Zagreb - Brac

Zagreb

After our wander around the city, which included a memorable visit to the Museum of Broken Relationships - it was great to have an evening sip in Zagreb with Vlatka, a friend of a friend and native Zagrebian (I just made that awesome word up) who has lived briefly in NZ.

Neats, Don, Vlatka

Don, lovely Zagrebian girl, Neat

So we picked the poor girls brains about this and that and as luck would have it, she is an actual tour guide in the city so we had our own private commentary as we wandered through the upper part of the old town. 

Paris it is not - any country that comes directly after a visit to Paris has big boots to fill - and the short time we spent in the capital reflected a real mish mash of buildings and textures - almost like it had been around the block a few times and needed a bit of TLC. As Vlatka said, she knows its not the most beautiful of cities but she loves it for what it is, and it definately has a unique charm, in a laid back friendly kind of way. Like it may look a bit rough around the edges, but at the end of the day looks aren't all that important anyway. War war is stupid.

And the people seem really open and friendly which definitely shapes your opinion about a place.

With Neats at the helm of our trusty rental, we eventually zoomed off towards the coast, headed for the port town of Split - towards the promise of sea and sunshine. We have christened our GPS Gloria. It's kinda funnily annoying hearing her trying to pronounce the street names in her robotic english accent - 'turn left onto Zlatkavenski Proviunchi Ulca'.

She struggles as much as we do. Turn left onto yadda yadda dukka dukka.

But she got us to the port at Split and finally we were headed to the island of my Grandparents, Brac.

I had to take a moment on the water heading towards it - it is pretty awesome and very special indeed to finally be here.

They went such a long way from this island home to get make a new home in NZ.

Postira

So here we are, staying in a beautiful harbourside town called Bol on the south side of Brac - renowned for one of the most stunning beaches ever (apparently) called Zlatni Rat. 

I say apparently because the sun has yet to shine so the beach is on hold for now.

Enjoyed a delicious dinner our first evening here by the water - pillow-soft gnocchi and crab. And local house wine. Again, delicious - but we forgot to do as the locals do and mix a bit of water in with it to dilute the strength. A rookie mistake, not to be repeated.

Zuke, Gita, Marie (Dads Cousin), Moi

We spent yesterday reuniting with my little (big) cuz Zuke jnr - its been 9 years since we last saw each other, but as it can be with the bond of family, it felt like no time at all had passed.

He's been staying and working a bit in Nanas home town of Postira., yet another village but this time on the northern coast. Home products are olive oil and local wine, and there is a sardine canning factory on the hill. 

Zuke is basically being a bit of a legend. Knocking on doors to meet the family, sorting out the somewhat complicated family tree, diligently taking his notebook around to jot down all the names that get thrown at him, and even learning the lingo - which to complicate matters has different dialects for the various regions. Considering Neat and I are still struggling to remember how to say 'cheers', Zuke is making awesome progress. I'm really proud of him, and can't say enough how great it is that we all happen to be here at the same time. He's been great on the history and introductions so we also got up to Donji Humac where the Marinkovichs hail from. And finally, after all those years of looking at that painting, we visited THE house from the painting!

Our family goes to this church at Donji Humac

Northern port village of Postira - Nanas home town.

Postira

The house from the painting! Used to be a butchers shop. Now Jarksa, Ingrid and kids live here.

A delicious and much anticipated seafood meal back by the water in Supetar rounded off a pretty special day.

The land on this island is rugged and hardy, dominated by a limestone relief and covered in olive trees. The towns are picturesque and quaint, with narrow cobblestones streets and quiet ports lined up with fishing boats. And the sea is crystalline and changes colour. Its pretty stunning and we both feel really lucky to be here.

Love x