Croatia: Returning to the Sea...Part 7

It is now noon here in Zagreb, a much more respectable time of day to be playing on the computer. My brother Jim is at the airport waiting for his flight. My mother and I started off on a walk to the city center, but paused to take a break on a park bench along the way. This park has two lovely fountains, the sidewalk near our bench was shaded and the air perfectly warm with a slight breeze. As we sat enjoying the sights, the phone rang. It was our cousin Marela calling to invite us to go back to the sea this weekend. Well, golly, thats a tough one! Btw, this note will be harder for me to correctly punctuate. I am on a Croatian keyboard at the hotel. In addition to there being some different letters, the symbols are not all where I am used to them being...or I cant find them. Or, as I just disovered, the number keys have 3 symbols each on them and the shift key is not always getting me what I need...such as parentheses in which to enclose all of this information. Anyway...

Back to the sea...because, yes, we are going back to the island of Krk. We will stay in Malinska. My mothers other cousin, Marianna - that may not be spelled right -will be there for the weekend. She and her husband have been vacationing in Pula and we did not think we would get to see them at all since we decided not to drive all the way there last week. They have rented an apartment in Malinska for the weekend - the same as getting a condo for us. So we will leave tomorrow morning and return to Ogulin on Sunday night.

Tonight we will go to cousin Teas house to do our laundry and to have dinner. Last night we enjoyed a lovely dinner with many of our cousins - Tea, Hrvoje, Daniel, and Marela. We went to a very nice Italian restaurant. I had spinach gnocchi with shrimp and a tomato and cream sauce. It was delicious. After dinner we walked for a couple of hours to some famous sites...churches, the government buildings, a lovely city lookout point that had a pubcafe sort of place nestled along the edge. There was a walkway in between the cafe and the tables and three very large, funky chandeliers hung from the trees above the walkway. It was very beautiful. A special tram ride took us down the steep hillside to the city center once more and we then walked to the National Theater, which is a beautiful, large, light yellow building with very old and ornate architecture. You can google it...Zagreb National Theatre. Since by then we had been walking for some time and it was 10pm, we stopped for refreshments. There are small caffes and coffee shops on almost every corner of Zagreb...and in between. We headed back to our hotel at 11. Our route home took us by a huge botanical garden, but it was too dark to see in the gates.

We said goodbye to our cousins with plans to meet again. Sometime after midnight I decided to text Jillian to see if she and Cadence had made it to Spokane safely. Since she was there, and since I would be losing access to the laptop once Jim left, we decided to Skype. We talked for a long time - long after Jim and Mom had fallen asleep. Eventually Cadence woke up, Monica and Danny arrived, and Ty came home. So by 3:00am I had been able to see everyone. There are times when I have not appreciated my modest home that has been furnished the same for many years...but last night it looked wonderful. It is home and for just a little while I felt as if I was there with everyone. I still managed to get about 5 hours sleep before Mom woke me up for breakfast. Not bad.

So now we are back to today. After I am done with this note, Mom and I will go do a little shopping and have some lunch. I might even squeeze in a short nap. It is another lovely sunny day here. There stiflingly hot days of summer here in Zagreb seem to have passed. Tea said it was terribly hot this year. Much more than usual. I can tell that the evenings are cooling off more as well.

It will be nice to go back to Tea and Hvrojes apartment tonight. Just a short walk from there is a very long lake that is used for canoeing, kayaking, and crew racing. It has a wide paved path all around it - about 6 km long. You will have to do the math on that one. Yesterday there were many people out walking, running, biking and roller blading on the path. Tea and I walked. Jim and Hrvoje rode bikes, mom stayed behind and took a nice, long nap. And there was, of course, a caffe bar beside it where we stopped for coffee and a glass of water. I dont know if we will walk today, but we will get to do laundry, which will be wonderful. Yes, laundry and wonderful did appear together in that sentence.

