The Peeing Woman Sculpture

Stocking Up on Supplies

The Hobbit House

Finding the Local Rythm

Morning: Fred makes coffee and we sip it on the terrace. We might hang out - make another pot - or we might take a walk. If we go up, we can see the peeing woman fountain at the nearby "art club."

If we go down, we can prowl the empty white streets, pick up an "International Herald" and maybe some groceries. If Fred is given free reign, he will lead us off the beaten, polished paths and strike off into the back alleyways - to places like "Cat Corner..." The locals know how to keep you out if they are so inclined -- they just put up temporary fencing.

It was on one of these walks that we found a couple of good bars/swimming locations -- nestled into the fortress walls right on the water. We make a note to come back later, when it has gotten hotter. We also discovered the "hobbit door" place - can't get there without getting your feet wet, I reckon. We find grocery stores off the beaten path where the prices are lower and bread has a soft crust and is baked fresh every morning. One has fat wine vats behind the counter and the unsmiling man who works there will fill up your plastic water bottle with a decent white for something like a dollar.

Early morning is a nice time to work or relax on the terrace, but by 10 the shade is disappearing and by 11 even the small circle under the red bull (that stuff truly is everywhere!) umbrella is too hot for comfort. That is when we head to the internet cafe - down one level, one "street" over. It calls itself air conditioned, but that is only barely. Still, it is a friendly place and when the older guy is working the music is turned low and cool - he is a big fan of John Mayall. When the younger guy is working, the beat is louder and more frantic and the game players are banging the pleasure machines. The connection is never fast, but the rates are cheap, the pivo (beer) is cold and they don't mind our hooking up our Macs. My Yahoo homepage headlines yammer about the massive heat wave gripping Europe this summer - no shit.

By 3 or 4 we are done working and doing e-mail and ready for a swim somewhere. There are plenty of places to do so but the town's lone pubic beach ain't one of them - worse then the Rad at spring break. We might try one of the aforementioned fortress wall bars - though getting in and out of the water there can be tricky (not a problem for Fred, but a big probme for me.) My favorite spot is the pier directly south of our apartment. There is almost always a few screaming kids there, but not so many that I freak out. There are some recreational facilities there, and once Fred jumped into an inpromptu game of water polo with some kids.

The water here is very clear and very deep -- and so very cold. Quite refreshing but I don't need a whole lot of it at a time to get cooled off, so I read. I have finished the ancient New Yorker, as well as the book of Updike's short stories we picked up in Bari.

8/7 - We will be leaving here in the morning - we have reservations to catch a ferry back to Italy on 8/10 from the Croation Island of Hvar, where we hope to find a room. Not sure when the next ftp opportunity will be... so ciao for niao - sf