Back to the summer: Asses and Santa in Croatia

Autumn. It came as sudden as the first raindrops I felt falling on my nose a few weeks ago. Still frisking around in my dress on Thursday the 6th of October, the next day I was blown away from the runners path at Margret Island. Despite the fact that I probably improved my personal record on running, it didn’t keep my from shivering. When I spotted a brave squirrel between the wild dancing leaves I had to admit…summer ended. Actually it doesn’t bother me that much. I even have to admit that I like the city in this temperature. The chilly weather seems to fit the city with its cozy bars and café houses. Moreover, the sun perseveringly keeps shining and ensures that the sky remains blue.
The first days I had a hard time getting used to the cold temperatures, but in the meanwhile I have been walking around in my winter jacket for a few weeks already. I also survived my well-known yearly barking cough that returned a few weeks ago. Luckily, for me and my flatmates, it didn’t stay with me for a long time this year. While the temperatures slowly sink to below zero levels, I can still remember the sunny days in September. Like the days we spent in Croatia…

Rent a car, stuff it with 5 nice people et allons-y! On Thursday the 22nd of September (wow, that’s a long time ago!) we left Budapest to enjoy the summer in Croatia. We already knew that Hungarians have a unique style of driving (remember the bus driving backwards on the highway), so it didn’t surprise us that people like to switch roadways whenever they like. However the chickens on the road were a new phenomenon. At the border, they didn’t let us go before they had a check in the trunk, saw our passports twice and ensured that the guy on Timothee’s passport was Timothee himself. Despite all these obstacles, Yassinn drove us to Zagreb in only a few hours.

To be honest, the first impression was a bit disappointing. The cathedral was nice, but not really other than any other cathedral. The surroundings in which the cathedral was situated weren’t stunning either. Was this the capital of Croatia? Not completely, we figured out later. After asking some locals, we found our way to Croatia as it is: a romantic scene of old streets with terraces, smooth lightning and live music. We enjoyed dinner on a terrace in one of the cozy streets. By the time we started singing, taking charming pictures and tried to steal the glasses, we left the restaurant. We continued the night in a Croatian bar, somewhere in the middle of a park. After some drinks and dancing, we went to sleep in a nice hostel that we had booked for the night.
The alarm rang at 8 am the next morning: no time wasting for us this weekend! Money wasting neither, since we decided not to plan on paying the fine we found on the window of our car. We started our day peacefully listening to some Croatian gospel songs, while driving to the national park. The park was beautiful and even more peaceful: everything was completely green and sunny, the waterfalls were amazing, the birds sang and Yassinn slept during the whole visit.

That afternoon, we continued our trip to Zadar, a place that seduced me with its charm. The sunset at the coast, the boulevard with the natural organ, the old Italian-like inner city and the impressively decorated ice-creams (which were very tasteful as well). By chance we found out that there was a typical Croatian band playing in town that night. While the boys rather wanted to save their money to buy some extra beers, Francesca, Claire and me went to the concert. Without knowing what we could expect, we were positively surprised by the band. Libar consists of 10 men, 5 singing in different voices and 5 musicians. It was amazing! By chance we bumped into the band members later that evening in another bar, where we danced until the men’s girlfriends (“wifes” would probably be the right word) started to get jealous. Tired but happy we made ourselves a bed in the car and went to sleep. The boys had fled from the continues flow of girl-talk about the band and found themselves a spot near the sea to sleep.

Next morning, I was suddenly woken up by Claire. Damn, police. And no, we didn’t pay for the spot on the parking we were standing on. O-oh, get the hell outta hie, before the policeman would reach us. Easier said than done, since I claimed the driver’s seat as my bed and I wasn’t allow to drive (the fine for driving without license would probably be worse than for not paying the parking spot). It would have been a bit easier, if I wouldn’t had decided to put off my jeans the previous night. Clumsy struggling with the blankets and my jeans in a space that was way too little, I realized that the policeman would probably already summoned us twice by the time I managed to put on my jeans. No time for jeans. So, while we had drawn the attention of the policeman, I jumped of the car, in panties, and jumped in the backseat, next to Francesca. Claire moved to the driver’s seat and drove off from the parking, passing the laughing policeman. A moment later we were laughing as well. “Seriously, Jorien, you’re crazy! But at least we didn’t get a fine thanks to you showing your ass to the guy!” It took us another few seconds before we noticed the fine under our wipers. It appeared it had already been there from 8pm the previous evening.

We found the boys sleeping on the beach. They had company from Santa himself, dressed in his swimming trunks only, washing his beard in the sea, enjoying his vacation. In the meanwhile he’s probably back on the North pole again (see pictures on picasa).

Just a few other highlights of the weekend: We sneaked into a 5star resort to spend the afternoon, before we went to Split. Arrived in Split, it took us more than an hour to find the city centre. We got the help from some guys, who led us to a huge shopping mall with the name “city centre”, which was 5 kilometers away from the city. After Split, we spend some quality time jumping of the cliffs into the amazingly blue sea in Primosten. I fell in love with this small romantic village on the coast, where we got discount from the friendly grocer, enjoyed an amazing view of the sea and where I slept on the beach with the guys (you must know that Croatian beaches are made of pebbles).

All in all, summer days to remember. Especially now, wrapped up in blankets sipping my glühwein, I yearn for days like those in Croatia...

Next time in Dutch again!

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