I will likely be out of touch for the weekend, so hopefully I can write about our second journey to the sea when we get back to Ogulin on Sunday or Monday. There is a laptop there in the reception area that may be for guests to use. I am hoping so.

Till then, love to you all.

Bernadette

Croatia: The Gelatto Tour...Part 5 & A Quick Note...Part 6

Dobro jutro! (good morning)

It is 7:47am in Zagreb, Croatia. We arrived here by tain last night after 9. Our hotel is across the street form the train station and just a few blocks from the main square in the city. We traveled there by tram last night and walked around a bit. Saw a beautiful cathedral and a couple of pedestrain streets filled with tables and LOTS of people (for after 10 on a Wednesday night.) The main square is as big as a city block and surrounded by lovely tall buildings and was very brightly lit. Our cousins took us to a well known street where the celebrities come to "be seen." Alas, no one took our picture.... but we did enjoy some lovely traditional Croatian cakes. Very light and tasty. Apparently if we go to this street on Saturday about noon there will be many celebrities and the papparazzi. We may skip that.     ;-) 

Yesterday on our way back to Ogulin I accidentally had Jim take a different road off the main highway into Ogulin. It was the old road that took us through the countryside. Fortunate mistake!! We wound through the beautiful, lush, green hills for about a half an hour. So lovely! The road is very narrow and passes through some very small villages. I can't imagine traveling that road in the winter, though, but people here must do so. Gas and groceries are all in Ogulin. 

We spent some time at Darko's house before our train came. His father, Mato, picked us more grapes, served cookies, and gave us some walnuts from his tree. If I hadn't been insistent, I would have had a purse full of walnuts. As it is, I took five. They are sitting here on my nightstand at the hotel. I'm sure we will be offered more when we return to Ogulin. We had a nice dinner of chicken and vegetables at the hotel. Yay for healthy food!! We have enjoyed the "mixed salads" here when we can find them. They are a plate with lettuce, cabbage or peppers, cucumbers and garden fresh tomatoes. Though they're called "mixed" they are actually not mixed together at all, but sit next to one another seperately on the plate. Very fresh and delicious, though! The tomatoes are especially tasty! 

Here in Zagreb, we will meet up with our cousins later, then join some other relatives for dinner in the city center tonight. My cousin Tea would like for us to try some more traditional Croatian dishes. The cabbage here is supposed to be especially good. The desserts she had us try last night were very good, but I'm getting pretty maxed out on desserts. Perhaps we should become the Tour formerly known as Gelatto...or the Croatian Cabbage Tour. I do love the "coffee with hot milk" and the cappucinos here. The espresso here is mild and delicious. It is served with sugar packets, but you don't really need them. I have seem some "caffe bar" menus offering lattes with chocolate, vanilla or caramel, but I'm sticking with the plain versions. Cappucinos are great when the shots are good. Croatian Cappucino Tour....? 

We will get to do some laundry at my cousin Tea's house tomorrow. There is no way to bring 3 weeks of clothing without being overloaded. It has been hot here, so our warm weather clothes are running out. It will be very hot again today...even more so because we are in the city. 

I will sign out for now. Time to get ready for breakfast. Have a great day! It will be a good one here. Dobro! (good)

Dovidenja for now,

Bernadette

Croatia: A quick note....Part 6

September 8, 2011 at 6:20pm

It is after 3am here in Zagreb. I've just finished Skyping with Jillian, Cadence, Monica, Danny & Ty. I will lose this laptop - and the ability to Skype - when my brother heads home to Redmond tomorrow. It was so good to see everyone, and to see my home. 

Zagreb is a city of about 1 million people. We spent much time in the city center today. The streets were crowded with people this morning when we went out and were still very crowded as we walked home accompanied by several cousins late this evening. I wish I could remember all the monuments and historical buildings that we've seen. There were so many...and it is 3am. ;-) We did see a few different statues of Nikola Tesla, who is a Croatian who invented electricity. Yes, I know, we in America credit that to Thomas Edison, but they will say it was Tesla, and if I recall correctly, this is probably true. We tried a few traditional Croatian foods today and will sample some more tomorrow when we meet the family for dinner. 

