Rab, Croatia

For months i have been trying to figure out if i want to stay in Brooklyn or move back to London and i have been completely missing it, i need a simple life. As i swam off the side of Rab,s old town at sunset this evening, i thought, this is really living. People are so lucky to be content to live the simple life, why cant i be one of them. As an old man leaned out of the window and watched us swimmers, i wondered how long he has lived on this island and what he does, what could i do. Run a post office perhaps, or a restaurant.

Rab is lovely, i arrived around 5pm by catamaran from Riejka that took about an hour and a half. I had stazed in Riejka onlz one night, i stazed in a hostel again as it was my only choice but i am quickly learning to plan ahead to avoid them in future. I shared a room with 3 school girls, part of some gymnastic troupe from Hungary and they were so wired at 6am this morning, i had to SSShhh them to stop them doing back flips across the room.

I had the morning in Riejka and although Riejka is an industrial port that reallz serves as a gateway to the islands, it does have its charms just out of the city. Just north of the city is Trsat. There is a church there that supposedly hosted Mary and joseph....snooze. I also went to my first Grad aka Castle all were very nice but what i really liked were all the houses on the walk up,i love just seeing where real people live. Talking of the walk, it helps to know the language around these parts as i could of taken a bus or walked an indirect route instead i approached some stairs, i should of known when there was noone around. When i got to the top, i estimated that i had walked up about 500 stairs and then felt i was exaggerating, i had to walk back down after the castle to count. 536 in total, my ass is going to thank me for it but my legs are unhappy.
Trsat though is very nice, i sense and Italian atmosphere, in fact it feels that waz in Rab too, i am closer to the coast and i guess closer to Italy so it makes sense.

The ride over to Rab was lovely, i spent too much time listening to Sun Kil Moon and feel really wistful, overly romantic and slightly depressed now that i am here as i am here alone and it is quite lovely. Have you ever listened to Carry Me Ohio, i must of listened to it 10 times just today, pay attention to the lyrics, they really resonate.

I am staying on the harbour and the very friendly Hotel Istra, i told them i was depsrate for a swim and they pointed me to a local spot where basically the town drops into the Adriatic sea. No beach, just a concrete lip, the sun going down over the island across with sail boats drifting by. The water was wonderfully fresh and cold and i felt the stress of travel completely leave me.

It's 8.30pm now and there is not much to do for a singleton like me but go to bed. Sometimes awesome is a room to myself, a small bed and Croatia's Got Super Talent on the telly.

Tomorrow i am kayaking to a little island not even in my guide book called Franjki or something like that. Apparently Prince Edward and Wallace Simpson had a love in there, it means love as well apparently...great. After that it's an overnight sail to Split. Im actually looking forward to meeting the others in Dubrovnik, some conversation, dinner and wine would be nice...oh and a wedding!


Listening to: Sun Kil Moon -Carry Me Ohio and Ocean Breathes Salty

Time zone GMT + 1