Some whoosh and shake in Dalmatia

Yesterday evening it again attacked us. It came behind the mountains, strengthened with the support of the freezing forces of the north. While diving into the pass between mountains it was pressed like a diamond under pressure and its power got more scary. From the pass it hit us, it was everywhere and it surely showed its mighty power. Bura, that gloomy northern wind.

The local meteorological center had already issued a formal red warning to the Dalmatian area in good time, luckily bura is not coming as suprise. The motorway was completely closed from traffic, often there is only a ban on large vehicles such as trucks and vans, but now all. There are breaks in the ferry service to the close by islands at sea and boats are urged to stay in ports. Here, the coast was warned of damages on buildings and other structures. When the wind blows up to 140km/h (that's about 39m/s) you surely should hold on to your hat.

When the night fell on us, it finally hit our village. Kitchen hood was buzzing and clattering even though it wasn´t turned on. The gusts bumbed into the walls of the house and howled around corners, on the balcony citrus and laurel trees were blowed from the dust and spider's quite effectively. The electricity broke down a couple of times darkening the whole village and rain was hitting the windows with the power of the wind. I went to bed being happy I had strong concrete walls around me instead of that straw house that sheltered three little piglets in the children story in witch the wolf blowed the house away.

In the middle of the night I woke up to the sound of my wardrobe doors clattering. At first I wondered how the wind could catch them until I realized the bed was shaking. Mother Nature sure was putting on a show and added an earthquake to this spectacle. Fortunately, it quickly faded away. As I learned in the morning the center was located little over twenty kilometers from here and it was  3.6 magnitude on the Richter scale.

The morning was sunny and calm, new day started out as usual. Even confusingly usual, where were the damages of the storm? Here the plants have bura resistance in their genes, they do bend but do not break under these winds. The tile roofs are not torn to the wind, they are firmly attached to their base. Except some occasional light garbage containers or other small stuff, everything is where it should be. In January last year, bura was windmilling deserted Christmas trees as tumbleweed at the desert, nothing like that this time.

The three buras of March are kind of concept in here. Actually, they are quite expected cause after the storms warm days are coming and it´s time to head towards summer. There is already a lot of buds in the lemon tree waiting for the nice sunny days so they can open.

Encounter with locals

I usually have 1-2 hour walk everyday with Tiuku and so did we yesterday also. As we were walking down the village road an elderly couple approached us on the street. As it often happens, they also started to speak something to Tiuku. That something sounded like baby talk and at least term small dog was mentioned in it. Tiuku stopped politely to listen with the tail waving and as often happens when the movement stops, her hind legs started to shake slightly.

This shaking makes people generally think that the dog is either cold or scared. Being cold is a pretty funny idea especially in the summer heat and with moderately hairy dog. But of course, you never know. Terriers shake, often it is said that it's kind of being prepared shake, a way to stay warm and ready for example to go after a rat at any time without danger of ruptures or other damage. When Tiuku was younger she also had that kind of shake, a bit different than the one she is having now. According to several opinions I have received from vets and other professionals this is due to an old age and aging of the nervous system. It doesn´t affect on her movement and it does not seem to bother the dog any way.

From the dog's physiology, we go back to the elderly couple. When they saw the vibration in the legs, they were wondering if there was something wrong with her? I assured them that there is no problem. I told the dog is just old, 13.5 years already and that´s why she is shaking a bit. And now comes the most important thing: all this conversation happened in the local language, no English or any other language was used. However, my dialect hopelessly revealed them that I´m not local so they were eager to know where I'm from. The knowledge of me coming from Finland gave them a very positive reaction and they very much praised my language skills. They asked if I live here and I said I have been in the country for 1.5 years. They seemed very happy and with the big smile they reiterated that it was so great that I had learned the language so well. It seemed to be a big thing for them. We continued in our own ways with happy smile.

In the name of honesty, the level of my Croat language is still very much at the point of beginner basics. But yes, it is quite surprising how well I understood yesterday and I was able to understandably communicate back. However, the greatest joy came from the encounter itself. Its genuineness and warmth, the interest and positive feedback shown by totally unknown people. I smiled all the way home and even after that. And this was not the only time something like this happened in here. Once after a few minutes of conversation (that time in English) with a complete stranger I surprisingly was given a bunch of oranges straight from the tree. At the beach I often meet an elderly lady, with whom we are having discussions in Croat and with the power of body language in very good spirit. And many other joyful moments with different people.

All these encounters has one thing in common. I have never experienced a negative attitude because of my foreign background. Usually the opposite. Often at first people seem to think I´m local, especially during the winter season when there are no tourists here and more so if there is a dog with me. When it turns out I do not necessarily speak so fluently in the local language and if the language skills of the opposite party are not the strongest area of ​​expertise, then with a smile they will spin some words in English or maybe German or at least there is a lot of vivid body language if they have something to say. And I'm trying to understand and be understood.

Hope that today you will meet someone completely unknown, create contact and get a great feeling about that.

Winter came to Dalmatia but the Finn is disappointed

Attached picture will describe this week quite widely on European scale. However, it was taken a month ago, not in Croatia, but in Sotkamo, Finland. There were 60 cm of snow and about -15 degrees. Normal day during winter time. We walked through forest to the hut, grilled sausages on open fire and drank some hot rum from a thermos bottle. Normal winter day activity.

Now, during this week we have experienced, heard and seen something not so normal. On the other side of the Adriatic Sea, Italy has measured -40 degrees, in Rome people have been skiing on the grassy slopes of the parks, in Barcelona the F1 cars remained in the garage when the snow covered the track. In England ski resorts had to close due to excessive snow. Schools have been closed across Europe and the roads have turned to one huge bumber car track. Even in Finland instructions were given to survive in a freezing atmosphere although the degrees that are now experienced are quite normal especially in the north. Right now it is reported that Geneva airport has been closed due to snowfall. At the same time in the Arctic region there is a heatwave and the snow melts away. What a bizarre moment in time.

Also here we have been experiencing quite crispy days. The Siberian breeze finally reached Dalmatia after hitting the northern inland with up to a couple of meters of snow. Yes, in Croatia. Here on the coastline and on the islands we just got a thin white cover, somewhere a bit more than other places. It's been six years since the last time winter surprised the Dalmatians, therefore this was not exactly the normal situation. And due to that, it sure was quite a hassle around it. Already throughout the previous week the upcoming winter hazard was among the top news. The ten point survival list was published including important notes like beware of walking under snowy trees and make sure you have enough food and drink at least for elderly and children. It was advised not to go anywhere by car and better not to go by foot either unless you have proper shoes. As a Finn who just came back from very wintry Finland, all this fuss made me smile a little. 

On the other hand, I almost expected such a good armageddon just to see how it would go. But no luck in that. Here in our village in Podstrana it can not be said that the land even became white. We didn't get bura wind that was expected or at least it did not hit Podstrana this time. It has now been a few minus degrees for three nights, but that's it. The schools were open normally and the cars have been sliding only with sand that was sprinkled on the roads as precaution. Which in itself is quite funny. I did take out my winter jacket and beanie to make sure I stayed warm when going out during these few chilly days. Last winter in Murter I felt much colder when thermometer showed minus ten days nonstop and bura came down hard. There was no snow back then but it was really cold. Compared to that these last days have been just a little frosty bite.

Today is still a chilly day. It even snowed little bit earlier but it melted away and left a ground wet. However, this is at least here the last day of winter. Tomorrow I do not need to wear winter jacket anymore but I still hold on to my woolen stockings for now.