Korcula life – a New Zealand perspective (i)

While Rava was in town (see my previous post – 5 lost years) I enjoyed playing tour guide and shopping in some of our many souvenir shops. I picked up a copy of Marco Polo’s Isle by Michael Donley for my Mum, I will read it then send it to her, perfect!  I have been intending to write some blog posts about Korcula and this post is inspired by Mr Donley work.  And the start of a new series on Korcula and island life;

Korcula

The prologue to Marco Polo’s Isle contains this poem by Tartalja;

Seaside Landscapes

Mala kuca kamena

Sa tri mala prozora:

Zeleni im kapci,

Krov sav od plamena,

A na krovu vrapaci.

A little house of stone

With little windows three:

Green their shutters,

The roof all aflame

And on it, some sparrows.

I have always enjoyed poetry and this short poem paints a vivid picture for me that could be Dubrovnik, Korcula, Lumbarda, Orebic or any of our nearby villages or hamlets.  The green shutters and orange tiles are very much a part of our landscape here.  As you approach Korcula by road you look down on a town tiled in orange and walking the streets green is the dominant shutter colour.

Dubrovnik

The shutters catch my attention and remind me of travels in Italy and Switzerland, even without hearing the locals speak I know I am in an area far from my homeland of New Zealand where you seldom see shuttered windows. The stone houses here also remind me that I am far away from home, whilst we too have a tradition of stone masonry and a heritage that includes stone buildings the dominant building stone is a different colour and the NZ building style tends to reflect the Scottish and English heritage of our latter settlers.

Green shutters and graffiti - Split

The first chapter of Marco Polo’s Isle highlights a NZ – Korcula cultural similarity and this may be one of the reasons that I feel so comfortable here on this isle thousands of miles from home.  Mr Donley’s book opens in the seaside village of Lumbarda,

Lumbarda

and he starts with talking about the crystal clear Adriatic sea;

and goes on to talk about how everybody knows everybody, and everything that is going on in the village.  Macandrew Bay where I grew up is a small suburb of Dunedin and as a child growing up there we too knew everybody in the street and many of those same residents are still living there as neighbours.  For me this is a community that I will always belong to, while many of the families I grew up with have moved away there is still a lot of familiar faces and a strong sense of community.  I get this same feeling here in Korcula, while the history and families here have a much longer connection to the land and region we are all from small communities and everybody knows everything!

 

 

 

5 lost years – where does the time go?!

Hard to believe it is almost the end of October, the days are drawing in – becoming shorter and darker.  Driving back from a day trip to Dubrovnik three days ago I saw the many shades of autumn sneaking into the roadside grape vines and small trees.

Autumn colours from the bus!

I am fully aware that I have been neglecting my blogger role, I have been having the most delightful time catching up with a Californian friend whom I had not seen for 5 years. Rava and I met at University in New Zealand 20ish years ago, last time I saw her was in Kerikeri, NZ.  And last week I flew to Rome to meet her – having made a rash promise to come and meet her there if she booked flights here to visit us.  I must admit that at the time I promised to meet her I was fairly sure that she would not fly over – I was so delighted when she sent me her ‘I’ve booked!’ email – how nice that someone would fly all this way just to see me, and of course meet Doka and see where we are living.

My flight arrived in Rome an hour before Rava’s and I watched the arrivals door eagerly for her smiling face; I think we talked almost solidly for the 10 days that we were together.

It was such a great time; 2 brief days in Rome,

Roma fountain

the overnight ferry from Ancona to Split,

exploring Split,

Split

then the ferry to Korcula that evening,

Korcula

Then we had 4 days together in Korcula, it is so fun to be a tourist in your own town.  We paid the 15kuna to climb Veliki Revelin – the tower or kula at the entrance to Stari Grad and took in the city views from a new perspective,

ate good Korcula food;

yum!

and enjoyed the chance to catch up on five years.

Rava and I travelled together to Dubrovnik where we walked the city walls,

Dubrovnik view from city walls

ate a yummy lunch together and said our bus station goodbyes – she off to the airport and homeward bound and I on the bus back to Korcula.

As I wrote this it was raining here in Korcula, the perfect excuse to stay indoors and catch up on some paperwork, rest and read.  Rava will be home now and her lovely husband and 2 beautiful children will be so delighted to have her home again, and Croatia will once again seem far away.  Lots of photos and happy memories, until we meet again my friend this short piece is dedicated to you. x