One thing that my daughters would like about Zagreb, there are coffee shops everywhere! I hope to add more details to all this later if possible.

It is very late and I must sign off. I hope to be able to access the hotel computer for more updates after today. Blessings to you all!

Laku noć! (good night!)

Bernadette

P.S. We had no gelatto today. :)

Croatia Trip: aka The Gelatto Tour...Part 4

Sat in the quiet of the hotel patio enjoying my last breakfast here. The sea was so calm. Sailboats and ferries were heading out to take advantage of the lovely day. Beach lovers were already making their way toward the water at 10am. In the background I heard the music beginning on the hotel PA system: "Listen to the Music" by the Doobie Brothers. Reminded me of home. As wonderful as it's been here, I am missing everyone at home. 

Yesterday was another hot day. Jim took a dip in the sea. I dipped my toes. There were swimmers and sunbathers all over the length of the beach. The locals and tourists alike love their sun. After a bit of morning shopping we headed to the nearby city of Malinska. (Correction from yesterday...our cousins car is a Skoda.) We stopped for pizza (again) near the marina there. Our waiter seemed a bit impatient with his American customers at first, but we won him over. He was maybe 30 with head shaved and wearing a black t-shirt. He asked where we were from and said that he had relatives in Miami. We also learned that in the off season he was in a band...originally a drummer like his father and brother, but now a singer. He has plans to bring his band over to Miami in the next year or two. They are not big partyers, he said, but take their music and their family time seriously. :) We also learned from him that from town to town in Croatia there are differnet accents and dialects, so sometimes even the people here have trouble understanding one another. The restaurant was not busy, so he stayed and visited with us for a long time, even impressing us with his knowledge of the capitols of some of the states in the US. Geography is his hobby. Our time there was made memorable because of this personal encounter. 

Back in Krk, we walked into town for a late dinner and ate pasta by the water. As the sun set, the half moon shone brightly and the tempurature dropped. We walked around a bit and stopped for gelatto before returning home. All along the walk there were people on benches taking in the lovely evening. The peaceful scene was only interrupted by the "lounge singer" stationed at the neighboring hotel pool. Haha. At least he sang on key. 

Now we are preparing to check out and enjoy a bit more of this town by the sea before we head inland. We will take an evening train to the capitol city of Zagreb tonight and spend a few days there seeing the sights and meeting more family. I am a little sad today. Sad to leave the sea....and missing home just a bit. Almost 2 more weeks to go here. Yikes! Can't spend it all being homesick. 

Love & dovidenja!

Bernadette

(Hope there's no typos. No time to proof read :)

Croatia Trip...Part 3

Bok!

Today was road trip day. Darko loaned us his little orange Skrado and we took off through the mountains around 10am. The roads were great and all the signage very easy to follow. As we passed through the heavily treed mountains we encountered the occasional small town of red roofed homes and several very well built and well lit tunnels. About halfway to Krk it started raining very hard. We turned off the main highway and descended down the "long and winding road" to the bridge to Krk Island.  Fortunately the rain did not last the entire time. As we approached the bridge we got our first glimpse of the Adriatic. Despite the overcast skies, the view was lovely. We continued through the middle of the island and came out upon the tightly packed coastal town of Krk. Narrow roads, hotels, lovely stucco or stone homes and condos in white or pale colors with the classic mediterranean red clay tile roofs. We continued to wind down toward the water toward our final destination: The Hotel Bor (Bor means pine tree). 

The hotel is small and modest with a very tidy tiled outdoor eating area that looks out through a stand of shade trees onto the sea. What our room lacks in amenities is more than made up for by it's proximity to the rocky sea wall. Many outcroppings have been artfully paved in areas to accommodate sunbathers. Many people were doing just that as well as swimming. There is a lovely paved path that seems to follow the entire length of the town along the water line. We enjoyed a lunch of pasta, got settled into our room and later headed toward town along the sea walkway toward town. So beautiful! It was very warm when we got to town, but cooled perfectly by dinner time.

