Croatia - Family Holiday Diary
Croatia – Family Holiday Diary
Met 9am for breakfast (if you missed my last blog, we’re staying in Lone Hotel, Rovinj). A young girl waited at the entrance to take room numbers, and Husband had used Google Translate so he could say “Good morning, room 463” in Croatian. Croatian with a strong English accent. She looked very confused. I apologised for him, and ushered him to a table.
Breakfast was another buffet – a huge selection in a gigantic room. But some food seemed a little ‘old’ – perhaps because we were fairly late getting there. Lots of food to keep our vegetarians fed though (which has been quite a challenge this holiday). There was also a very low table, at child height, full of cakes and pastries. A small boy was happily stroking everything. Clearly a nice idea, planned by someone who is not a parent.
Walked into Rovinj (15 minutes along the coast). Lovely town – old buildings scattered on a hill, stretching out to sea. It felt like an Italian town, and Son-who-knows-stuff told me that it was originally built by the same people who built Venice, hence the similarity. I loved it. It was full of tourist shops and cafes, but all around were signs of real life – washing strung high above the street, craftsmen working, fishermen. It has more of a soul than Ljubljana had.
Took bread and cheese back to the hotel and ate in the lobby bar. They have shiny black tables, and provide white marker pens, so you can doodle while you sit. Young children had drawn pictures, some people had written rhymes. My family wrote mathematical formulas (how sad is that?)
Everyone did their own thing for the afternoon. I ventured down to beach, and sunbathing daughter agreed to swim with me. Very stony beach, hurt feet. There was a lifeguard’s chair, but the only person near it was in a wheelchair, so I didn’t swim out too far. All the guests have been provided with room key cards and a towel card – so you can collect swimming towels when you need them. Both cards look very similar, which is causing some people problems. D, M, H, and J played Castles of Burgundy (a board game, so worth avoiding). R told me it’s French and they had to Google-translate the instructions. But that might have been a lie.
Walked to MaliRaj restaurant in Rovinj. It was down a narrow cobbled street, and someone had put tiny candles in the wall crevasses – very romantic. The streets are cobbled, and very slippery (I assume worn smooth by thousands of feet, but it is possible a grumpy old women sneaks out every night and polishes them, hoping to make tourists fall over.) The streets are also steep and uneven, so leave your heels at home.
Mali Raj is a fish restaurant – real, fresh, head-attached, caught this morning, fish. Some of my family have only ever eaten filleted fish before, so I could be a mummy again and show them how to remove fish bones – rather nice to be a mummy again, it doesn’t happen very often these days, usually it is them explaining things to me. Fifteen minutes into the meal, M announced he’d managed his first mouthful and it was very tasty! Dessert was pancakes with ice cream and sour cherries. Delicious. I popped to use the loo and peeked into the kitchen. Grandma was sitting on a huge chair, and they were passing her things to dry up. I like this place. At the end of the meal, they gave us grappa shots. Pretty foul.
Walked back through crowded streets full of music, dancing in the square, street artists.
Hotel Lone has lots of activities you can book. Tomorrow people plan to cycle, or kayak, or go to the gym. I might just sleep and read and eat ice creams.
Thanks for reading.
Take care,
Love, Anne x
Take care,
Love, Anne x
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anneethompson.com
xxx
So, what do you think the world will look like in about 100 years from now? Will we have sorted the threat of religious terrorism? Will there still be poverty and famine in the world? And if technology has evolved, and we have driverless cars and bots doing all the manual labour, what will have happened to people’s jobs?
Counting Stars tells a story in one such world. I spoke to various people – scientists, economists, (even a toilet roll manufacturer!) and I asked : What will the world look like in a hundred years time? I then created that world. My rule was that everything had to be possible, even if it wasn’t probable. Then I wrote about a family, because whatever the future looks like, people will be the same. Adolescents will still be ignoring their mothers, and wives will still be moaning about their husbands.
Counting Stars has been described as “an intelligent thriller”. It will make you think. I hope you enjoy it.
Counting Stars by Anne E Thompson. Available from Amazon. The UK link is below. Thank you for reading. Ax
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Anne E. Thompson has written several novels and one non-fiction book. Her books can be found in bookshops and on Amazon. Why not buy one today - when is the last time you tried a new author?
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