To put it simply, I've been flat out busy for the last month and a half (or so...). The four month mark has officially come and gone and it's incredible to think I've already spent a third of a year in Austria! It's funny looking back remembering being amazed at reaching simply four WEEKS in Austria. This past month has flown. It hasn't really felt like it while I've been living them, but looking back they have! One of the main reasons for this is because I've had things to constantly keep me going, to look forward to. I haven't had a free weekend (with just the family, chilling at home) for 6 weeks which is the main reason I haven't written more here. It turns out that quite a few people actually read my blog (as in not just my family!) and I've had quite a few compliments about photos and information and writing. I am shocked but also immensely grateful about them all (and feel pressured more than ever to do a good job...)! Thank you! But more thoughts later. For now I want to tell you about my trip to Croatia. For those who hadn't heard, my host family and I travelled to Croatia for the Easter long weekend. IT WAS AWESOME!!!!! Four days definitely wasn't long enough to spend there, but I relished them immensely.
Early on Good Friday morning (literally - about 5am) we all packed into the car to just casually drive to Croatia... We stopped somewhere in the middle of Slovenia to have breakfast and then kept on going. I was kind of worried about what it would be like with such very young kids for a 6 1/2 hour drive, but I was very pleasantly surprised at how well they behaved themselves! There was no fighting, hitting or screaming, very little whinging and crying and quite a lot of silence! I remember car trips from when I was that young; they always seemed to take FOREVEEEER and there was lots of noise and singing and squabbling and unrest. But these kids were great! Our desitination was the island of Krk just off the coast, and on there, a tiny little town perched on a rocky outcrop called Vrbnik.
Finally we got there. After a quick lunch, we all went down to the beach (except Georg) and spent hours down there. It was awesome for me to be back at the water again. Even though it wasn’t anything like an Aussie beach (no waves, no sand) and even though I don’t normally live on the coast - I miss it! The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the beach was clean and the water was FREEZING. We amused ourselves by skipping rocks, climbing along the rocks, lying in the sun and attempting to catch fish and shrimps with Carl’s net. Walking around in the water your feet get numb, and if you stand still for long enough, a shrimp may find a resting spot on your foot. I managed to ‘catch’ a beautiful little red sea urchin, much to the enjoyment of the kids (including myself!). It is just an incredible beach. The water is so picturesquely blue and clear, and the ocean is so silent.
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| How deliciously wonderful! |
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| Part of our 'beach' |
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| Carl's occupation for the weekend |
We eventually went back up to the apartment because everyone was hungry and we had heard there was an Easter procession on that evening. We went and had delicious and HUGE pizzas, and something I found really interesting was the fact that the waiter could speak Croation, English, German and Italian. You certainly don’t find service like that in Australia! It’s so normal for people to speak at least two languages here though. Europeans are cool. And have really, really good language education (which Australia really should learn from…). After dinner we walked to the Parish Chapel of St. John, a 14th century stone Church, where the Good Friday Easter service was being held. The church was absolutely packed out, but somehow people still kept managing to squeeze in there or just stood outside waiting. I was cautious going in because I was honestly felt a little guilty because I thought maybe it was more important for someone to take the place I would stand in, but I decided it was an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity so I may as well. Turned out that although the church was really full, there was just a bit of congestion right at the back, so I got a nice place and didn’t feel like I was in the way.
The church service was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever experienced – I literally cried I was touched so much. I’ve never been to a Catholic church service before, and so that was really interesting in itself, but the fact that it was in Croation, in this incredible old stone church and the whole town was there, made it even better. Their praise and love of God was so strong. They all sang in their rich, Croation, incredible perfect harmonies filling this church on a hill with sound, love and hope. I can’t explain how moved I was by it all. Croatian is such a beautiful language, which I would really love to learn! After about an hour of standing inside enraptured in the spectacle, I decided to go back outside to see what the rest of my family were doing. Georg had already taken the boys home because the whole service ran a LOT longer than anyone expected, but Nine and I stayed around with Freya waiting for the procession to start. Soon enough it did. Hundreds of (very brown!) men and women came filing out of the church all singing. Priests and young boys with candles and crosses, then we walked around the tiny, narrow, cobblestone streets, winding between houses and gardens in the calm dusky evening. We got back reasonably late, but it was definitely worth it. It was an incredible day. Here's a bit I filmed of the procession. I LOVE the singing.
Saturday was another long, exhausting, beautiful day. I woke up at 6 to Carl bawling his eyes out at something, and it felt like FOREVER before he stopped but it was probably only a few minutes. Eventually I got up, had breakfast and got ready to face the day! That day we decided to try and find another beach not too far away.
I was absolutely captivated by the sea in Croatia. I’ve never seen the ocean so calm – such an expanse of water so calm. The ocean is wild and rough. Unforgiving, deep, terrifying. The profound quietness and calm of the ocean there is almost unimaginable. And the incredible blues and greens. I can’t describe the beauty of it. It’s just unbelievable! Of course I love the Australian oceans too. For a start we have actual sand. The beaches on Krk consist of beautiful bleached white, pink and orange rocks, but they can be REALLY painful on your feet! The beach for me has always meant waves, sand and wind. But I love it all.
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| LOVE |
So, we spent the morning on the beach, which would have been lovely and still had there not been singing, whinging, shouting, crying children! But the sun was out and the water was cool (i.e. FREEZING) so that made it kind of bearable. After our little picnic lunch we went into town to have an ice cream and a wander. The more I see of Europe the more amazed I am! It’s just like in all the pictures! I guess I should know that it really looks like that, but to see it all with my own eyes is so much more incredible. Vrbnik is set on the hilly cliffs with nothing flat except the ocean. It’s a gorgeous little town with ups and downs, the amazing water, tiny narrow streets, gorgeous gardens and moody houses with cracked walls, tiny doors and stray cats. Perfect. Sometimes I find it hard experiencing all these amazing things ‘on my own’. I want to be able to tell someone everything that comes into my head, to be able to take spontaneous adventures and be able to look back with someone and say ‘Oh do you remember that one time in Croatia…’ but in a way that’s what I have this blog for! To share my adventures with you for an audience who actually has a choice as to whether they want to hear it or not!!
