Had an uneventful flight from London-Gatwick, and an arrival so easy it was nothing short of miraculous. Despite a delayed take-off, we arrived 5 minutes early. I was seated directly behind the first class section, so got off the plane pretty quickly. Ducked into the loo on the way to immigration which I cleared in, literally, 1 minute. Then on the baggage carousel- right in front of me where my bag was the first off the ramp. Directly adjacent to the baggage carousel were all of the taxi drivers, including mine, holding a sign with my name on it. She pulled the car around, loaded my bag and I arrived at the front door of the apartment 20 minutes after the plane had landed. Brilliant!
Our host, Andrusko, met me at the gate and brought me up to the apartment, then sat me down at the kitchen table and poured a glass of a homemade herbal liqueur made by a friend of his
Yesterday was the first rain in this area for 4 months - I suppose it followed me from Canada. And, it was not just rain, but a real deluge, flooding the stone sidewalks and drenching me within a few minute's walk - even with an umbrella. I gave up on sightseeing and took refuge at the restaurant that adjoins the apartment property and had an early dinner. It was really delicious: local cheese and brown bread followed by squid stuffed with Dalmation ham and smoked cheese, served with boiled potatoes, sauteed spinach and rice. Oh, and some beer too. By chance, I met two people from the states who are attending the same conference, and we were then joined by two of the conference organizers - one of them a Brit living in Australia and the other a Bosnian also living in Australia. It seemed only polite to have another small beer... and then I went back to the apartment and ended up sleeping early and soundly.
By early evening there was strong wind, which lasted through this morning, and thunder and lightning for an hour or so. Fortunately, the sun is now out and even with the wind still blowing a bit, the temperature is about 65, so it is nice out. The forecast is for sun and low-70's for the remainder of my week.
This morning I got up reasonably early and found a "mini-market" which has a butcher and veg counter and fresh bread, along with shelves of the usual staples. I brought a grocery bag home filled with bread, cheese, Dalmation ham, liver paste, yogurt, grapes, bananas and bell peppers, coffee, orange juice and milk. Tonight, I think I'll pick up some Croatian brandy to enjoy on the terrace once my colleague, Neringa arrives later today. Also picked up a walnut pastry at a bakery which is likely to see a lot of me this week.
The apartment is lovely. Below are views of my bedroom , the kitchen and the view from the balcony in my room. More to come later...
No comments:
Post a Comment