CROATIA ~ One week was enough...

One week was enough to enjoy the peace of the Croatian bay in the Krk Island, which has warmly hosted my family and me. Seven rounded days of tireless sun lit uninterruptedly our roasting sessions on the rocky coast. One week sufficed to taste all the Zahlita wine I had the honour to enjoy ~ rigorously white to accompany our fish meals, slightly gassy, fresh and fruity, although ~ as my dad did not miss to point out ~ "not as good as ours" (arghhh!).

One week sufficed to drink all the salted water I swallowed; to eat all the fish I ate; to read all the blogger's short stories I devoured; to listen to all the observations my mum had for ... about everything ~ some funny for their wit or naivety, others a bit annoyed/-ing and, frankly speaking, boring [she spent the journey back by car reading aloud every sign and writing which caught her attention]. Now that the memory milds any bitter judgment, I have to admit that she was the *alive entertainment* of our trip, with her unexpected remarks in the purest Cerreto dialect, with her sweetness when watching the children around us swimming and squashing in the sea, spending hours in horizontal position motionless like a resting gecko with Steve asking me: "Is she dead? Did your dad kill her?" And me: "Dunno, but it is the only moment she is really quiet and silent. So, let her be." :o ) For seven mornings at 7am on the dot I have admired the quasi-dawns our terrace had to offer; pretended to swim & fish endowed with flippers, mask, snorkel and net; took over one hundred lazy photos; and visited the beautiful and still relatively unspoilt jewels of the island of Krk: Krk town, Baska, Punat and Malinska. The peculiarity of my holiday was HUM, the smallest city in the world. Yes, you read correctly: the smallest city ever. My dad discovered it on internet and watched a documentary on telly; he was therefore reasonably motivated and willing to visit it. Knowing my dad's fixations for details and historical anecdotes, I was sceptical and not so keen in travelling up to the mountainous inland to visit a *city* of 16/20 people [they are still debating on the inhabitants' number]. Unexpectedly, once arrived, I got immediately fascinated by this small town, declared "city" in the 12th century by the Austrian king Ulrich something. Authentically picturesque, HUM presents all the typical features of a Medieval city: there are protective walls, a bronze door to welcome any friendly visitor, a square with a church ~ once castle owned by the noble family Frankopan ~ a rustic restaurant, a bed&breakfast, a few houses and, of course, a cemetery. The city preserves also rare glacolitic stones engraved with the glacolis, the local medieval alphabet, and frescoes dated back to the 12th century. Everything is surrounded by a glorious view of untouched nature and peculiar cultivations such as: pumpkins, grapes, melograno, figs and mushrooms. At the sole and unique restaurant I had a delightfully genuine meal based on sweet corn soup, Istrian cheese sparkled with truffle and omelette garnished with tasty smoked ham & wild mushrooms. Real local food, the best alternative to the touristy shell fish of the coast.