It’s Official. Spring is here and so are the tourists!

Week of April 17 - 23^rd, 2011

A beautiful week full of sunshine and warm spring temperatures!

Steve was busy this week preparing for several seminars he’ll be giving soon and I spent lots of time walking around Pula and taking more photos and listening to lots of German and Italian. 

Link for photos https://picasaweb.google.com/100390625521976559356/WalkingAroundPulaPart2#


I’m hoping all this walking and our Mediterranean type diet means I’m not gaining any weight over here.  The veggies and fruits all taste so good here.  They seem fresher than what is available back home.  And the scallions look like they’re on steroids here!  There are some different salad greens here that all taste good and add a nice variety to our salads.  We can get all the fruits and veggies we’re used to and more at the Green Market in the City Center so we’re very happy with the food over here.  Even the meat and poultry tastes better.  And the egg shells are much harder to crack!  And the fish…fresh off the boats every morning!  Everything is delicious!  And a little expensive too.

In Pula I’ve noticed many more women wearing dresses or skirts instead of slacks or jeans like in the US.  Lots of dark stockings and dark colors for their clothes and even some fish-net stockings too!  Wonder if that will change after Easter this Sunday?

People also dress up for church here.  No slacks for the women in church.  In Oklahoma, jeans are acceptable to wear to church for both men and women!

The other thing I’ve noticed is the fanny pack.  It’s still popular here but is usually found on the front of the person, not the fanny.  Lots of man-purses too.  But don’t expect to see Steve with one!

Unrelated to my walking around observations:  The USA has 6 times zones, counting the time zones in Alaska and Hawaii.  It’s still hard for me to realize here in Croatia I’m living in the same time zone as so many other countries:  the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Serbia, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Liechtenstein, Spain, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Belgium, Denmark, Albania, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, and San Marino.  Even more surprising to me is that several counties on the African continent are also in the same time zone:  Algeria, Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Tunisia, and Zambia.  Thanks to the Internet for helping me compile this list – I only knew some of the European countries and a few of the African countries too.

I don't know why some of the countries are in bold and others aren't.  In the text I copied and pasted, none are in bold type.