The simmering sunset of scarlet hues seethes below grey dismal clouds. The rain is drizzling around my ears but that
will not dampen my spirits!!! I arrived on the island of Hvar, which has a
policy of offering half price accommodation if it rains, and accommodation gratis if it
snows.... perhaps these guys are a little too sure of themselves on the rain front for the policy has backfired on them today.... and yesterday.... oh and the day
before!!!!
My initial arrival in Split was a disaster. I
slipped and cut off the top of my toe. To add, all I could find to try to stop
the gushing blood, to my shame as a seasoned traveller, was a tampon. I had to chuckle as I sat curbside - rain drenched, filth smeared, wounded, and desperate - as I observed my audience fight the impolite outbreak of horror their faces took on as they gawked at the crazy with the marinated menstrual repositories recklessly ruining their white marbled streets!!! In order to
dampen the pain and lift my spirits, I decided to have a few solo beers. Soon
joined by the whole of the American army, on leave for the night to lean, heavy-bodied and intoxicated, over the beautiful white marbled seafront. I was
grateful for the straight talking guy quelling moans with "Would ye shut
up, yer not in Iraq now". It helped release relief above the rain.
When I hopped on the Ferry, my tipsy senses told me
to find friendly medical advice to see to my injury. I found the ferry medic, skulling a can of Karotzsky, and decided in the event of the boat lacking anaesthesia, he and his beer would fit the bill. He tended to my
wound, then proceeded to tend to my ego until I had to tell him to "Please
move away".... yee-ikes. I found a fun filled lounge and laid my head to
rest. Suddenly strange dreams incorporating the rocking of the boat, came to a
jolting end. Peering over me, with frightened chocolate drop eyes, my chaperone
there waiting sighs "You gave me the fright of my life, I've been on the
pier, everywhere trying to find you for ages"!!!! The stern look softens
"I got you this". As my lightheaded tipsyness reappears, my heart
skips a beat. A rose.
The island is
beautiful and the people are charming. The food and drink is good and
inexpensive. It was this island cuisine and the twinkling eye of a local-yocal
that lead me down a quiet alley and into a dark shop. Here my tastebuds met
Hvar. Sherry-like, for the haute, or for the Galwegian in us all: Bucky-like,
wines washed down cured meats and potent cheeses. Narrow, winding marbled
stairs and steps lured me past bakers and butchers up the social ladder until
the top. There seated, overseeing the evening clear sparkles of the Adriatic, a
stately castle stands. And strangely enough, gorgeous canopies with comfy sofas
specifically placed by the sunset and sea are to be found. It was decided, one
must retire and take a tipple, if only to take shield from and the nip out of
the wind.
Despite the saying, "Red skies at
night" were not to be anyone's delight. Particularly, we were to find, our
hostess, Maria's. She disappeared just before our boat leaving insufficient
time to stay around to rightfully, by Hvar rule, reclaim one half of our
accommodation funds. Oh well with a chuckle on the way back to shore about her
cheek, happy, we set off for Sarajevo. There waiting, a free couch, a
friendly face and much fun.