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| The narrowest alley we could find and a typical door |
Easter Sunday. A day I thought was going to be dreadfully hard, but it was one of my best days this year. For the last couple of years for Easter, my brother, sister and I, along with a bunch of friends, volunteer at the National Folk Festival in Canberra for 4-5 days, filled with IMMENSE fun, memories, excitement, music, food, folk and camping. It is the highlight of my year. Of course this year I missed it, but I’ve realised now that was ok. I was in Croatia having the time of my life with another beautiful family.
I was woken up early by Carl and instantly remembered the overwhelming excitement getting up early for Easter would always give me. Got to be honest though, it still really excites me! We went straight outside to search for real eggs, chocolate eggs and bunnies, and presents! I felt so incredibly lucky and loved. My Mama had sent an AMAZING rocky road egg (rocky road doesn’t exist in Europe!!), Nine’s parents gave me some chocolates, Georg’s a lovely German children book, and Nine and Georg (slash the Easter Bunny) gave me a pair of ROLLER BLADES. HOW COOL IS THAT?! It seems to be pretty normal to give kids presents at Easter here (something I’ve discussed with other people here!) which was nice but certainly something I’m not used to! Theo got a pair too, and Nine had brought Carl’s with, so in a big hurry straight after breakfast, off we went.
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| View of Vrbnik from one side of our balcony |
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| Sunday morning. A beautiful view and a beautiful breakfast! |
It doesn’t help that we were staying in an apartment right on top of one of the hills. The view was worth if, but trying to roller blade down a steep hill (with cliffs and an ocean at the bottom) for the first time in years was HILARIOUS to say the least. I felt so immensely uncoordinated and if I’m going to be honest, I may have fallen over a couple of times… I had to get Georg to hold my hand! However eventually I got a little more confident and was soon off on my own, chasing after the kids. I have SO much more respect for actual skaters *Damiano*.
The rest of the day spent in Krk – the main town on the island. I spent about an hour trying to catch fish with Carl in his net, then we all went and had ice-cream for lunch! We wandered around the town and I found a cute touristy shop where I bought some GORGEOUS little hand made ceramic houses, which I just had to buy.
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| Someone else couldn't think of a better way to spend their Easter! |
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| Offshore |
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| A rather common occurance. I love it! |
My family was really patient with me and waited around outside while I was looking. When I came out again, Georg and Carl were running around playing soccer with Freya’s ball, so I joined in having a lot of fun - the most fun I’d had in ages! It’s the little things! Eventually after more walking and eating, we went back ‘home’ and had a beautiful dinner of pizza in an incredible restaurant balancing on the edge of a cliff. It was a lovely day. Something, which really struck me that day, was the power of language. A lot of the people we met on the island spoke German. It made me realise how my German’s coming along and it felt like I was really putting it to a practical use. It’s interesting trying to talk to people in your second language when it’s their second language too, but your only form of communication.
I wrote this in my diary that evening:
“I’m here sitting on the balcony with Georg. We’ve been sitting here on the couch for the last half an hour (it’s now 10pm) reading/sewing, drinking wine, and now I’m writing. It's all pretty quiet. No traffic, the sea is mirror-still, occasional dog barking, people singing in the distance. You look out into this immense darkness. There are no stars and no reflections in the inky water – even with the lights of a distant town sparkling on the hill. The church steeple is lit up tonight – a soft green, the highest point you can see. The air is clean and sweet and radiates calm.”
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| Our view from dinner (we were eating on the terrace outside) |
The last full day in Croatia was another good day, but kind of felt like a dream coming to an end; wanting to catch those last fleeting thoughts and escape reality for just that tiny bit longer. I was woken to the sound of roller blades thumping up and down the hallway, children crying and the usual chaos. I have SO MUCH RESPECT for my parents. How does someone put up with so much silliness?! No wonder parents are such big fans of peace and quiet! After breakfast I went down to the marina with Carl to do some more fishing even though I didn’t particularly feel like it (I bend under his every whim!), though I ended up enjoying myself. We caught some shrimps, I managed to catch a positively HUGE fish (about 15cm :P ) and we saw an awesome starfish which I almost trod on. Eventually we left (after a couple of hours!) and walked up one of the hills looking out to beautiful views. I take far too many photos.
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| The Marina |
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| View from someone's vege patch at the top of the hill. Jealous!!! |
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| Last sunset off the balcony |
Vrbnik is a beautiful, beautiful town. Narrow alleys, cobble stones, stairs, little doors and tunnels, chiming bell towers and that medieval history, all perched precariously on a high cliff top looking out to the bluest ocean you will ever see. From now on I will try my best to convince everyone to go there.
It was sad to be going back home. And that’s how I’ve been thinking of it lately. Home. I have two homes now. I have two families, two lives, two homes. Some days I never want to leave and can’t think of any reasons to. Others, all I want to do is get a hug from Mama, play a game with Tim, talk nonsense with Claire or garden with Dada. Having two lives is a struggle, but in a way I know I’m the only one making it that way.
Hi Katrina,
ReplyDeleteDid you take these photos? They are beautiful! :)
Btw, which student exchange programme are you on?
Yeah I take all my own photos (unless it says otherwise!) and thanks heaps :D
ReplyDeleteI'm with YFU.