The week started off innocently enough with schoolwork for the kids and work for Chris. It was Halloween so everything at school revolved around that. For PE they were doing a fun Halloween dance as a workout, had to present some pomes they’d been practicing for several days, and made some masks for everyone out of paper plates. All in all a lot of fun.
We usually go trick or treating but since that wasn’t really an option in Croatia we played an EXIT game (we are huge fans 😉 ) and had a bunch of yummy candy we had bought. Hey, they didn’t even need to go from house to house, they just got the candy served this year 🙂 🙂
The next day was All Saints Day, a day that is celebrated in Croatia much like it is in Germany, only people aren’t depressed and wear black during a foggy, grey, rainy November day, but everyone was laughing outside the church in bright colors in the warm sun. It was a much nicer way to honor loved ones. Later in the morning, we heard the church bells ring just like we had the night before. Now – having grown up in a tiny village in Bavaria – I am used to church bells ringing like crazy during holidays. But somehow this was different. And long, so very long. The night before it had almost been going on for an hour. But it was dark so we couldn’t really see anything. The morning of All Saints Day however it started again and didn’t seem to stop. So we checked and saw there was actually a guy sitting in the bell tower ringing both bells in ever-changing rhythms! He did this for over an hour! Absolutely crazy. I have never seen anything like it.
Several days were – of course – also filled with beaches and swimming in the ocean again. We also went shopping several times for groceries – I really should mention that every grocery store around here seems to have a huge bag of beans standing around, apparently people here like beans :), so it was all around a pretty normal week. But nothing could have prepared us for yesterday.
The day started off normal enough and after school, we decided to go to the local gardening store. They were selling plants and I want to make sure I buy one plant in each country for our yard at home. The kids didn’t feel like going – cause “how boring is plant shopping?!” – so they stayed at the vacation home. The gardening store was about 30 minutes away so we had quite the normal drive there. Once we got there Chris wanted to pull into the parking lot (the place was to our left), so he put on his turn signals, waited till there was no oncoming traffic, and pulled over to the left.
Then there was a huge crash.
Turns out the driver of the car behind us was deep in thought while driving his company car and didn’t see Chris setting his blinker or turning left. He just saw him slowing down, found that odd, and decided to pass him. Which obviously didn’t end well. Luckily no one was injured, but the left side of our car (doors, front, side mirror) is a huge mess. None of it would have been a problem, however, we are leaving on Saturday, so only have 1 full day. No one can repair it that quickly so we will have to drive to Italy with a broken mirror which could be “fun”.
All in all the situation was handled very peacefully. The other driver – a really young Croatian boy – was absolutely beside himself in shock, apologizing a million times, so I felt like I had to become his psychologist, trying to calm him down 🙂 We went to his insurance company together and they took care of everything. They know we are traveling so it will be fine to have everything repaired in another country.
Crazy though, how all of that happened in the blink of an eye. I am very grateful only the car took a hit and we are all ok.
So today is our last day in Croatia since we are leaving tomorrow morning at 5am. Meaning today is another one of those packing-and-loading-the-trailer days. Should be fun 😉
I don’t mind too much as today is very, very stormy and windy anyways and the rain has finally caught up with us. We had absolutely stunning weather 99% of the days we spend here and now that the rain is catching up we are leaving for Italy. I can totally live with that.
Time to take on new adventures in the next country.
Goodbye Croatia. Thanks for everything. We had a blast.
The boss, the general, and the brains of the operation. Anya is the mom of this crazy group of misfits. When not traveling the world and teaching her kids to be decent human-beings, she likes to bake, sing, be goofy. Aside from all that she does for Five of a Kind, she is also a short term foster mother for infants in need.
She also enjoys unreasonably spicy foods and is searching for a hot sauce that is spicy enough and yet still has some kind of flavor to it.
