WRINKLY TRIP TO CROATIA Tuesday, 3rd October to Tuesday, 10th October 2006

Travellers:
John and Pam Keith and Norma Brian and Janet Peter and Brenda John and Pat Les and Brenda	Derek and Celia Tony and Elizabeth Ken and Kath Reg and Pam Graham and Maureen Dave and Chris
Doug and Dorothy

For this holiday, Boss Wrinkly had chosen Croatia. This was to be a very good decision as the following report will reveal. I will skip the details of the outward journey as it was much the same as always and ran very smoothly. We arrived at our destination, the Hotel Mediteran, at a little before 9pm, their time which is one hour ahead of British Summer Time. Our currency for this country is the Kuna which is about 10 Kuna. to the £1.

As we arrived the dining room was due to close at 9pm so we were asked to quickly check in and go for our evening meal. Most of us did this without going up to our rooms which, for this holiday had all been allocated on the same corridor on the top, (third), floor. Into the dining we trailed and when Boss Wrinkly offered to get everyone a drink we were all stunned!  Wow - you may say! Well - Duh! It turned out that this hotel provided free drinks, (as much as you wanted), at every meal!!!  There was white and red wine, beer and soft drinks - I have never known the like - but I LIKED IT!!! There was even champagne for breakfast!!! I could definitely get used to this as you can see Kath has already. After eating we all went to our allocated rooms. I got ear ache from Boss Wrinkly right away as he said I had pinched his room - no way. The booking had been made in two blocks, one in the Whiteman name to which Peter and I were included and one in the Earnshaw name, (Peter's brother John), to which the other half of the party had been booked.  I had booked in correctly under the Whiteman Party and could prove it but get an apology from the big man?? - not a chance!!! The 'war' had started!!!!

On entering our room I was somewhat suprised as to how small it was - adequate but small. The balcony overlooked the swimming pool and out across into the bay over a lovely tree covered landscape. Red geraniums spilled over each balcony and, although it was at the end of the season, they still gave a wonderous show. There was, however, a hazard in the room;  the TV was mounted on a bracket at the side of one of the beds and, to get into or out of the bed, you had to duck under it.  Needless to say I cracked my head a few times and, I guess, so did many of the others!! There were no English TV channels but some of the films were in English with Croatian sub-titles - (not that we watched it much though). There was a limited amount of storage space so I left my smaller items in my case. The bathroom too was small with just a shower, loo and wash basin but, again, it was adequate. Chambermaid service was acceptable but, for me, lacked the "little attention to detail". But, "hey ho", we were on holiday and, all in all, everything functioned and we only needed the room for a night's sleep - well some of us did!!  After a quick unpack I was ready for my sleep to regenerate myself for the week to come.

The hotel was set in a very picturesque, naturally wooded setting, a stones throw from the shore and an easy walk into the nearest town which was Porec - (pronounced Porritch). If you click onto the picture in the title of this article you will see what I mean.  Peter brought this photo up on the Google Earth website.  The main hotel was beautifully decorated and very modern and comfortable.  The dining room was well appointed and the service excellent. If I was to make a criticism, and I do so very lightly, was, as I mentioned earlier, the size of the bedrooms as they were not to the same standard as the rest of the hotel.

The next morning was, as per usual, the 'Welcome Meeting' and our Thomson's Tour Rep was called Sophia. She was a young, very pretty and very pleasant young lady and took us through all the options of activities we had for consideration for our stay in Porec. Most of our party wanted to do the Venice trip which was to take place the following Saturday and, as John couldn't get it any cheaper, most of us booked it there and then. Peter, John, Pat and I wanted to see more of this area of Croatia and booked a "Best of Istria" (our local area), tour which was to take place on Thursday. Others in our party booked trips to the Plitvice Lake, visiting the towns of Rijeka and Opatja, Slovenia. Others went to Lake Bled.  At the point of booking John and Pat were asking to change their rooms as they had a leaky sink so they did not complete their form there and then.

Wednesday and, at 8am, the Wrinkly Runners were off to explore the local area. Unfortunately, it was hot and humid even for this time of day and Peter found the 4 miles difficult. Most of Wednesday was spent exploring the area and walking along a beautiful coastline into Porec. All along the shoreline provision had been made for the bather. Showers and change tents were provided as well as beautiful sunbathing platforms. There was not much sand so this was the sensible option. I must say, Porec looked after its tourists. I won't go into details of the town as you can read this for yourself if you click onto the Porec link above. (Got to keep this report as short as possible for the old man you know but I'm already finding it hard as there is so much to say!) We had lunch in an open air restaurant in a beautiful old square. Several others of our party joined us at this point. The rest of the day was spent much in the same way, walking, talking and, of course, the occasional drink and ice cream.

