When you are 17, or 18 or 19 people living together for a week or part of a week (Torgeir left for Oslo yesterday morning, Øystein flew home yesterday night so we are 17 of us left in Dubrovnik right now) you don't need to walk in the paths of each other all day. Yesterday Terje and I decided to do our own excursion, and our goal was Lokrum, the small Unesco-protected island and national part right outside Dubrovnik.
Lokrum is a unique island, mentioned for the first time as a Benedictine estate in 1023, containing the remnants of the monastery complex, a botanical garden, a Fort Royal, and a long list of other interesting stuff. What about The Nudist Beach, the "Dead Sea", Charlotte's Well, The Path of Paradise.......and I could go on and on.
In spite of temperatures high as a Norwegian mountain peak and a humidity which made you not want to hold hands while walking around, we enjoyed every minute of our day. May be regretting that we didn't bring our swimsuits, but then we knew there was not time enough for a swim anyway as we wanted to be back in Villa Katarina in time to wave goodbye to Øystein.
We bought a pamflet with information when we came to the island and today I am reading:
Dubrovnik and the island of Lokrum have a moderate warm humid climate (the olive climate).....oh, how I LOVE the name the olive climate.......with the domination of the three winds, the southern wind scirocco, the north-eastern wind bora and the landward breeze......the daily motion of humidity is unique, in the morning hours it increases rapididly, instead of diminishing, so noon is more humid that mornings, which is due to the daily exchange of the winds from the sea and from the land.....
Walking, though not hand in hand, memories gathered, memories shared.
My initials engraved in the bark of an old tree. Have I been here before?
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I am having my quiet morning. Our gang of 17 (minus myself) is still sleeping. We occupy four of the five flats in Villa Katarina. The fifth flat had a Norwegian family untill yesterday, then a Britiash family with two young girls came, and apparently those girls love the small swimmingpool right outside my balcony. It is not quiet any more. Not at all. May be reading will block the noise out.......