Croatian Road Trip-Day 13: Cres & Beli

I spent the first half of the day with Teta Andrica & Barba Fabijan. We had another delicious lunch (squid with rice) and enjoyed the lovely, breezy weather: a break from the extreme heat of the week before. I should probably mention that Teta Andrica & Barba Fabijan actually live in Chicago, but they have a summer home in Cres. So I know them well, unlike the family on the other island who I just met/got reacquainted with after more than 20 years.

In the afternoon, Barba Fabijan walked me back to the meeting spot from the day before. We had a beer while I silently schemed on a way to move there one day. I'm still working on that.

Eleonora, Marko & I went back to Beli and this time we went right to the beach. It was quite different than I remembered it. It seems that tourism has found our little secret gem of a beach. At least I had the pleasure of enjoying it for a whole month with limited crowds back when I was 12.

After swimming for awhile, we headed back up the the village. They went to the Eco-center/Griffon vulture rescue and I stayed at the only restaurant in town and talked to the proprietor, who it turns out is a cousin of mine. I'd been to the restaurant many times before when I was in Beli and it hadn't changed a bit.
Anyway, we chatted and caught up and he told me that he'd heard about my dad in church. Apparently only 33 people live in Beli now. Strange, but I expected it to be busier this time around but I'm glad (perhaps selfishly so) that it's not.



Barba Fabijan tending to the grill.

Their lovely garden.


A small bouquet of lavender.

Sitting down to a fine lunch with teta & barba.

Mmmm...squid & rice.

Walking around Cres again.

I cannot believe I didn't make time to go swimming.






From the cliffs of Cres.

Predošćica (on the way to Beli).

Beli.


On the way down to the beach.


Again, Glavotok in the distance. The running joke for the week was that my grandfather had a pair of binoculars which he used to scope out the chicks on the other island and that's how he found my grandmother. Haha.

Crowded. Ugh.



Buffet Beli.


Leaving Beli. I must say that I really choked up at one point as we drive away that night, just like I did the first time I left Beli in the mid-eighties. It's a very special place to me. So full of history: my family's history.


The ferry.





Photos are available for download in higher resolution here.