Island Brač was beautiful, as always. We were lucky with the weather. It was sunny, hot and the sea was warm. I did quite of travelling and I can say that nowhere on the whole world air smells so beautiful as on the islands of Dalmatia. It is a mixture of sea & pine trees. Smells like heaven!
The main beach was quite overcrowded, as always, especially with families with small kids & kids & big kids & teenagers. But luckily we discovered (already 7 years ago) a smaller beach not far away that is reserved for nudists. It is great on that beach - it is a not-written rule on this beach that children are not allowed. Heaven for us, childless / childfree couple! One of the best things that I know is swimming naked in crystal clear sea.
I had lots of time to read books (one of the things that I love to do, but normally I do not have enough time). The books that I read this week:
1. Orhan Pamuk: The Museum of Innocence
2. Salinger: The Catcher in the Rye (I loved this book! But somehow it made me think how lucky am I not having to deal with rebellious 16-year-old :)
3. Mark Haddon: The Curious Incident of a Dog in the Night-time
4. Emma Donoghue: Room
5. the book does not deserve to be mentioned (Goddammit! I would rather puke!)
I enjoyed reading all the 4 books. The fifth one that I started was Elin Hilderbrand: Barefoot. I literally threw the book away when I got to the page number 4. Here is the quote:
"Melanie and her husband had been trying "forever" to get pregnant; they had, in the past calendar year, endured seven failed rounds of in vitro fertilization."
Goddammit, Elin Hilderbrand - are you stupid or what? No one can have 7 IVF in one calendar year. My maximum were 2. I know some women that had 3 per year, but 3 in a year it is really maximum. A body (not to speak about mind) can not take more then 3 per year.
This book REALLY made me angry. Can literally every damn moron write a book? On the book cover there is an author's photo - fake blond with large teeth and there is written: EH lives on Nantucket with her husband and their three young children. So - here it is the fact - woman with three young children can not know anyhing about infertility. So - she shouldn't be allowed to write nor comment anything about it.
***
Back to the beautiful Dalmatia. We stayed (as always) in a cozy little apartment that has a view on island of Hvar. So island of Hvar was the first thing that we saw when opening our eyes in the morning. We literally saw sea from our bed. Great!
The owners are already a bit older, we have been their regular clients so they are always very nice to us. We actually see them only when we arrive and then on the night before departure, when we pay. We sat down a bit with them to have some small talk with them. And done suddenly a lady pops out the question: "Do you have a little baby?" (at that moment the rest of us had the other topic: political relationship between Croatia - Slovenia - Europe). So I just quickly answered: "No". And then returned to political topic. But the lady did not give it up. She commented further: "But I thought that you had a little baby." (probably since we did not come for two years in between). And I just answered again: "No" and returned again to safe political topic. Owner (they are both around 70) is wiser - he knows well which topic are safe to discuss with guests and which not.
Anyway, the question did not make me sad. I just answered twice No and I was done with baby-topic. How simple is that?
How to go.... my beloved Wolf is already ready for a long walk through the forest with me! I missed him so much!
HAPPY to hear about your nice holiday and the nudist beach...sorry to hear about the book being so disappointing, but you did read a lot! :-D
ReplyDeleteAnd HAPPY to know that you felt OK about answering the question TWICE. :-D
Welcome back home and enjoy your weekend! :-D I can't wait for our holidaaaayyy he he...
Sounds like a lovely holiday. You're lucky to have somewhere so beautiful so close. (Though you really need to try the smell of the Pacific Ocean (or Tasman Sea) and the New Zealand bush!)
ReplyDeleteI'm laughing at your reaction to that book, because I regularly have that reaction. In fact, I refused to read Kate Atkinson's book (can't even remember the name of it) that was narrated by the baby from the time of conception. Actually - that's incorrect. From the time of ejaculation. It was infuriating. After about two pages I threw it aside. Then I went back to it, skipping that chapter. But I couldn't forgive, and I've never finished the book!
The Dalmatian islands sound magnificent. And I think you're quite daring -- and smart -- to achieve such peace and enjoyment! Well done.
ReplyDeleteAs for EH, I'm already imagining how I would characterize the labor, delivery and rearing of three children...she would find it quite believable (NOT!!)
I'm glad you had a great time and didn't waste your time reading that stupid book.
ReplyDeleteIt sure sounds like a wonderful vacation - I am putting it on my bucket list of places to visit. I love the idea of a nudist beach where kids aren't allowed!!!
ReplyDeleteYou handled the nosy lady quite well with two simple "NO's".
Look forward to seeing some pictures!
hi Kellie,
Deleteactually kids are allowed on the nudist beach... it is just that parents prefer not to bring them there (thank's God!).
THis time only one family brought two kids for a day or two... but they were far enough not to bother me.
When I find time (my DH is coming home any second, so it will be his time on computer) I will post some photos for you. Yes, Croatia is really worth putting on a list of places to visit.