Nudity
Full, frontal, male, female. If this were a movie it would be NC-17. The best we can tell, there is no such thing as “nude” beaches here. All of the beaches just seem to be clothing optional. We got a sneak peak of this at a public park in Munich, but there at least it seemed to be a specific area to which the exhibitionists were confined. Here, more than a few of the German tourists bare all when they can smell salt water. While my delicate eyes would prefer even just a skimpy Speedo between them and another man’s privates, I sort of admire the idea. The human body is natural, and not something to be ashamed or embarrassed of. And, wouldn’t it be nice to completely dry off after a swim, instead of being in your wet bathing suit all day? There is an obvious downside to this practice. In a podcast, Rick Steves commented that the most dangerous part of Croatia was the potential for a sunburn on parts of one’s body that never get to see sunlight. Sorry, no pictures related to this topic. And, no, neither Jesslyn nor I gave it a try.
Language
I am always impressed with the multi-linguisticy of other parts of the world, especially Europe. With so many languages spoken within such a close proximity to one another, I guess it makes sense. The Istrian peninsula in the northwest corner of Croatia is no exception. Along the coast, in addition to Croatian, everyone also speaks Italian, and they speak it as well as they speak Croatian, often speaking Italian with each other. The reason is, not only are we close to Italy, but this region actually was part of Italy before becoming a part of Yugoslavia in 1947 as the national borders in Europe were being redrawn after WWII. Speaking with our host, Bruno, I asked if he spoke Italian, to which he replied, “of course, this was Italy when my parents were born”. That all makes sense, but they speak German quite well and often here too. At first I thought it was just because there are so many German tourists, but then I noticed older people speaking it, as well as locals not engaged in the hospitality industry. So it can’t just be for tourism purposes. Perhaps that is the second (or third) language taught in schools, or perhaps it is another legacy of this region’s history; this area was part of the Habsburg-Austrian Empire before it was part of Italy. And language number 4, is of course English. Many people speak some English, but some don’t at all. Jesslyn and I are constantly addressed in German here, because there are so many German tourists, so few Americans (or other native English speakers), and we don’t look Italian or Croatian. We have interacted with more people here who don’t speak English than in any other area on our trip, so it has been fun to be forced to use the little Italian we have been able to pick up!
Bruno
Here in Cres, we are in our second airbnb accommodation. The first experience in Rovinj worked out great, and this one is even better because of Bruno. We booked the apartment with a nice woman who couldn’t meet up with us when we arrived, so instead her father-in-law met us at the bus station. Bruno drove us to the property where he and is wife Eta live upstairs. He is a retired fisherman and his English is so-so. He keeps pet turtles, makes olive oil, wine, fig schnapps, and brandy. He now uses his fishing boat as a water taxi. On our fist afternoon in Cres, we were on our way out to check out the town, and we started chatting with him as he was feeding the turtles. “Want to taste a drink I made?”, he asked. Not wanting to be rude :) we of course said yes. We went into his man cave on the bottom floor of the building and he pulled out a glass bottle with no label, filled with dark brown liquid, and filled 3 shot glasses. This was his homemade brandy made from his home made wine. He explained the brandy making process which involves adding crushed green nuts and aging it in the sun for 45 days before going into a wooden barrel. Our “taste” of brandy turned into 3 glasses for each of us. We talked about fishing as he pulled out the charts of the local waters. As a professional fisherman, he primarily caught scampi (langoustine) and flounder with nets. Now, for fun he catches snapper, using live sardines as bait. He doesn’t use a rod and reel, but instead holds the line in his hands so he can feel it better. Tonight, we are going to grill some steak, Branzino, and Orada (Sea Bream) with him and hopefully hear some more fishing stories!
- Jake