The entries over the next few days may be a bit sparser in content than usual because I am away from my laptop and have to rely on posting with my phone. Normal service will be resumed after 7th May.
Back into my time machine and this day in 1973 sees me heading out of Makarska on the road to Dubrovnik. I picked up my first lift after about 20 minutes, taking me a further 7km down the coast.
I stopped at a cafe for a cup of tea while I updated my travelogue. The entries showed that I was in a contemplative mode, thinking about family and friends back home and wishing I was in a pub drinking a pint of stout. I also reflected on the rugged scenery coming down the coast south of Split, similarities with South Devon and Snowdonia.
…terrain rocky, with patches (quite large patches) of some kind of undergrowth; dark clouds very low on the rocky hills; grazing plots for sheep etc. now and then, like an extended Prawle Point (Sth Devon)…
Again, further evidence of my unsuitability for writing about the natural world. “Some kind of undergrowth”? And what of “sheep etc.”? With my current knowledge, I guess I meant ungulates. Hence “the view spread out before me was ungulating hills”. Joking!
I have not mentioned that a constant theme in my notes was adolescent longing for someone I met at a party before I left England. I wrote letters and poetry to her during these travels.
Judith; will she still be there, waiting for me??
No need for suspense – the answer was no. But it was important to have a muse at the time.
Back to the road…I walked for about half an hour after leaving the cafe before getting a lift in a VW van with 3 American girls (Nancy, Janice and ?) and an English couple they had picked up earlier. The girl had lived for a time in Sanderstead, only a skip and a jump from my home in Shirley.
It took us a while to find somewhere to stay in Dubrovnik. A police officer on a motorbike guided us to a student hostel, but it had closed. Eventually we found the Youth Hostel, up some steps behind other houses. It was quite a way from the town centre but suited our purposes perfectly.
There are no clues about tomorrow’s destination – I will exploring Dubrovnik. Join me as I enjoy the sites and have a close encounter with a cow.
Psychologist on the Move 