jim. Throughout the day the bells sound (though not for as long) on the hour and the half hour. Very fun. This is really a quaint little town full of lovely old buildings. I could "park" here a long time and just enjoy walking around and relaxing.
Today, Saturday here, we are going to meet up with some other relatives who live in a small town very close by. Tomorrow we will be borrowing Darko's car and driving about an hour to the coast. We will make it a day trip. We have discussed taking the train Monday to another coastal city and perhaps staying till Wednesday. We'll see. Thursday we will likely visit Plitvice Lakes National park. (For those on Facebook, I posted a link to the park that has many good pictures. It is considered one of the most beautiful places in the world.) We will then go up to Zagreb with Darko's daughter Tea, see the city and stay at least till Friday since Jim will need to get to the airport that day to fly home. The next week we will base out of Ogulin again and my mom will do some more exploring of family history in the nearby towns.
The weather here has been quite warm, though it should be cooling to the 70s this next week. (Very nice) This is a mountainous area and we had a great thunderstorm yesterday. We sat under another covered patio area near the street outside the hotel and watched it literally pour for about a half hour. Then it cleared up and was lovely for the rest of the day.
I am working on learning some words and phrases in Croatian. That is always fun for me. There are many here who do speak some English, but it is nice to try and honor them by using their language as well.
I will sign off for now. As long as Jim is here with his laptop, I will be able to send emails. He leaves Friday the 9th. After that it's very possible that I won't have any internet access.
Love & dovidjenja (good bye),
Bernadette
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