Rijeka Region with Friends

A post by Alison and Laura

Laura:  We were very lucky to spend a lot of time this month with friends--in this case, the family who inspired us to come to Croatia--from our small town back in the U.S. As we noted in earlier posts, Alison joined them at their family's summer place in Baska Voda by herself, and our whole family spent the 4th of July with them at Boris's Dad's home in Zagreb.  Later in the month our friends came to visit us in Rijeka, and after that we joined them as a whole family in Baska Voda.  It was great to see Croatia from their perspective.   

Alison: Seeing Ana in Zagreb and Baska Voda was so much fun, so I was very excited to spend even more time with her.  On the day we got back from Switzerland and France, Ana and her family arrived in Rijeka.  

Looking down at our street (Laginjina) from our balcony

On the second day they were here, we went to a beach called Medveja, very close to Lovran and on the Opatija Riviera.  The beach was beautiful.  There were all of these chairs you could rent, cafes and restaurants, a whole area in the water with inflatable rafts and slides, and tons of room to swim around.  We spent the entire day there. 

Cocktails at the bar on the beach (with a Tom Cruise-in-the-movie-Cocktail-style bartender)

Laura: On other days we also showed the family parts of Rijeka and the surrounding areas that we’ve come to enjoy, such as the Korzo and Trsat Castle in Rijeka and Kastav (10 kilometers from here). 

"Our" castle, Trsat Castle in Rijeka

Trsat Castle

Trsat Castle

Drago on a canon at Trsat Castle

View of Rijeka on the way to Trsat Castle

Kim & Boris as the sun was setting in Kastav

Alison: On July 16, we went to the Brijuni Islands, off the western coast of Istria.  We separated at first.  My Mom and Kim (Ana’s Mom) went on a tour of a museum about Tito.  (I have no idea what that is, but I have to give you a clue of what my Mom’s about to talk about!)  My Dad and Boris (Ana’s Dad) took the kids, Caroline, Ana, Drago (Ana’s little brother), and me, on a golf cart trip around the island.  The island doesn’t allow cars.  Boris rented a bike and told us he would follow us, though he actually meant race us!  I laughed at a sign on the golf cart that said that the drivers had to be 18 and over considering that in America, 16 year olds can drive actual cars (though I should note that you have to be 18 to drive a car in Croatia).  But we kind of broke the rules by letting a six year old, an eight year old, and two eleven year olds (one more day until I turned eleven—I think it counts) drive.  We each had three chances to try driving for a short while.  I think Ana and I were quite nervous when Caroline was driving because all she wanted to do was go fast and she did not really know how to steer.  Luckily, everyone else was a pretty good driver.  Then, on our last five minutes of driving the golf cart, we met up with the two Moms.

Speed demon with the fastest mode of transportation on the Brijuni Islands

Laura: Kim and I had a great time at the museum devoted to Marshall Tito’s life and summer home on the Brijuni Islands.  Tito, who was prime minister and then president of Yugoslavia from the World War II era until his death in 1980, was clearly a force of nature.  Under his leadership, Yugoslavia developed its own form of socialism and was not a puppet state of the Soviet Union.  In fact, Tito, with the help of the leaders of India and Egypt, created the Non-Aligned Movement, a policy of non-alignment with the two opposing sides during the Cold War.  

Kim with Tito

Laura:  Kim and I learned that Tito generally spent six months a year on the Brijuni Islands, where he entertained the world’s leaders and famous singers and actors, collected animals from around the world (gifts from such leaders as India’s Indira Gandhi and Libya’s Moammar Kadafi), and enjoyed the beautiful natural setting.  A number of Croatians have told us that they think that in many ways, Croatians’ lives were better under Tito’s socialism (even after he died) because they had stable jobs, good salaries, and apartments provided for them.  I also learned from Boris and Kim the extent to which Tito was revered while he was president, though sometimes controversial since his death.  I found the choices that the museum made about how to portray Tito to be quite interesting.

Alison: At the end of the day, we went to a beach.  Isn’t that a surprise? (Sarcasm)  This beach is a lot different than most of the beaches we’ve seen during the summertime here—it’s quiet!  We had dinner, dessert, and a lot of salt water in our mouths after a lot of swimming. 

Croatian flag, on the boat ride back from the Brijuni Islands to the Istrian mainland