My first impression as we entered the stand of tightly packed buildings, stone walls and streets, wrought iron gates and window screens, window boxes cascading red blooms...was Italy. Krk has that same Mediterranean flavor. One of the streets was paved with terrazzo tile, most were stone. We wandered through the courtyard of an ancient castle then on to a very old Catholic church with wonderfully aged black and cream checked stone floors and gracefully carved wooden pews. From there we wound through more of the very narrow streets, checked out a few shops, then stopped for pizza at a waterfront restaurant. A two-year old Croatian boy with a crew cut, an adorable smile, and a Grand Rapids t-shirt entertained us while we waited for our pizza. After dinner we enjoyed a leisurely walk back to our hotel. The skies were growing dark and the water was quite still. We walked on past the hotel and discovered some benches on a point that looked out to sea. The water lapped up on the rocks, reminding us of a large lake. It was so peaceful. Still overcast, there were no stars, only the light of a boat miles away from shore.

We are relaxing in our room now, Jim and Mom watching the end of a movie and me typing away while I'm still getting a wi-fi signal. Technology is wonderful when it works and when it lets us communicate a world away to loved ones and friends.  

Sending love from the Adriatc coast,

Bernadette

Croatia Trip...Part 2

Bok! (Hello!)

The weather here continues to be hot an sunny. Perfect excuse for a walk to the gelatto place! 

Yesterday (Saturday) we met Darko for coffee again around 10. This seems to be his daily habit. (He is kin and a kindred spirit in this regard:) Our plan for the rest of the day was to drive to a nearby village, Ostarije, to meet Marica (pronounced Mareetsa). She is Darko's aunt...Darko is my mom's 2nd cousin...I still need to see this all on a family tree to make perfect sense of all these relationships. 

Marica is in her 80s and lives in a very small, old, rustic home. Her kitchen/sitting area is smaller than the smallest bedroom in my home, which is 9x10. There is a tiny, single corner sink, a short countertop, an ancient wood-burning oven, and across from that a single burner gas stove. The other corner houses a 4 foot padded bench and a very small kitchen table. There are two other assorted chairs and a covered stool for extra seating. Mom, Jim, Darko, Darko's father Mato (Mauto), Marica, and I all gathered, somewhat cosily, in this space. She served us homemade strudel and Kalaces (a nut filled pastry) and made some rather strong coffee which I sipped slowly as I also recorded family names and information. Besides just coming to see Marica, my mom came with lots of genealogy questions as well as pictures of relatives that needed identifying. You have to visualize this delightful old woman with her loose fitting dress, leaning forward with cane in hand, feet nestled in house shoes, ankles quite swollen. She has short cut white hair and eyes that squint with an adorable twinkle when she smiles. As Darko would translate Mom's questions she would rattle away in Croatian. Darko might ask her another question to clarify and then she would raise her voice and start speaking even faster while waving her hands wildly. (So apparently the "talking with your hands" thing was passed down from the Croatian as well as the Italian side of my family. This explains so much!) You would think that she was yelling at Darko, but not so. It was very amusing to watch all this...and try to take notes at the same time, all the while attempting to spell the Croatian names correctly. 

While all this took place, Darko's father disappeared into the backyard and came back with a cluster of large, juicy purple grapes. Truly purple...and with a taste that reminded me of purple Kool Aid. I had always wondered where that "purple grape" taste came from. Now I know. So now, full of pastries, which were offered several times, and thick brown coffee, I attempted to also eat these sweet grapes. Once Mato saw that we liked the grapes, he picked some more! Mama mia! We politely asked if we could take the rest of them back with us. I will not again eat lunch before going to Marica's house. She has already told us to call ahead before we visit again so she can bake us a cake. :)