Thursday, and the day of our first trip to see the best of Istria.  Peter and I were up smartly and down to breakfast and ready for the "off". The Tour Rep., had told us to be at the front of the hotel by 9.05am but we were there by 8.55am. The tour guide, Veto, checked our tickets and let us on the coach.  Then, horror of horrors, he was for setting off!  Peter shouted that his brother and wife has not yet arrived and was told that the driver, Mr. Miroslav, had his full compliment of passengers for this trip. We assured him the Pat and John has booked and delayed him as much as possible. At 9am, and five minutes before the allocated time, Pat and John appeared outside the hotel.  I beckoned to them urgently to get a move on and they rushed over to the coach. They confirmed that they had booked the trip although, with their change of room, had not done so until later in the day.  They assured Veto that Sophia had checked whether or not there were places left and she had assured them that there were. The courier got on his mobile to try and sort things out. Eventually he let them on the coach saying that they would be separated and one would have to sit at the back and the other with the courier!  Pat was not a 'happy bunny'. The coach had another pickup to make in Ravinj, somewhere down the coast, and, during that journey the courier thankfully managed to sort things out and Pat and John could stay where they were. Whew!!! Not a good start to the day was it?

After collecting the full compliment of passengers we set off on the tour. First we visited Pula.  Pula(2) is a wonderful place and the two links here will explain more about the place. I was fascinated with the old roman Amphitheatre. I felt as if I had stepped back into history. A man, dressed as a Roman -Senator was talking to a group of school children who were completely mesmerised by what he had to say.  Veto, (a very young, handsome,  'Michael Schumacher' look-alike, something he had heard many times before), was an extremely knowledgeable guide and his command of the English language was excellent. His knowledge of political, historical and economic history was extremely impressive and he was a joy to be with. He took his time to explain everything very clearly. After the guided tour we were allowed to roam around for about an hour to take in the small streets and other roman ruins such as the Forum pictured on the right.  Pula is a very busy city but tourism is its main source of income. After leaving this town we travelled across the countryside and, by lunchtime, arrived at a small hillside restaurant just outside Pazin which is the administrative capital of Istria. Long tables were set out under an awning. On our arrival we were all offered a small shot of Grappa which I quite liked.  The bougainvillea and other brilliantly coloured flowers were in abundance, decked around the courtyard and the whole setting was magical.  We enjoyed wine, potatoes, turkey and salad followed by a hot doughnut and some sweet wine. During the meal we were serenaded by two of the staff. Onwards then to the hilltop town of Groznjan.  Following the Second World War, the town was almost completely abandoned. In the mid 1960s the town was descended upon by artisans and soon became known in the arts community. Painters, sculptors, and other artists set up here giving Groznjan the slogan "Town of Artists". The town is now the arts center in the region and many of the old buildings have been restored, some of which now house galleries and artisan workshops.
 

As our coach travelled through the rich, red-soiled countryside we became aware that there were no cattle or any other animals around. Veto explained that it was far too expensive to keep cattle and that all meat was imported. I was also impressed by the cleanliness of the countryside. The buildings were mostly modern, updated versions of the old. There were a lot of  three storey high houses and very impressive they were too.  This puzzled me as I thought the average wage of £320 per month was rather low but Veto explained that the Croatians were, like the Italians, very much family orientated and that two or three generations lived in the same house thus bringing in five to six salaries. This was how they could improve their properties and keep everything up to date - hence the good quality of life.

The obvious question was answered early on by Veto without having to be asked i.e. the Civil War, which broke up Yugoslavia, hadn't encroached into Istria. (Those of our Wrinkly group who went further afield on other trips saw some of the devastation left behind).

Our day came to an end and I felt I had learnt so much about this country all in one day. We all thanked Veto and Mr. Miroslav for a very enjoyable day and I, being the "pushy" person I am, gave Veto our WRR business card as, during the winter months, Veto works for the Croatian Tourist Board and designs their website!! We may, just may, hear more from him.

Friday, (after an 8am Wrinkly run to measure a possible course for the Predictor Run with Doug in charge of John's Garmin as he'd had a long, heavy night with Pam the evening before and couldn't get his legs to work!!!), was a day of relaxing and Peter and I walked southwards along the coastline in the opposite direction to Porec. Every part of the way had been tastefully adapted for sunbathing and swimming with stone platforms built into the sea at regular intervals. Waste bins, seats/benches and changing tents were in abundance. Certainly a lot of thought and preparation had gone into providing for the needs of tourists/holidaymakers. To help holiday makers see as much of the area as they could, there was a small road train which travelled the length of our coastline. We walked as far as we wanted and had lunch in a small restaurant overlooking the bay - all very civilized!

Back to the hotel bar for the evening and Wrinkly entertainment. A bit of Wrinkly Wisdom now. Drinks tended to be very erratic in price for the same thing.  To counter this Wrinklys always have a trick up their sleeve - or rather a small bottle of  duty free/locally purchased 'something or other'!!! It worked! Even our Doug adopted the method. Shame on you.

