report from Croatia

Seaside resort town of Opatija is where we are staying. Pardon any odd typing - the keyboard is not set for English, so the y is in an odd spot and there are odd letters. Anyway, narrow twisty old roads, and motorscooters seem to be the main method of transportation. Currently visiting another resort town, Pula, and although it is somewhat flatter than Opatija and has some wider roads, still scooters are at least as common as cars. Western Croatia seems to like to think of itself as Eastern Italy - everything is ˝the Venice of Croatia (now I cant find the way to do quotes again) or the Riviera of Croatia - in fact our tour guide refers to the town as Opatija Riviera.

Our little OLPC XO computer isnt working; Steve thinks that repeated trips through Frankfurt security may have damaged its pseudo-memory. Right now the group is touring some very hilly area and it is very hot outside, so they have parked me at this internet cafe. My travel scooter is doing quite well, but with the heat, I just cant do everything outdoors. As you can tell, I havent found the apostrophe yet on this keyboard. And the z is where I expect the y to be.

Remind me to post later about:

Ethiopian airline helper in Dulles airport; vegan meal on plane; 5 hours in Frankfurt airport, including having to go through weird places due to being in wheelchair; 10 year old seatmate on hop from Frankfurt to Zagreb; little security at Zagreb airport. Then, bus and bus driver Toby, drive to Opatija (O PAT ee ya) lovely town, buffet suppers, hotel, first world, bathtub, key card electricity, rehearsal in hotel, concert in open air amphitheater, reception afterwards. Next day trip to Punat and monastery and winery, fig brandy, scenery, former Yugoslavian motorczcle racing. Chuck Berry concert in amphitheater, with fireworks. Today, bus to other seaside town Pula, then Poreč, where we will play a concert.

The bus driver and tour director have finally gotten the hang of dealing with me and mz scooter, and the tour guide for these day trips, too. Tomorrow we head for Slovenia, so we will acquire a new local tour guide. The bus driver is from Austria, so we are heading slowly back toward home for him.

OK, enough of dealing with this keyboard.

OK, I have a few minutes left on my internet cafe card

So I will start telling zou more about the trip. Darn, that z where the y should be is driving me nuts. So. Opatija is very first world, more so than we were afraid that Eastern Europe would be. Also very hilly. The hotel we are in has all modern conveniences and is very comfortable. Hotel Agava, like agave; its one of several in a cluster where all are named after flowers - Hotel Orjid Orchid), Mimosa, and I think Lavendar are others. The hotels, and the town in general, seem to be labelled in Croatian, German, Italian, and then English; they expect a lot of visitors from Italy and Austria. Not part of the EU yet, so currency is kuna rather than Euros, except where it isnt.

Gelato everzwhere - the pistachio gelato is excellent. Local produce includes lots of fruit and nuts. Watermelon with breakfast and dinner everz day. Darn. OK, gotta go meet the group - almost 1:30 p.m. local time, time to look for lunch!