Sapore di sale!

Salt water! Not the sweet water of the Werdersee, not even the brackish water of the Baltic. Salty (but really salty) water from the Mediterranean. The salt makes all the difference. It adds that smell that tickles the nose, that strong and pungent taste, especially when the water gets into your nose while swimming. True; It leaves everything a bit sticky and your hair stodgy. But when it dries on the skin it also gives a whitish veil to fine hairs, which, as if dusted with sugar, shimmer silvery in response to the sun's rays. And this whole crystal-clear, sticky feeling that seems annoying is actually so unique and characteristic of summer holidays (especially for an Italian) that it is special. Not for nothing did they even make a song about it (here).

It is precisely this salty feeling that brings me home as soon as I take a bath in Split. To get here, the first real stop on this trip, we crossed the green Alps and the crisp mountain air, it was a journey from the cold of Munich at dawn, to the warmth of Salzburg, to the heat of Split. Besides the salt water, so much else in Croatia reminds me of Italy, my home: the vegetation, the colours, the buildings, the coffee. On the other hand, we are not so far away, sitting on the beach I feel like I can wave hello to my dear friend Alex who lives on the other side. The closeness I feel is, however, immediately broken as soon as I hear people talking. Before I even go to read something about the origins of the Croatian language, its sound takes me far away from the languages of Greek-Latin origin. In Croatian 'good morning' is said 'dobro jutro' which sounds almost the same as the Russian 'dobrai utra'. Where are we then? I think there could be no better start to this trip than Croatia with its mixed feeling of home and exotic.

Highlights of the trip: passing the time at Zagreb train station, waiting for the train to Split. We weren't the only ones, but all kinds of groups kept us company: groups of young girls/boys clearly in Croatia to celebrate the end of school while waiting for university to start, large families with children-parents-grandparents and other random relatives ready for a beach holiday, couples passing through.

The friendliest person: the girl sitting next to me on the Munich-Salzburg train. When I asked Peter out loud if there was wifi on the train she offered to make me a hot-spot so I could connect to the internet.

Food: the fish from Split (especially the squid ink risotto)

Music: traditional Austrian songs sung by a group of men in traditional clothes