Hvar got news for you.

When did you get your first mobile phone? 1999? 2000? Only 12 years ago! And your first email address, I got mine in ’98 I think.  

When I was travelling in South East Asia in 1997 we had to book a call home with the post office in some countries and communication was via Post Office addresses.  Not a groundbreaking observation but as I sat on the balcony fiddling with the Short Wave radio looking for the world service sports programme, I was contemplating the rapid expansion of technology.  The sun was gently drifting below a far off island; the World Service was drifting in and out, almost in time with the slow beat of a fishing boat’s motor and some how it felt better listening on a little transistor, than live streaming off the internet.  More in tune with the low tech feel of our Adriatic island.

We are on Hvar, a two hour ferry ride from mainland Croatia and the sunniest spot on the Adriatic.  The owner of the apartment, Sandra, met us off the ferry as she was concerned that the van would, she meant us, struggle with the 1.4 km tunnel that links the North to South of the island, being that it was dug out of the mountain in 1960 (it was by mule before then) with a tea spoon and is 2700 mm high and about the same width.  Gwen (the van) is 2625 and I have never done any pot holing before but I’m sure it would be similar. Oh and they turn the traffic lights off in the winter.  There are passing places but I’ll have to get used to them. 

We borrowed their car today and I nudged forward to see if there were any headlights approaching. There were, so we waited and waited.  I thought the oncoming car must be in a passing place, so I went forward and quickly realised that the oncoming lights was in fact the light at the end of the tunnel!  We would have had to wait for sunset before they went out.

It is the children’s carnival on Tuesday and Sandra is taking us along, what a lovely lady!