After this visit we all piled into Darko's little rust orange subcompact and made our way up the road to visit my mother's first cousin Tony, who my mother did not get to meet on her visit last year. He and his family live on his father's land in another nearby village called Skradnik. (This is also where my grandmother was born.) Tony is renovating his father's original home and is also building a brick dwelling just behind it with a ground-level garage and living space above. There is a make-shift kitchen in their garage that they are using while they finish remodeling. This was a time of sharing pictures, getting to know one another, and enjoying some fresh homemade cherry juice. We came to find out that Tony's teenage son was going to be coming through Ogulin the following day (today) on his 1962 motorcycle in what was being called the "Old Timers Race." (I was born in 1962...hmmm) So, of course, we all had to see his "sweet bike." It truly was pretty awesome, painted red, and immaculately clean and restored. We took many pictures, which I hope to share when we return. We made plans to be sure to see the race on Saturday. On our way to a nearby lake, we also stopped to see the church that my grandmother was baptized in and attended as a child. 

After resting up a bit, we decided to have dinner in the hotel restaurant. (Hotel Frankopan) We each enjoyed a delicious $25 dollar meal, by American standards, for less than 25 Kunas each, which is about $5. Food is very reasonable here. When we finished we joined Darko and his girlfriend Ivanka for refreshments at a sidewalk cafe, then wandered across the street for a short time to listen to a blues band play at a local club, which also had outdoor seating. There are umbrella-ed sidewalk seating areas all throughout this little town - even outside our favorite gelatto place. Having ordered a small coffee while listening to some great blues tunes, I stayed up for quite a while last night finishing my novel (thanks Nancy!). Yes, I am now a night owl on two continents! 

Today was the day for the Old Timers Race. There would be many old restored motorcycles driving right by our hotel, so after breakfast we grabbed a table on the street-side hotel patio and waited for the bikes to come. Finally we heard them, grabbed our cameras (of course!) and headed toward the street to take pictures. There were perhaps 50 bikes and riders of various ages (the bikes and the riders). So fun! Two of them had side cars and most were from the 40s, 50s and 60s. They stopped on a large paved area right in front of the hotel to get a group picture. We got to say hi to our cousin Thomas who was there with his sweet '62. This whole event was such a treat! Soon they were all off to tour through the surrounding villages.

It was very hot, so we headed off for gelatto soon after the racers left, then spent some time sitting in the shade of the lovely park across from the hotel discussing, among other things, healthcare, education opportunities and difficulties, and the recent American and global banking issues. No small talk for us! We had a lovely lunch in the hotel and were persuaded by our waitress to try the ice cream sundaes with warm "forest fruits." (a mixed berry sauce). Good thing I ordered the green salad for lunch! I am still full...and Mom and Jim are napping. Now that it is 5:15 here, I should probably wake them up. 

We, obviously, did not head for the coast today. That is in the works for tomorrow through Wednesday. We will be headed about an hour away to some nearby coastal towns and an island called Krk that is accessed via a loooong bridge. (Oh joy! Some of you know how much I love "looonng" bridges.) 

While we are enjoying time with our Croatian relatives, we are also enjoying each other's company. Jim and I are both jokers and we're doing our best to keep Mom, and each other, entertained. We're also getting the chance to have more personal visiting time, which doesn't always happen when we are home. Tonight, Darko will take Mom and Jim to watch part of a soccer match. He is president of the local sports club and is also a sports writer for a local publication. I think I will stay behind and rest a bit for whatever we decide to do later. I will not, however, be staying up till 3am reading. My novel is done. I hogged it all in one night. Oh dear! Such a tragedy! I guess I'll have to resort to sleeping like a normal person. 

That is all for now. 

Love and dovidjenja (goodbye). We are having fun,

No Foolin in Ogulin 

Croatia: Part 1

This is a chronicle of my trip to Croatia with Mom, and my brother, Jim. I may group some of the these original Facebook notes for convenience over the next several blog posts. I'm so glad I decided to journal our doings. I would never have remembered all these details and it was a truly wonderful trip. 

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