Saturday was the day of the big trip to Venice and most of our party were going on it.  We were picked up by coach at the hotel and taken into Porec where we had a short walk and then boarded a Seacat/trimaran named Princess of Dubrovnik. It was an extremely pleasant trip across to Venice too. We followed our guide off the boat and on towards St Marc's Square and the famous St. Marc's Basilica and Bell Tower. She did warn us there was a high tide.  She was so right. The square was flooded, or at least partly flooded. It made getting from A to B very difficult though. They say Venice is sinking but I didn't think it was happening that quickly!!!

The courier seemed to be talking for ever so Peter, Janet, Brain, Pat, John and myself decided to make our own way round using Peter as our guide. This was Peter's fourth visit to the city and told us he could get us to the Rialto Bridge - no problem! This proved a little harder than he thought. First he spotted a clear piece of ground in the middle of the square so we all manoeuvred round to it and walked across - it was a dead end - the tide was in!!. Then Peter spotted a man-made walkway and we went round to that - it ended up in the Court Building!!!! Never say never, my husband is not a quitter. We then walked back out of the square through our original entrance, along some twisty, narrow paths, over some bridges and - low and behold, we arrived at the Rialto Bridge.  Well done that man! We stopped for a sandwich and coffee at an embankment bistro.  Suitably sustained we walked over the bridge and back again admiring the many shops along the way. At 2.30pm we were to meet up with the guide again as Pat, John, Peter and I had booked a gondola ride. Brian and Janet were positioned on the side taking pictures.

 I have been to Venice once before and Peter would not take me on a gondola, (far too expensive he said) so, this time, I was not to be put off - I may not visit it again. We boarded the gondola but, as it took six, a young couple dived in first and got the 'love seat'.  Too late for us you may think - well a girl can wish can't she? Our gondolier was a miserable young man anyway and wasn't at all 'love inspiring'. Actually the ride only took us through the back canal alley ways, which were rather smelly, and briefly onto the Grande Canal and then back again but, I can now say I have been in a gondola. All our party then took water taxi's back to the seacat and we were on our way back to Croatia. A very worthwhile trip and a lovely day.  We realised that we might not be arriving back in time for our evening meal as the restaurant closed at 9am. but we made it with 20 minutes to spare. This caused us to rush and down our food and drinks far too quickly.

Sunday, was the day that had been selected of the Predictor Race as none of us were going on trips. The weather was still holding up and was hot and sunny. The locals told us that this was unusual for this time of the year. We were certainly being taking care of from above or John had organised it???

At breakfast I got the usual 'ear ache' from Boss Wrinkly, taunting me about how I was organising the race and, as usual, it went right over my head.  I had been called upon again to organise the Predictor Race, (which I named the Mediteran Mile Manipulator - not bad eh?), even after the mix up in Bulgaria. Either John was hoping I'd mess up again so he could "have a go" or he thought I had learnt from my past experience. Anyway, I took my responsibility very seriously indeed and obtained sheets of A4 paper from Reception and a clipboard from the Thomson Rep. (I looked the part at least!)  I made out small slips of paper for each runner to write out their predicted time to enter them on my sheet. I formed my little team of helpers, Janet - joint timekeeper with myself, Les, Brenda, Ken, Kath and Elizabeth as marshalls, Dave and Pam C. on the photographs and our Pam W as watch collector. The start and finish had been decided upon. All I could do now was to make sure I didn't make the same mistake as I did in Bulgaria.

For the rest of the day Peter and I spent walking back to Porec again. We went down one street and were "persuaded" to have our cameos cut out of paper by a very charming man with the gift of the gab. I thought they were rather good. We then had the most enormous ice cream I had ever eaten - there went the diet!!! Later we met up with John, Pam, Brian and Janet at the marina side cafe then slowly back to the hotel for the start of the Predictor Race.

The runners all lined up and, at 5 pm  I gave the signal for the "Off". As we waited I filled in all the predicted times and the remaining few Wrinkly non-runners sat to wait for runners' return. First into sight came Reg. He'd run a good race but, as the title says, it's not the first home but the one nearest to their predicted time, who is the winner. Derek came in next and, at only minus 1 second below his predicted time, I was sure we had an outright winner. As the rest of the runners came over the finish line I noticed how close they had all come to their times. Then came John attached to Keith. I had to be very careful now and watched the white line like a hawk making sure I clocked the exact second each respective foot hit it. John came over first and he too came in minus 1 second below his predicted time - we had joint winners - again!!!! I now knew I had to do my sums correctly so, after waiting for my team of marshalls to return to the hotel, I told everyone that I would not be announcing the winner until the evening.  For the full results please go to this link - Mediteran Mile Manipulator Results.

