Croatia and Switzerland

Wow. It's been a while. The last time I blogged it was a month after break up. Well it's now 3 and a half months since the break up and I am really good. Hell, I'm impressed with myself. I am stronger than I thought.

Sometimes it still hurts, like finding out he has a new girlfriend when his reason for breaking up was that he couldn't be in a relationship with anyone and needed to find himself...Oh look at that... a month after our break up, he got himself a new girlfriend. Men.

The good news? He really does make it easier to move on and get over him.

Croatia is ridiculous. I am sorry. It is not possible for a place to be THAT gorgeous and magical. Unless you've been there, I can't actually describe how MAGICAL the place is. The ocean is turquoise. There is no beach sand, so the clean, clear water is warm and extremely salty. You literally float and bob (no treading water) - it's amazing.

The culture is warm, friendly and welcoming. It doesn't matter who you are, you are welcomed and welcomed warmly. We swam from our villa to another island about 600/700m away and when we got onto the beach, a warm, friendly woman invited

us into her stone home for coffee. Incredible. Coming from South Africa, we obviously we skeptical and wondering if we were walking into a sex-trade syndicate. Kidding. But you do feel guilty for feeling so on guard when people are so friendly and genuine.

The villages are just gorgeous with lots of stone homes and buildings, cobbled streets, wild olive trees, vineyards, gorgeous cafes, shops to die for, shoes to die for, the vegetables and fruit are just too delicious. I have been spoilt with the taste of genuine olive oil, home made wine and the potatoes and tomatoes are something else.

It was exactly what I needed. My soul completely rejuvenated! I bonded even more with my amazing-don't-know-what-I-would-do-without-them girlfriends. We had fun regardless of what we did, from the car trips and ferry trips to the walking around the cobble streets, hav

ing coffees, lying in the sun listening to music, shopping, taking taxi boats from island to island listening to Croatian bands while drinking G&T's, finding children play areas and satisfying our inner child, cooking together, our wine drinking, sitting in peace and watching the ocean, our coffee and chocolate tradition before bed and our laughs. I will never forget this trip. It was the best trip I have ever had.

Dubrovnik

The Stone Villas where we stayed - we had the place to OURSELVES!!

The view from our villas.

Vela Luka.

Special K and my feet on the speed boat :-)

Split - best place for shopping :-)

I also had the pleasure of going to Switzerland... I haven't seen my gran, cousins, uncle and rest of the family in 5 years. I don't really know much about my Swiss family and spending time with my 81 year old gran was just so amazing. I found out things about her and my late grandfather, found out things about my dad, how he was when he was little, all the stories etc etc ... It's made me learn more about who I am and where I come from. The last time I saw my grandpa, I was 9 years old (1992) and he passed away in 2001. I learnt so much about him and there are several things about his personality and character and even his hobbies, that now make so much sense... I have a lot of them and never knew where they came from. Awakening.

I've also only ever been to Switzerland in winter. It was most bizarre to not see the country covered in snow. Instead, it almost looked fake. I have never seen such greenery everywhere. It was so lush and I honestly think the alps looked like they are covered in green felt material.

It was quite something to think that in one morning, I had been in Croatia lying in the sun on the beach and then not even 14 hours later, I was hiking in the alps and standing in snow that had fallen and was starting to melt.

The photos I took, looked like I had doctored them. Incredible.

Switzerland is such a clean country and it's so efficient. If the train says it will leave at 15h03 ... it leaves at 15h03, not 15h04 or a second after. Wow.

It was a whirlwind trip and I travelled around Switzerland within 6 days, I even crossed into Germany for a day. It's amazing how easy that is in Europe.

The food. Don't get me started on the food and the chocolate. *drool*

Davos

Hopp Schwiiz Hopp and SA Tourism board should pay me

My friends and family have been keeping me so busy I actually don't know what the inside of my apartment looks like, except when I need to shower.
I'm not complaining. Being broken hearted is a bitch, but it's so much easier with amazing friends, wine and my new Personal Trainer who is honestly...AH-MAZING!!

Soooo chuffed for Switzerland! Whoop!! HOPP SCHWIITZ HOPP!! My family dressed in red, my dad had his Switzerland Makarapa hat on and we set out to the Monte Casino Fan park, where we discovered we were the only Swiss supporters in a sea of Spaniards.
Well I can tell you that Spain and Switzerland are completely surprised ... for 2 very different reasons.
We were the only ones shouting and jumping up and down while shocked Spaniards looked on.
Honestly, I wish the Swiss luck had rubbed off on Bafana Bafana. *sigh*
Well, I'm still flying my SA flag with proud.

One of the things I loved at the fan park, was seeing all the foreigners. There were Mexicans, Brits, Argentinians and Americans - all very festive.
Sitting at the table next to us were 3 American dudes playing cards (as you do) ... my family and I got chatting to them and asked them the most original questions ever.
Me: "So... Is this your first time to South Africa?"
USA: "It's our first time to Africa, Yeah!"
Me: "And?? Whaddya think?"
USA: "Oh it's great, just great! So friendly."
Me: "Ja, it's cool hey? It's not as bad as the international media make out. So, are you surprised we don't have pet lions?"
USA laugh: "Yeah totally. It's like a whole city and everything."
....and so the convo continued. We discovered that they had discovered we really don't have a great public transport system, so they are literally cooped up in their hotel. They haven't seen anything!
Unacceptable. Before I realised what I was doing I invited them to join my friends and I at a restaurant where we were going to watch Bafana Bafana vs Uruguay.
Me: "You have to join me! It's going to be such a jol!"
USA: "A what?"
Me: "Oh. Right. A jol... a party ... We call it a jol!"
USA: "Cool. Let's go!"
Clearly they hadn't been out because they were so excited they practically led me to my car.
Me: "I'm just putting my bag in the boot of my car."
USA: "The what?"
Me: "Oh. Um. The trunk of my car."
We start driving...
Me: "Aw man, we're catching every red robot. I hope we don't lose our table."
USA: "Every red what??"
Me: "Traffic light."

Funny how South African we really are. It was fun.

My mates, true troopers, welcomed the 3 with open arms and we showed them a LEKKER SOUTH AFRICAN JOL! We also discovered it was one of the guys 29th birthday so we gave him the sparkler stuck in ice-cream and Happy Birthday into Shosholoza birthday song!

It's a day I don't think they'll ever forget and they can now confidently say: Howzit! Lekker! Boet! Boerewors! and Sherbet (don't ask.) I feel that SA Tourism should pay me.

They're leaving next week, so I've offered to take them to the Lion Park, Lesedi Cultural village and Apartheid Museum.
The best part? I get to be a tourist in my own country ... I don't know who is more excited.