The Vinyard

Today, I had the best strawberry Ive ever tasted. It was pure magic. But to get to that story Im afraid you will have to listen to the rest of my day first. Lidjia took me to the police station to make me legal with a VISA (oh the epic visa sega continues.) Then, we had a wonderful Lunch at the neighbours, who happen to be my host grandparents Pepi and Barica. Have you ever tried White pumpkin soup? I have, and it is FANTASTIC. I learned Josh (pronounced yosh, as all Js are Ys over here) means more, as Ive never quite eaten enough apparently! Dobro je means its very good, and will be something I repeat with frequency here as their food is spellbinding sorcery of some kind (No other explanation has come to mind).

After lunch, and a little bit of bonding over T.V with Petra, my host Aunt Maja offered to take us to the Vinyard. Because my host family owns a vinyard. Sorry, I dont think you heard me, let me repeat. OWNS. A. VINYARD! We drove there, (Pepi, Maja, Petra and I) and Petra looks at me all nonchalantly and asks "Want to see the castle?". I think my heart skipped a beat. Anyone who knows me knows that historical architecture? A sure way to win me over. I practically floated down the little path and through the trees in delight, until finally, there it was. Towering over the trees, up on its own little hill, was one of the most beautiful, most elegant, attention demanding peices of art I have ever seen. Just wait, it gets better.

The castle was on a lake front, a lake front where you could rent......Paddleboats! Petra and I went out on the lake so I could really look back and see the castle, and of course take pictures! After an hour on the boat, and another halfhour in this charming little lake front bistro, we walked around the castle, right up to the front gates!

After a while we returned down the path to the little vinyard, and Maja showed me the gardens, where I was gorged with blackberries and raspberries, but the temperature had killed out the strawberries. She found one, handed it to me. I took a bite and realiyzed I hadnt fully lived until that moment. It was, to say the least, the highlight of the evening.

I have been invited to a three day trip to the adriatic seafront. I leave thursday mornig and return Saturday night. It includes swimming, a Gala, and bondig time with the other rotary students. All in all Im looking forward to in extremely.

Thats all for today, and Im not going to lie i probably wont update this blog daily, but everytime something happens that makes me want to write about it? I will, no questions asked.

Have a good one,

Meghan

First day

My first  full day in Varazdin, Croatia has finally come to an end. I arrived at the Zagred airport yesterday afternoon after an eight hour ride from Calgary to Frankfurt (During which my neighbour had a small dog and a large weakness for airplane wine.) and a two hour ride to Zagreb, where I arrived in 38 degrees. I was greeted by my host Mother, Father, Cousin and brother, and also my Rotary supervisor and his young daughter. After Nikola (supervisor) and his daughter said their hellos (and goodbyes) they left, and I drove with my host family to Varazdin. I was pleased to find that my host cousin spoke english, as the rest of the family in the car spoke little to none! We arrived at the house, and I was quickly greeted by their dog Boss. I also met my older host sister, who also speaks english. I was given enough time to shower (a shower which, quite frankly, I still don´t understand), and then it was off to a traditional Croatian wedding.

The night was fun, with dancing and meal after meal. I met more of the extended family. The only problem was my inability to keep my overly jetlagged eyes open. We went home, and I quickly fell asleep. The next morning (nearly afternoon to my surprise) Nikola (my host brother, same name as my rotary supervisor) offered to take me into town, as the biggest festival in Croatia happens in Varaždin, and today was the final day. We biked to the main square, and the walked around. He showed me my too be school, a beautiful cathedral, and the castle in the middle of Varazdin. It was fantastic. We returned home, and much to my chagrin, my jetlag hit again and I fell into the clutches of sleep. When I woke up, Petra (my host sister) offered to make me spaghetti, and Lidjia (mother) told me tomorrow we´d go for my visa (more on the visa dilema later). After, Petra and I went back to the town square to go to a small coffee bar where we talked and drank lemonade. She took me to meet Donata, a girl who will be in my school, and Donata and I walked around the festival, where we met up with Katie, the exchange student from Virginia. We walked around the festival for hours, laughing, eating, dancing, until ten thirty.

I´ve learned how to say a few things in croatian, such as thank you, hello, please, orange, etcetera. Hopefully I´ll learn enough by next monday to be ready for my first day of school!