May 15 evening
May 16


page 52

2005 BALKANS TOUR

Ben Oostdam

PODSTRANA

SPLIT
There was no official dinner that evening, but I "settled" for - shared and enjoyed theirs, which included meat and bones, inkfish, rice rizotto and more. Took a brief walk till sunset, then was invited to have a drink on the balcony with Drajan, an engineer, and Blaj, the manager.
Drajan worked for a Croatian oil company, not only here but also in Syria and the Middle East. Croatia boasts three main energy resources: offshore gas, hydro-power and one nuclear power station.
We discussed US politics, and he was rather anti American: they are too bossy and uncultured compared to the Europeans. He was also very nationalistic and proudly pointed out the the Croatians invented electricity (Nicola Tesla), parachutes, torpedoes (Ivan Lupis of Rijeka) and even the "cravat" . . .
The next morning I packed and had an excellent breakfast (right) After settling the account and saying goodbye to Drajan, Blaj drove me to the bus-stop for Split.
Croatian Culture
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I caught a bus around 10:00 and practically fell into the lap of a lovely 16 year old girl from Omis who spoke excellent English and French, because she was too young to have a boyfriend. All too soon we reached the Palace of Diocletes in Split.