By Julia Molden


In April Come She May, In May Come She Certainly Will!

This could become addictive. For the third time I found myself packing amidst rising excitement in preparation for my mini immersion trip to Croatia in my continuing quest to improve my communication skills. This time I would be meeting up with Linda on Losinj after taking the early morning Easyjet flight from Gatwick and enjoying a flying visit round familiar haunts in the centre of Zagreb, while awaiting the departure of the afternoon coach to Losinj. It is a good job I am an expert catnapper as by the time I arrived at my destination, I had only had two hours' proper sleep in nearly forty hours.

The rather fierce-looking coach driver actually managed to break into a nice smile when I told him in my best sleepy Croatian that I wanted to be dropped off at ?unski and needed to retrieve my luggage from the hold. Regular texts to Linda kept her advised of my progress and by the time I arrived at Nerezine, some ten minutes from my destination, I was wide awake again and full of anticipation.

This time I was coinciding with the end of Linda's Easter course and it was fun to meet others who for one reason or another are putting themselves through the rigours of trying to master Croatian. After a delicious dinner accompanied by much excited chatter (English allowed as a special concession for one night only) I must have slept like a log, as I awoke refreshed and raring to go the next morning.

During my stay in Cunski Linda organised trips for us to various nearby places of interest. One day we visited Lubenice - a delightful little village quite off the beaten track but with a remarkably impressive church - and another, Nerezine, where we caught the end of the May morning celebrations. The little town was bustling and national costumes were much in evidence. We sat for a while in a pavement cafe watching all the comings and goings to the background accompaniment of an accordionist playing traditional music. It was pleasantly warm and the sun lit up the little town square where we were sitting. It was all quite idyllic and seemed a million miles away from everyday life. Later on that day we went swimming in the sea at Citat, which being west-facing catches the afternoon sun. By English seaside standards the water wasn't at all cold but I fear I confirmed suspicions that the English are completely crazy as apparently the locals would not consider starting to swim in the sea before mid June. Linda, being an honorary Englishwoman, bravely joined me but was not totally convinced by my assertions that the water was refreshing rather than freezing!

In between our outings, we tackled newspaper translations round the kitchen table. The big story during our stay was the Royal Wedding. It was rather satisfying to read the headlines that a million people in Croatia had watched the celebrations in London and we enjoyed reading about all the events of the day and the commentary on all the beautiful, and sometimes bizarre, outfits. From now on and forever I suspect the Royal Wedding and Losinj will be inextricably linked in my mind.

On our last evening before our return to Zagreb we went into Mali Losinj to listen to an open air concert on the waterside. It was fun watching the local youngsters dancing enthusiastically to the strains of current Croatian favourites as well as some Beatles and other international classics.

Leaving Cunski the next morning it felt a bit as if the Red Sea was closing behind us. We just managed to nip over the bridge at Osor before it swung open at 9.00am as it does every day to let the boats through and we were one of the last to make it onto the ferry at Merag for the short crossing to Valbiska on Krk and onwards inexorably to Zagreb. There were many wistful backward glances as the glorious coastline retreated during the course of our journey. When I close my eyes I can still picture the sun-dappled water glinting like diamonds and I am sure if I try very hard now and again I can just hear the music of that distant accordion.

We didn't waste time back in Zagreb. Most of the afternoon was spent at the Mirogoj Cemetery - a vast, elaborate and tranquil city of mausolea in the style of Pere Lachaise in Paris but minus the tourists - and Jim Morrison. We enjoyed an early supper in the shadow of the cathedral and happened upon another display of national dance in Trg Bana Jelacica to round things off nicely.

And all this time I had been trying my level best to communicate in Croatian. Sometimes I seemed to manage to have quite long complicated conversations and other times the words went unaccountably missing - it felt a bit like the sun going in and out behind the clouds and, as is the way with these things, the more you learn the more you realise there is to learn. But I'm loving every minute of it and my vernal excursions, which are now becoming a bit of a habit, are the icing on the cake. Thank you Linda once again for making this all possible and for your endless patience and encouragement - I hope I can come back again.....and again.....and.....!!