Hvala Croatia
Korcula
Originally uploaded by inkognitoh My Croatian break was simply fabulous and perfectly timed (even if it puts the pressure on the houseboat move slightly). The weather was an average of 25 degrees, the food was fresh cheap and as plentiful as the aqua blue salty waters of the Adriatic around us. A country that has stepped out from behind the iron curtain and from under several pointless civil wars, Croatia really was a jewel.
I didn't have too many preconceived notions other than that it was cheap, warm and bomb damaged in parts. To say I was impressed by the beauty of the islands and the Dalmatian Coast itself is to underestimate my reaction a little bit. I've never seen water the colour of the Adriatic. It is not the same as the blue green waters of my island home in Australia and it is not the same as the icy blue of the Mediterranean. It is the most peacockishly glamorous shade of aquamarine and I wish I could capture it in jewellery.
My days on the islands were spent either lying flat out on a beach or balcony with a book (some days I even stayed awake to read) or hiking up hills in midday sun to explore nooks, crannies and coves. Add a few dashes of cultural interest and folk dancing, mix in truck loads of fresh salad and seafood plus endless supplies of ice cream and you pretty much have my holiday. The ferry times all worked, we always found somewhere to stay and everytime we got lost, there was someone to find us again.
I am thinking semi-seriously of the possibility of property on one of the islands but I have a few hurdles to straddle on this side of the world first.