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.

Year in Croatia: living life to the fullest

It was a little over year ago when we drove across Europe to the Adriatic Sea. We became emigrants, expatriates and immigrants.

The past 12 months has given us tremendously, so many new things and experiences. I just watched the pictures I have taken over the year and they made me smile several times when remembering all those moments. There are sunny walks on the new trails by the beach in Murter, our Christmas atmosphere a year ago, the festive atmosphere of the February carnival, wild asparagus last spring, collecting sea shells from the beach, a great sailing trip in the spring winds, trips to the nearby islands and southern coast all the way to Montenegro, the visits of the loved ones here, the concert road trip to Pula, wonderful evenings on the terrace under the vine, turquoise sea, ancient fortresses, all the wonderful flavours. Most recently, our visit to Zagreb to celebrate the 100th anniversary of independent Finland at the Embassy party. And much more.

It hasn´t been just moments of smile. I've chopped rock hard firewood with nearly handleless ax, encountered several meters of poisonous worms, trembled in freezing temperatures in the chilling embrace of bura wind. I have been afraid of losing our home and even for my own safety while the summer forest fires raged, cleaned the terrace due to the ash that came from the sky after the forest fires. I have got out of bed well before six in the morning in order to be able go out for the walk with the dog before the sun appears to the sky during the worst heat wave.

I have encountered people. People who have met us with open arms and sometimes welcomed us into their lives as well. Sometimes even in astonishing ways. Helpfulness and genuine warm harted attitude have impressed me, over and over again. When a neighbor's old man waits for us on his driveway in the darkening night as we return from our two hour walk just to give me a bag full of mandarin and pomegranate or when our landlady pops in with the bowl of hot freshly cooked shrimps. Or when the fishermen on the beach are greeting me happily and smiling at a funny little dog who is so excited about the fishing. Or when our local friend comes from her home village with vegetables grown by her mother and with a big chunk of cheese. Or when in a small Austrian village one night we are creating friendships that will make us return again and again. Or when the small hence close-knit Finnish community here understands the joy of getting some liver casserole as a present from Finland and also confirmed that the Croatian word really is one and the same for both cranberries and lingonberries.

The year has taught, demanded and rewarded. It has made me laugh and cry.

Day after tomorrow we will begin our road trip to Finland, it´s going to be our longest visit there so far: one and a half months with travel. What are we waiting for? Getting to sauna for sure, seeing the people we love, both family and friends. Hopefully a bit of fun in winter wonderland. Of course some of the good tastes we have not been getting here at least so often. Campfire in the forest with some good things to eat and drink, the atmosphere of the traditional outdoor sauna and from sauna to have a break from the gentle heat to chilly outside under the starry sky. Visiting Vuokatti area in the more northern part of Finland. After all that it is good to return home, back here on the Adriatic coast. Cause here our home is. At least for now.

One bag at the time. Or even two.

It started little by little. I picked up a plastic wrap from the beach and tossed it into the bin near by. When swimming past some floating trash I brought it to the shore and to the trash bin. Then came the morning when on my dog walk on the beach I noticed an empty plastic bag and ended up filling it with other trash before throwing it into a large waste bin. I started wondering how trashy the seemingly clean beaches are. A small stone gravel hides quite well the bottle caps, plastic coffee spoons and all that little rubbish. Not to mention the cigarette butts. I started to take fruit bags or other bags with me every morning and pick up the trash as I walked along. My walks slowed down considerably due to this new squat exercise of mine, but I ended up happier. The best moments are when some passing joggers or other people enjoying the morning by the beach give positive comments and sometimes even pick up a thing or two into my bag. I've been spotted by the guys who are taking care of the trash bins of the beach and they are greeting me happily when we meet. Sure, these guys also pick up the biggest stuff along their route, but they do not have time to squat because of every little piece of plastic while other jobs are waiting. But I have that time.

Quite soon I started to run out of the plastic bags at home due to this new hobby of mine. It seemed a little insane to buy plastic bags separately so that I could collect plastic rubbish into them. Fortunately, our latest visit to Finland hit the spot and I came back with a couple of rolls of biodegradable 20-liter bags. I haven´t spotted these here, not sure if there are any available. Now at least my trash collecting bags are disappearing without any traces. For same reason the dog poop bags we use are also still imported, so I can use rapidly biodegradable versions for that use also. Big thanks for my cousin who got me 10 rolls of them from Finland while on holiday here since I forgot those myself. 

While the tourist season starting to end little by little, the beaches will hopefully be cleaner. So far I have filled one bag easily every morning and the length of the beach I walk by is not even that long. But there is still work to do elsewhere. The more closely I look, the more trashy the rest of my morning walk route appears to be. So I'm going to continue this one-woman's Bag at a Time -project and expand it from the beach to the upper slopes of Podstrana. The Bioska's bags will be on my standard list of things to bring from Finland, at least until I find the same kind of product from here. (Note, I have not received any compensation or reward from Bioska / Plasti Roll company for this product visibility and I have paid for all the bags myself. For more info on the products, check out the web page in english)

There are some things even I can do nothing about. What do you think of the final disposal place of this mattress or toilet seat? Unfortunately here too, some people think the waste can be thrown almost anywhere. Along the same road there is a tractor tire, a lot of some kind of cable, mixed construction waste and of course a lot of that small litter suited to my capacity. And the road doesn´t seem to be passing through any landfill, it goes by olive trees and next to the pine forest. I like the route because it gives you the feeling of being on the countryside. Only when one goes by daily and starts to really look around, the trashy truth is revealed.

Recycling here in Croatia only takes little baby steps. In Finland I had already become accustomed to such an amazing system that the shock when coming here was quite strong. I still feel bad putting bio waste into mixed waste. Fortunately here at our neighborhood there are separate collecting bins for plastic, paper and glass in addition to mixed waste. At least I can recycle something here. The bottle recycling system is so confusing that I do not even start to go through that now. That is why especially glass bottles still often end up on the roadsides or other wrong places. But things are going ahead here, slowly but still. I remember from my early childhood more than 30 years ago how the garbage bags were taken to a pit dug into the woods. Then at some point that pit was covered and new one was dug. That small village in the middle of the forest was not on the route of the garbage truck at that time. However I could swear that there was quite a small amount of waste produced by our family at that time compared to the present day. Long way have we come from that time. Nowadays even the traditional dumps are beginning to be history due to the fine energy-producing waste incineration plants and other waste management. It would definitely be a time in Finland to work more globally with this matter, to bring that knowledge and enviromental thinking forward. There really is a need for it.

However, everything is not ideal in Finland either, although in many areas environmental issues are in a very good shape. In the spring with my mother, we cleaned her normal morning walking route from litter before the hays grew to cover them. Several bags were collected from a few kilometers length of roadside. It felt so bad to pick up the take-away coffee cups with a plastic covers from the ditch, next to the cigarette packs and candy bags. For me it feels totally irrational to just throw litter out of the car window or toss it into the roadside while walking. But clearly for some it´s not an issue. People's attitudes surely are the biggest obstacle to promoting environmental issues.

But I do what I can do here. One bag at a time. And sometimes when I happen to find an empty plastic bag, then two bags at a time. Perhaps after seeing me doing this people will think at least a little next time they hold that empty pack in their hands. And if one of them ends up putting it to the nearest bin, I am very happy.