I was doing one of those 25 things things. I never do memes on the blog, why I did one on Facebook, well, I dunno. I have NOT done any of the follow-up memes. 48 things, etc.
Anyway, here was things #23: I once got "stranded" on a rock in the former Yugoslavia (when it was still Yugoslavia). My friends and I made our way into town and I bought and ate some mallomars. They tasted better than any cookie ever had before or since.
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A friend asked for more info on what had happened. Here's my response. I should note that I have now corrected my spelling of the cookie in question. It's Mallomar. I'm going to maintain that it should have a w, but acknowledge that it doesn't.
My response:
In the late 1980s, I traveled with friends from Italy, up through Austria, and down into Yugoslavia. The train to Zagreb was fine, the train from Zagreb to Split was not.
Once we arrived in Split, we explored the city and decided to take a ferry one day to Hvar, an island off the coast. We were the only Americans, probably the only English speakers, and certainly the youngest people of the ferry. The ferry arrived at a rock. It opened itself up and we got off. Everyone else drove off in cars or was picked up. The ferry closed and started back to Split. There we were standing on the rock.
There was NOTHING there. Alone.
Off in what looked like an impossible distance to travel was a town. We climbed up the road and down into the town (it wasn't actually very far). It turned out to be a pleasant resort town, largely closed for the winter (it was March). We wandered around, found a small grocery store. I bought the best Mallomars ever. When we saw the ferry headed back toward us, we walked back to the rock.
In our exploration of the town, we found a path along the harbor that got us back to the rock without having the climb the road/hill. We arrived as the ferry did and boarded it back to Split.
That night we had goulash, and the following night we took the overnight ferry to Bari.
It was that moment on the rock. I wanted to jump in the Adriatic and swim down the ferry.
That and the Mallomars.
2 comments:
Oh my gosh, those look soooo good!
I've never liked Mallomars, nor any chocolate/cookie/marshmallow combination NOT served piping hot from a campfire. However, I've also never been stranded on a rock in the former Yugoslavia, and I acknowledge that an emotional migration could take place during such a period of uncertainty that would make me love Mallomars forever. Human psychology is a funny thing.
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