Croatia - Just Chilling

We have moved on from the more luxurious lodgings where we actually had beds and a kitchen at our disposal, and are now in a campsite called Camping Stobrec (the c with a thingy on top of it and pronounced ch) just outside Split.

The floor where the tents are is gravel (this is common in Europe – South African camp sites are waaaaaay nicer) but the place is full of shady pine trees and so we escape most of the heat. A pleasant change from Mallorca. 
There is sea is on both sides of the campsite but once again not a patch on SA. Clearly we need to travel further afield to find the fabled Croatian “piece of heaven” beaches. The water is flat - not a wave to be seen. And it’s shallow. You have to walk quite a way out before you can actually swim. Great for grannies and the disabled but not super exciting for the young and adventurous. Right now, though, I fall into the granny/disabled category and so it works for me. The trip from my strops to the water’s edge (ooh, a good metre and a half) had me hobbling and wincing and squeaking as the pebbles rolled underneath my unsteady foot. And those pebbles are HOT! Every bit as hot as the sand on a South African beach in the midday sun. (Reminds me of the Calvin and Hobbes where C&H hit the beach. After nagging all the way there "Are we theeeeere yet....?" they fly onto the beach and hot-foot it over the burning sand to the water shrieking “Hot! Hot! Hot! Hot!” They hit the water and shriek “Cold! Cold! Cold! Cold” The last panel is a tight lipped Dad driving the family back home and saying “I cannot believe we drove an hour and a half for that.”)

We’ve been here a few days now. How many exactly I can’t tell you offhand, since I have lost count. How cool is that??? You know you’re having a good time when you have lost track of the days so thoroughly that you don’t know what the date is or the day of the week. Two days ago I just lay about the entire day and read. That is something I have not had much chance to do yet and it was lovely. Yesterday I lay around and fiddled on the internet, looking up stuff about Thailand and Bali and so on (next stage of trip – woo hoo!) I am drinking wine right now and listening to peaceful, relaxing music on my computer headphones. Sitting on the ground next to the tent in the shade of the pine trees in the late afternoon sun/shadow dapples, cushioned by my sleeping roll mat, with my computer in front of me on a pine tree stump. Mmmmm. I am feeling super duper chilled out. I have plaited the fringe part of my hair into a plait that that is very useful for fiddling with when bored. I am considering incorporating a feather or a flower or a bead or something into the plait. I am feeling the need to move slightly to the left on the hippy scale, so as to make the most of this delightfully harmonious vibe that I am currently experiencing. I’m all for getting into the swing of things, aren't I? Right now I am picturing the look of alarm on my mother’s face as she reads this and envisions me disembarking the plane with pink dreadlocks or something. Don’t worry mom, I’ll try and keep it small scale.

Me in my office. Note essentials - comfy mat to sit on, headphones and bottle of wine. Also, bread and chocolate spread.

There are squirrels about this spot. Oh but they are super cute! The pine trees grow so closely that they can scamper about in the sky, from tree to tree, without ever needing to come down to earth. They are a chocolate brown colour with white vests and they run down the pine trees head first, stopping amazingly with their little heads pointed at the ground, completely vertically upside down. They run about in the pine tree foliage way up in the sky, both enchanting me and infuriating me with their constant movement and their refusal to pose for a photo for even a fleeting second. 

A rare excursion to earth:

A bit blurry, but just to show you the gravity defying squirrels.

In an interesting contrast to the sky squirrels, the campsite floor is full of small birds that look like mossies. They take dust baths and hop about all, looking for food that campers have dropped. 

Scavenger bird:

All in all, it’s very nice here. Pity about the people. Most of them are ok, fairly quiet and self contained, but there is always a minority that insists on irritating the rest. I have been contemplating the merits of a small, population thinning cull. I would start with the pesky group of French early-20-somethings. Despite the fact that there are double the amount of crockery washing sinks as laundry ones, they insist on washing their plates in the laundry sinks, leaving oil and food all over so that the next people who want to wash clothes (me) have to scrub the sinks before they can scrub their clothes. The second group that might find itself on the wrong end of the cull is the smokers. My word but a lot of people smoke in this country! Although, I am not sure if more people smoke or if the smoking in public laws here are just not as strict as those in Italy. Either way, it is somewhat disconcerting to be watching squirrels and birds frolic, basking in the sun dapples and reveling in the breeze while inhaling the delicate wafts of red wine, pine trees and …. cigarette smoke. 

Passing thought – I wish I had a hammock. That would be perfect!

To close with, some pictures of Split that I couldn't post in the previous blog due to internet constraints.

Church Tower:

A view of the skyline from one of the squares in the old town:

Tower near Diocletian's palace:

Another gorgeous view of the old town: