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Having arrived back in the UK on the 25th of July and after spending the weekend there, I immediately departed the following Monday for two weeks in Croatia with my good friends, Terry, Lin and Allen.
We stayed at a beach resort on the Istrian peninsula, and although the coastline like all that part of the world was rocky with no sandy beaches, we found that at our resort they had built a promenade and walkways into the sea to enable easy access, and also as just offshore there was a small island connected by a narrow bridge at one end this effectively formed a sheltered lagoon to swim in, especially as the other end had been roped to the mainland to deny access to motor craft.
We spent the first 3 days there, relaxing and getting ourselves orientated, and then we hired a small car for the following week, thus enabling us to visit most of the major towns and attractions on the peninsula including the very spectacular Roman Amphitheatre at the provincial capital Pula - see headline photo above (time and distance did not permit us to venture further into the rest of Croatia).
The following are a selection of photos taken during these outings, all of which were very interesting and enjoyable.
After completing our week’s touring, we handed back our car and spent the remaining few days back at the resort, relaxing and soaking up the sunshine, with just one further outing on the night before our departure when we joined holidaymakers from several resorts at a nearby village farmhouse for a ‘Village Party’. This started with the obligatory glass of grappa - the local alcoholic drink - which seems to get better the more you drink. Inside the farmhouse we were given a meal of local fare accompanied by a choice of wines, and whilst eating and drinking were entertained by a selection of traditional songs and dances performed by members of the owner’s family who also acted as our waiters for the evening. There was also some more familiar music for general dancing provided by the multitalented performer on his electronic music making machine.
Fortunately as we had to leave early the next morning, the evening did not go on too late, but nevertheless it was with somewhat less than clear heads (some of us anyway) that we completed our packing and caught the transport back to the airport and hence back to UK.
Back there, my friends very kindly provided accommodation for me for a further 10 days whilst I completed some essential business, did some shopping and met a few friends in the London area all of which was amazingly done in a continuing heat wave..
Then on the 21st of the month I returned to Thailand and to my home here in Pattaya.
To view any of the above photos in full size, just click on it.
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