As we have for years now, this scorching June we headed for the sea again — to the FKK camp at Solaris. We had to fight a little for a pitch in the reserved zone, but in the end everyone found a nice patch of ground to call their own.
Since Croatia keeps shrinking the space set aside for naturists, the camps that remain are packed to bursting. Still, once we'd finally settled in, everyone was happy with their pitch — some in the shade, others with a fine view of the shade on the neighbour's pitch. The sea was just the right temperature, especially welcome on the last few days for us chilly types, and the company, as always, was superb.
The keen cyclists among us went out twice — once to Busola, once along the Mirna river — and both times it was hot, then even hotter. But never mind that: an ice cream and a cold drink are always worth the effort.
A birthday and good company
We also had a birthday party. Marinka — our dear Žika — invited us all along even though her actual birthday had been back in April. Jelka put together a charming little sing-along programme, and it was so heartwarming that we all ended up in tears. Or laughing. Hard to say which.
The Alpe-Adria Games
We also joined the fun sporting Alpe-Adria Games, organised by the Austrian federation this time round, since the INF crowd had scheduled their own get-together on Crete — a touch out of reach for us.
We played badminton and table tennis, sizzled over games of pétanque, held our ground (or tried to) at tug-of-war, threw pegs and balls for distance, played beach volleyball on the scorching sand, tried our hand at bicycle rodeo, played chess, ran the egg-and-spoon race (they must have skipped us at some point), tossed rings ... and — we won!
The biggest team there
I think we were the largest team on site — 23 of us in the end, one by one. The Austrians were slightly fewer, plus a handful of Germans, three Vandrovčki, a young Czech family and a few likeable Croatians, including some younger ones. Both the Croatians and the Czechs said they'd love to join us for our get-togethers at the thermal spas.
A presidential dinner and farewells
On the eve of our departure, our president Matjaž and the first lady Jelka invited us all to the presidential residence for one last dinner. We brought our own chairs and whatever was left in the fridges, ate more than our fill, had a lovely time, and had a drink or two. A spot of rain sent us packing at a minute to ten, so we didn't disturb the camp's evening peace one bit.
The next morning brought the usual packing-up ritual — sun shades, wind-breakers, tents, outdoor kitchens, cables, bikes and all the other clutter we'd spread across our pitches. In our little group there was the added task of dividing up forks, knives and plates ... who'd brought which salt and which oil ... and how exactly do you split the one onion that's left over ... Then a last dip in the sea, lunch at Kopala, and off home we went.
It was lovely, and it will be again ... see you soon, friends, and here's to a bit more sea before we all splash into it again at Kanegra.