LABIN & ISTRIA 1/2

Beginning of a new adventure...                      



May was a very intense month, full of trips and farewells, but the week before going to Croatia was even more intense. A fantastic trip with my sister in Andalusia and a great party with family and friends. Sometimes you don´t know how good you have until you are far from it, although in my case I have always valued it.

After all this and with the hangover still in my head, I set out to begin of my trip to Croatia. My new life was waiting in Labin, a small town in the Istrian region in the north of the country, right next to the Slovenian border and very close to Italy.

The main reason I came here was to be a part of the volunteer project. The truth is that it is being great, but not always easy. On the other hand, I have always wanted to know the Balkan area and it is something that I have done conscientiously, partly because of that Mr. Balkania was born. 

Going back to the history, I set out to make my trip. I started in my hometown, A Coruña. Flight to Zagreb with a layover in Madrid. The trip went smoothly. In Zagreb, we took a bus to Pazin which would take about 5 hours to reach the destination where two members of the association would wait for us to take us to Labin.

And I say take us because at the Zagreb airport I had the opportunity and pleasure to meet Rute, my volunteer partner who was going to accompany me on the adventure. A young girl but older than me, smiling and very polite, from a town near Lisbon. We had the opportunity to get to know each other better on the bus on the way to Labin, I only have good words for her, even if we talk about the first impression.

The bus trip was long and it was night, but at one of the stops, in Ravna Gora, very close to the mountains of the Gorski Kotar region, I could enjoy the snow for the first time in my life. The first great experience of the trip only took two hours to arrive. 

Still, with the joy and excitement of having made my first snowball, we arrived at Pazin where they were waiting for us. What an emotion, we had reached our destination, we were nervous and excited, like a child in love for the first time, with the attraction for the unknown.

Our coordinator, Magda, had come for us. A polish girl from Katowice, a city which I have a curious connection with, although that is another story. She was accompanied by Jan, an attractive Czech boy who took us all to Labin.

We were tired, it was 2AM and we were still excited, but they took us to the flat, gave us the keys and after a shower, (each his own), we went to sleep.

I woke up the next day early in the morning. I guess the desire to know the city could more than my physical fatigue. I enjoyed the views of the apartment from my room, which was the living room before, but nothing happens, I´m happy.

After breakfast, we went down to get to know the town a bit. We were really surprised to know that we live on the main street of Old town of Labin, called "Stari Grad" in Croatian.

   (Our BEAUTIFUL street in Labin) 💓

LABIN, ISTRIA. Stari Grad / Old Town 

I couldn´t forget to say that we also had the pleasure to have a meeting with Jelena, the president of the Alfa Albona association, where we are doing our EVS (European Volunteer Service) project. She invited us to have a coffee. I´m not a coffee lover, but apparently, in Croatia the coffee is excellent. I chose to have a beer, no surprises. I chose one of the most famous beers in Croatia. 

PINT PRICE: 20KN / 2-3€

    REMEMBER: Kuna is the official currency in Croatia.

*First Croatian lesson*

 *Pivo* is beer and *živjeli!* is Cheers! 

    Ožujsko Pivo 🍻🍻🍻

Thank you, this was the first part of the post. I will publish the second part soon. 

See you soon and have a nice trip.

GALICIAN VERSION

Inicio dunha nova aventura...

Maio foi un mes moi intenso, cheo de viaxes e despedidas, pero concretamente, a semana antes de ir a Croacia foi aínda máis intensa. Unha fantástica viaxe coa miña irmá en Andalucía e unha gran festa con familia e amigos. Ás veces non sabes o bo que tes ata estar lonxe, aínda que no meu caso sempre o valoro.

Despois de todo isto e coa resaca aínda na miña cabeza, dispuxen todo para comezar a miña viaxe a Croacia. A miña nova vida esperábame en Labin, unha pequena cidade da rexión da Istria no norte do país, xusto á beira da fronteira eslovena e moi perto de Italia.

A principal razón pola que vin aquí foi formar parte dun proxecto de voluntariado. A verdade é que está sendo xenial, aínda que non sempre foi fácil. Por outra parte, sempre quixen coñecer a zona dos Balcáns e é algo que fixen a conciencia, en parte por mor disto é que naceu Mr. Balkania.

Voltando á historia, a miña viaxe. O inicio foi na miña cidade natal, A Coruña. Voo a Zagreb con escala en Madrid. A viaxe foi boa, pero unha vez na capital croata, era hora de coller un bus cara Pazin que tardaría unhas 5 horas en chegar ao destino onde dous membros da asociación esperarían para levarnos a Labin.

E digo levarnos porque no aeroporto de Zagreb tiven a oportunidade e o pracer de coñecer a Rute, a miña compañeira de voluntariado que ía acompañarme nesta aventura. Unha rapaza nova pero maior ca min, sorrinte e moi educada e natural dunha cidade próxima a Lisboa. Tivemos a oportunidade de coñecernos mellor no autobús de camiño a Labin, só teño boas palabras para ela, mesmo se estamos a falar das primeiras impresións.

A viaxe en autobús foi longa e de noite, pero nunha das paradas, en Ravna Gora, moi perto das montañas da rexión de Gorski Kotar, puiden gozar da neve por primeira vez na miña vida. A primeira gran experiencia da viaxe só tardou dúas horas en chegar.

Aínda coa alegría e a emoción de ter feito a miña primeira bola de neve, chegamos a Pazin onde agardaban por nós. Que emoción! Chegamos ao noso destino, estabamos nerviosos e tan emocionados, como un neno namorado por primeira vez, coa atracción polo descoñecido.

Alí estaba a nosa coordinadora, Magda. Unha moza polaca de Katowice, unha cidade coa que teño unha curiosa relación, aínda que esa é outra historia. Con ela, Jan, un atractivo mozo checo que nos levou a todos ata Labin.

Estabamos cansos, eran as 2:00, aínda emocionados, leváronnos ao apartamento, déronnos as chaves e despois dunha ducha, (cada un a súa), fomos durmir.

Espertei ao día seguinte moi cedo pola mañá. Supoño que o desexo de coñecer a cidade puido máis que a miña fatiga física. Puiden gozar das vistas do apartamento desde a miña habitación, que á súa vez resultou ser a sala de estar, pero non pasa nada, estou feliz.

Despois do pequeno almorzo, baixamos para coñecer un pouco o pobo. Ficamos ben sorprendidos de saber que vivimos na rúa principal do centro histórico do pobo, chamado "Stari Grad" en croata.

   (Nosa FERMOSA rúa en Labin.) 💗

    LABIN, ISTRIA. CIDADE VELLA / STARI GRAD

Non podía esquecer mencionar que tamén tivemos a oportunidade e pracer de coñecer a Jelena, presidenta da asociación "Alfa Albona", asociación na cal nós desenvolvemos o noso EVS (European Volunteer Service). Ela convidounos a un café. Eu non son un amante do café, pero teño entendido que en Croacia o café é delicioso. Eu escollín unha cervexa, sen sorpresas... a cabra tira ao monte. En concreto escollín unha das cervexas máis importantes de Croacia. 

PREZO PINTA: 15-20 KN / 2-3 €.

   LEMBRA: Kuna é a modea oficial de Croacia

Primeira clase de croata: "PIVO" é cervexa e "živjeli!" é saúde!

   Ožujsko Pivo 🍻🍻🍻

Moitas grazas, isto foi a primeira parte do post. Publicarei a segunda parte moi cedo.

Deica logiño e que teñades unha boa viaxe.