After another lovely meal we all assembled in the hotel bar. This had been our nightly meeting place as the local bars were too far away. However, we had a good waiter, called Barisa, and he allowed us to rearrange the furniture to get everyone together. The beer and other drinks weren't too bad in price either. I digress - it's the drink again!!!  As soon as everyone had assembled I went to collect the prizes for the race. I had managed to acquire a few extras as the results were not as simple as originally anticipated, and, after talking it through with Janet, we decided to award four prizes. John had provided the wooden duck, (which he had acquired at a local restaurant - someone had left it behind) - and had expressed a wish not to win it - what could I do? Janet and I decided that, as the results indicated, we had two winners of the duck so we rearranged the prizes thus:

Everyone took it in the spirit in which it was intended, although the local brandy did taste gross - sorry lads, I did my best!!! The evening was absolutely mad. I have never witnessed such rabble rousing;  drinks were flowing - the Wrinkly's private bar, (pockets), came out and they even managed to sneak bottles of spirit from the bar as there were only two bar staff on duty and they didn't seem to bother!!! Celia was definitely loving her duck - not Derek - the wooden one - Oh well, I don't know? Believe it or not, Peter and I were two of the last up with Pam and John this particular evening. Dave was also there at the close.  I say "close" because the staff even turned the lights off on us and we sat for the last half hour in darkness.

Monday and our last day in Porec.  My goodness I didn't half sleep well last night! I must have gone to sleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. I was, thankfully, no worse for wear from the debauchery of the night before.  At 10am though no one had seen Boss and Pam!

During the morning a group of us spent time round the pool sunbathing and swimming. The hotel was becoming somewhat disorganised as they were now deep into their closing down stages at the end of the season: nothing we had done I can assure you. Some of the fountains had been drained, the umbrellas round the pool had gone, meal layouts only took up a small area in the dining room. Unused bedrooms were being emptied. It felt rather weird to say the least. As Janet entered the pool she was worried that they may even pull the plug of her!!!!

In the afternoon, John, Pam, Brian, Janet, Peter and I walked into Porec to have a toastie and a drink before we had a short ferry crossing to the island of St. Nikola which  is just across the bay from Porec. It was an easy walk round the whole island, avoiding the naturist beach of course, and back to the Fortuna Hotel for a drink before boarding the ferry back again. At this point John texted Les, (who had been on a boat trip down the coast), to see where he was. The reply came back, "I'm just coming past where you are sitting and I can see you through my binoculars!"

At the evening meal, 'Hildegard', the name I had given to the lady on the ice cream bar because she guarded it with her life and would not allow you any more than she thought you ought to have, was even more watchful of her treasured ice cream than ever and was longing to close up. But, in true Wrinkly's style we will, where there is free drink, stay to the bitter end and we did!

Eventually 9 pm came, the restaurant closed and we moved onto the bar. (It's such hard work keeping up this rituals you know - I don't think!). Tonight the winners of the Sun God and Whiteman Cup were to be announced. Dave and Chris, welcome new comers to our band of 'ner do goods', had been given the responsibility of choosing the Sun God. After a lot of thought they decided to split the competition. Dave and Chris promised that there would be certificates provided and they awarded the following prizes:

SUN GOD COMPETITION
Celia	Highly commended.
Pam Whiteman	For the brownest chest - my they must have studied that Pam.
Brian and Janet	Team Prize.
John Earnshaw	Sun God Supreme

The well deserved Whiteman Cup, (provided and awarded by John and Pam) which now had become a glass jug "acquired" from the hotel, (there's really no hope for us), went to Dave.  The whole evening was another tremendous success.

Tuesday came and, all too soon we were back on the coach to the airport and back to a rainy and  cool UK. I know I am repeating myself but these holidays just get better and better and, more frequent. It won't be long before some of us are off to Llandudno for a 'Turkey and Tinsel' weekend. Never say retirement is boring or that being a Wrinkly, (or Wrinkly by association), stops you enjoying yourself - no way José. We love life and live it to the full.

Once again a Thank You, big time, to John (and Pam) for organising everything which, as usual was absolutely spot on. We all had another brilliant holiday John - trouble is, you do them so well we are expecting you to find more and more now we have the "holiday bug".Guess you're asleep by now though and haven't read this bit.

Till next time---------

Written by: Brenda J Earnshaw

Submitted: 17th October 2006

Edited (very carefully) by: Peter Earnshaw

But not carefully enough - corrected by Boss Wrinkly.

PS. Many of our group did other trips and excursions and I hope to get some photographs off them in the near future. Meanwhile the slides show is accessed from here:

John's Slideshow         Peter's Slideshow

MEDITERAN MILE MANIPULATOR RESULTS AND PHOTOGRAPHS

THE END