Just back from a fantastic trip to Croatia (or Hrvatska as the Croatians call it). It was the Husband’s big birthday trip. Our first stop was Istria, a peninsula that juts out into the Adriatic. That is where my father’s family comes from. We got to see the town my grandmother came from which was fun. The town is called Šušnjevica and I spoke about it and painted it here and here. There will be many more paintings to come, but in the meantime here is a similar plate as the plates I made to give to my cousin’s cousins (got that?) who live in Pula and have, among other things, a vineyard.
Some observations from the trip:
Croatians are a tall people.
Germans are also a tall people and apparently like to take all their clothes off in the sun.
Europeans in general cannot stand in line if their life depended on it. There may be a semblance of a line say, to get on a catamaran to take one to Hvar, but as soon as that catamaran docks, it’s a free-for-all. This made the Husband nuts! (Members of the UK are excluded from this observation. They excel at queuing!)
It amazes me that so many people from other countries can speak multiple languages. I am always jealous of this. One time in particular, there was a Croatian who spoke to my cousin’s cousin, who then turned and translated to my cousin in Italian who then turned and translated it into English for us. Sigh. I wish I was multi-lingual. I also wish I was taller, younger, richer and weighed less.
The first native word the Husband learns is the word for beer. (In Croatian it’s Pivo.)
“Trst” is the Croatian word for the Italian town of Trieste. Krk is a Croatian island in the Adriatic. Many of the Croatian words have impossibly long consonant combinations that make it difficult for non-speakers to even try to pronounce. There are also many accented letters. The Husband asked a native why they have little or few vowels in many of their words. She thought about this for a moment, shrugged and said nonchalantly replied “we don’t need them”. So there you go.
An amazing amount of Europeans still smoke. I am astounded by that.
The myth of the skinny European has been debunked. Many are as fat as Americans.
The Adriatic Sea is crystal clear and many beautiful shades of blue.
Croatians love their Crocs (which they call crocsies).
More on Croatia (Istria and the Dalmation Coast) with (hopefully) some paintings in later posts.
30 comments
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August 2, 2011 at 5:18 pm
sam
Thnks fr th pst abt th trp. Snds lk fn. Wlcm bck. Lkng frwrd t th pntngs.
August 2, 2011 at 6:20 pm
jimmyboi2
LL !
August 3, 2011 at 8:31 am
Carol King
Sam, I second Jim’s LL!
Y bth mk m lgh.
August 2, 2011 at 6:13 pm
Debbie Adams
Sounds like you two had a wonderful time. And welcome back, Carol.
Happy Birthday, Husband.
I love the grapes; what a lovely gift.
August 3, 2011 at 8:33 am
Carol King
The cousin’s cousins seemed to like the plates as well. I’m always so nervous about giving a painted or crafted gift to someone. I never know if they will like it or not.
Thanks Debbie.
August 2, 2011 at 6:22 pm
jimmyboi2
I’m glad you had a great time! How can one NOT when one is vacationing within the shadow of the former Iron Curtain? Did you make any forays into neighboring Kreplachia? It’s not even on most maps!
Glad you had a safe trip… and I’m looking forward to seeing the watercolors.
xoxoxox
August 3, 2011 at 8:34 am
Carol King
I did not make it to Kreplachia as the border was closed the whole time I was there.
What WAS interesting was that there were these beautiful old stone Venitian style houses and them some extremely ugly communist era apartment blog. What a juxtaposition and a shock to the eyes!
August 2, 2011 at 7:28 pm
kk2n777
I love your observation about waiting in line. People in Asia don’t line up so well either, except the Japanese. Maybe because both England and Japan still have their figurehead queen and emperor?
Call me when you get to take a breather from catching up at work. Welcome back.
August 3, 2011 at 8:36 am
Carol King
Oh, the other thing I forgot to mention in my observations was that Asians (and here I mean mostly Japanese, although it might also apply to Chinese) DO NOT LIKE THE SUN. We saw busloads of Japanese tourists who would be covered from head to toe, long pants, long sleeved shirts, hats, some even wore gloves. And here I was melting from the heat in a tank top and shorts.
I will call you today or tomorrow.
August 2, 2011 at 8:01 pm
lesliepaints
The plate is gorgeous, Carol.
How cool to visit the home of your ancestor. …to know where they came from, even. As far back as I know, mine have been in the midwest and probably traveled here somewhere between the Mayflower and the first independence day. No one knows! I am looking forward to hearing more about your travels. Oh, I learn, I learn by following your blog.
August 3, 2011 at 8:39 am
Carol King
Hi Leslie, I’m glad you like to plate. I really love doing them.
Yes, It was very cool to see my grandmother’s town and it’s always so interesting to see how people live in other countries. And then you realize that the customs or lifestyle might be different, but essentially all people are the same. 🙂
Needless to say I learn from following your blog as well. I am LOVING your masa paper works. I am in an art slump. Hopefully I will snap out of it soon.
August 3, 2011 at 8:11 am
pointypix
i would love to visit Croatia- my sister had her honeymoon there and it looked lovely. thanks for sharing details of your trip -belated happy birthday to the husband, by the way! i’ll look forward to more details and photos in later posts! still waiting for a ‘how to’ guide on those lovely plates (or is there one already posted that i’ve missed?)
