Epilogue
Over five years in the making and...it’s over.
It was probably even longer than five years ago when I first brought up going to Croatia to see where dad was from (he escaped from there over fifty years ago and has never returned), but regardless - it’s been a while. When the time finally came, marriages, babies, bad knees and good old fashioned old age resulted in my going it alone. In retrospect I doubt either of my parents could have handled all the walking even if we went five years ago when it was originally proposed, but I couldn’t have known that at the time. I also didn’t realize until later that nearly all of the places on the itinerary were places he hadn’t been anyway, so they would have been of limited sentimental value. In retrospect I think going alone was probably the best thing that could have happened if for no other reason than it made me reset my expectations from “take dad back to the country he left 50yrs ago” to “visit the country dad left 50yrs ago”. Once that was settled the trip became less of me being a chaperone and more of me being an observer, so I probably learned more than I would have otherwise. It’s safe to say that fatigue plays a role in how I would rate the different places I’ve visited, but I’m pretty confident in saying that while Zagreb was an interesting place to visit I don’t think I could live there. You can see the leftovers of communism just driving from the airport to the hotel, and from talking to some of the locals there is still an undercurrent socially/politically as well. I think three days there was enough, though I didn’t get as much out of it as I would have if it weren’t for jet lag. As you drive south down the Adriatic coast it gets more beautiful with each passing mile, and by the time you get to the Dubrovnik you’re left to wonder how people didn’t find out about this place sooner. You can really feel the Austrian influence in the north and the Italian/mediterranean influence the rest of the way down to Dubrovnik. And the food is amazing. It definitely makes a difference to use natural ingredients and foods that are in season, but even if I were to do that when I get home I don’t think I’d be able to duplicate the taste. I agree with Paul Javonovich that if there were one thing I’d like to be able to take back with me it’s the food. The one thing that I was not expecting was so quickly fitting in with the people I was on tour with. I was pretty nervous about being a stranger in a strange land with a bunch of people I didn’t know, but everyone accepted me into the group very quickly and I enjoyed hanging out with all of them. The group was comprised of a handful of families that knew and/or were related to each other, which of course includes all the baggage that comes with that. Imagine going on a tour with your aunt’s and uncle’s families, all crammed into a bus for two weeks...you get the picture. Fortunately everyone got along for the most part, and every last one of the kids (23 in all) was great. There were no issues at all in the two weeks we were here. Adding Rome and Paris to the end was a real stretch for me. As anyone that knows me can attest, I’m not real big about leaving my comfort zone, and you don’t get much more out of your comfort zone than going alone to countries where you don’t speak the language. Even though I was really nervous about it, pushing through the anxiety and forging ahead paid off; it turned out that not only was I able to navigate these places, but doing it without any help made it extra special. The big lesson is that if you’re nice to people and sincerely try to communicate in their language, they are more than happy to help you out. As for regrets, I really don’t have any. I wish I would have been willing to go alone five years ago when this first came up, but that’s life. As to whether I’d do it again I really don’t know. Five years is a long time and who knows what will happen between now and then, or what I might have going on during the dates of the next tour. I do know that I would do a few things differently (shorts anyone?), and now that I’ve done it once I wouldn’t have the anxiety about doing things alone. My big hope is that the next time this kind of opportunity presents itself I’ll be able to go with a significant other. Regardless, the experience this time was great, and I’m pleasantly surprised to say that I’ve made some new friends as a result. There’s not much more you can ask for than that. So that's about it for me, and for this edition of Where's Paul. Hope you enjoyed traveling vicariously through me as much as I enjoyed the actual trip! Until next time,Do videnja
Arrivederci/Ciao
Au revoir