August 3, 2011 at 8:42 am
Carol King
You should go. Get in that camper of yours, drive through the Chunnel and then just drive east and then south. You’ll be there in no time! 🙂
No, you did not miss the “How to” guide on the plates. I’ve just been extremely lazy about documenting the steps. I promise I will do it soon.
And thanks for the pics from your trip to Kerry. I went back and looked at them and it immediately brought me back to my visits to ireland and how I would love to go back. What a beautiful place. We actually met a lovely couple from Northern Ireland, they lived not far from Belfast and were on their honeymoon. We had a great time talking with them.
August 3, 2011 at 9:49 am
asmalltowndad
The area of Indiana that I came from was nothing but german catholics… except for me a brown eyed, baptist. They still speak some german in a lot of the stores and at town social functions. Glad you had a fun trip, and ask your husband how an old man like him (happy Birthday) got such a young thing like you! LOL
August 3, 2011 at 11:02 am
Carol King
Oh Ryan, If I didn’t know better I would think you have kissed the blarney stone! A “young thing like me” LOLOLOL! But thank you very much.
August 3, 2011 at 11:58 am
Sonya Chasey
It’s always interesting to hear first impressions – I always like it when people from other countries visit us because you get reminded sometimes of how you first saw things in a country that isn’t your place of birth. In Spain people mostly don’t queue but although it can seem at first to the English that therefore it’s a free for all, it isn’t really because very often someone asks who was the last person to arrive & people generally seem to be aware of who is before & after them. I guess this system could fall down when there are lots of nationalities speaking different languages as you experienced with your boat trip!
August 8, 2011 at 2:17 pm
Carol King
Hi Sonya, It is interesting to hear the impressions people from other countries have of your home. There are bazillions of tourist near where I work in lower Manhattan. I often get stopped for directions. I also have friends who have visitied here from other countries. I think they think we all have giant houses, swimming pools, big cars and tons of money. I have none of those things. But I can stand on line.
August 3, 2011 at 12:10 pm
Zeinab-Art
Have a nice journey!
August 8, 2011 at 2:18 pm
Carol King
Thank you. Although the journey is over, I hope to have the memories forever.
August 3, 2011 at 7:54 pm
Alex Zonis
Great to have you back! Sounds like an amazing trip! Had to laugh about your language observations – lol! It is the same in Hebrew, no vowels at all and many dots and accents that mean different things depending on where they are placed. And yet, Hebrew is one of the easiest and straight-forward languages I ever studied. So I think vowels are overrated. Just think of French: so many extra vowels that are not even pronounced, just sitting in their words looking pretty…
Love the plate! Looks sumptuous and very inviting! Looking forward to paintings of the trip!
August 8, 2011 at 2:29 pm
Carol King
Love the comparison between Hebrew and French! LOL! “all those extra vowels just sitting there looking pretty!”
Thank you for your comments on the plate. I just received good news that a local store wants to sell them. Yippee!
August 3, 2011 at 8:54 pm
Donald Diddams
Sounds like a fabulous trip. think how much money they save by not needing vowels! And as for line-standing… who is more neurotic, those who can patiently stand in a line for hours, or those who get all excited and push to the front? It’s not an obvious answer.
August 8, 2011 at 2:30 pm
Carol King
It was a fabulous trip. And I do not know the answer to who is more neurotic. I’m neurotic whether I’m standing in line or pushing to the front.
August 3, 2011 at 8:55 pm
Donald Diddams
Sounds like a wonderful trip. Think how much money they save by not needing vowels! And as for line-standing skills… who is more neurotic, those who can stand quietly in line for hours, or those who get all excited and push to the front?
August 3, 2011 at 8:58 pm
Donald Diddams
Sorry about the duplicate. Thought I’d lost the first one.
August 8, 2011 at 2:31 pm
Carol King
It’s so nice to hear from you twice. 🙂
August 8, 2011 at 2:31 pm
Carol King
I saved tons of money not needing any vowels on my trip. But not enough to afford another trip anytime soon.
August 5, 2011 at 3:24 pm
lindahalcombfineart
Carol, what a wonderful trip. I’ve watched the programs about visiting Croatia on PBS. It looks so inviting and the sea so beautiful. You (and your husband) are one lucky couple. The plate is beautiful. Is this a traditional gift? Anyway, well done?
August 8, 2011 at 2:33 pm
Carol King
Hi Linda, Yes, the Husband and I are lucky, but we also both work very hard and specifically save for our trips. And since we don’t have kids and the dog doesn’t need a college education (although obedience school might be in her future) we don’t have to worry about saving for the kids.
This is not a traditional gift. I’ve been working on these “art glass” projects lately. They are fun and to me, beautiful.
August 21, 2011 at 6:30 pm
frankeber
Hey Carol,
Sounds like you had a great time in Croatia. I went to Trieste and Slovenia two years ago and we had a great time as well. I was on Krk when I was a child with my parents…anyway, it’s true the Germans do like to take all their clothes off in the sun, however, it’s mostly those Germans you would NOT like to see naked! Isn’t it always like that? And yes, nobody lines up, it’s sooo annoying!
Glad you had a great time!