for February 2009.
BEST VIEWED IN FULL SCREEN

Welcome to the umpteenth edition of my blog.
Having run out of anything interesting to say in a general sense I am now constrained to using these pages to merely update those odd hardy souls who give a monkey's about what I get up to.... and I love you all for that!

So January 2009 is upon us and we all have to add that extra year to our ever-increasing number, scary isn't it. Never mind, it'll be that bit worse next year. Firstly, a word about money and being an ex-pat. The Euro dominates everything in the EU and in all the countries surrounding it. The Croatian Kuna is a Mickey-Mouse currency which has it's value dictated by the central bank here, in practice, that means it's tied to the Euro. Bit of a pain when your income is in sterling which continues to slide in an ever downwards direction. So, in an attempt to avoid becoming a victim, I have got out of sterling and possess Euros, Swiss francs and a few US dollars. It was a painful time to buy foreign currency but the gamble is (and it's a big one) that sterling will continue to slide and it will become ever more painful to buy anything with it. If George Soros says the UK currency is "finished" then I guess we should all take notice. I am a rank amateur at this so don't do anything as a result of my gambling, make up your own mind. These are 'interesting' times to be sure.

It's mid-winter, not as bad as early winter (because the end is that much sooner) but certainly not my favourite time of year. This winter sees me attempting to stick to a healthier life-style, no booze, fags, hamburgers etc. When I have the oomph! I walk along the canal (left pic) which stretches from Varazdin all the way to Slovenia. I haven't got that far yet but, bit by bit, I'll get there.

As it's now the ski season and a we have several good resorts within a 2-hour drive, it made sense to splash out on a set of skis (right pic) - what other make could I possibly buy? Silva replaced her old Elan's for a pair of Rossignols so we're now able to load up and go skiing. It's great not having to pack all the ski stuff and fly somewhere and then sod about in the rental shop, I can understand why skiing is such a popular European past-time. All I need now are the posh Raybans!

New Year's eve was spent in the huge house of our friends Dragutin and Etika Vidocek-Hains. Silva's boys went to various places in the city so this was her first new-year wihout them. I reckon they were mad in that no less than five teenage girls were with us (left pic) eating like the next day would bring famine - but that's the Croatian way, meat and cakes, in no particular order. Namely they are Nera B, Dora, Nera H, Hanja, Etika (no longer a teenager) and Ana.

We also got to meet Drazen and Jadranka, Ana's parents (middle pic) who said they couldn't speak much English before speaking it like a couple of natives. I can only assume that English is much easier to learn than Croatian - either that or I'm an idiot. Midnight came and went accompanied by the usual fireworks displays, both corporate and private, although I found it so damn cold I was happy when we could all go back inside ... for more meat and cakes.

A few days later, the snow finally arrived. Not too much but enough for a few inches of covering and to transform everything into the clean white views that people, except me, seem to enjoy so much. It did bring warmer temperatures, about -5^oC so there was a silver lining even for me. The view (right pic) is from our bedroom window looking north towards the forest and river Drava. As I write this, however, the temperatrures have risen above zero and all is now green again except for the high ground where the skiing season has been a good one.

So, as the high ground seems to have plenty of snow, off we went a skiing. Firstly to Slijeme, a hill/mountain just north of Zagreb where they hold a round of the World Cup downhill races every year. It's a good place for hiking, toboganning (is that a word?) and messing about in the snow. It is very busy on weekends however but it does have great restaurants.

Next to Golte in Slovenia. Being up an Alp on clear sunny days (left pic) is a beautiful experience and we spent a few days there with the Vidocek-Hains family. Golte can be accessed only by a 2-car gondola, one is up whilst the other is down. This can be a pain whilst queueing to get up to the resort and again when trying to come back down. However, all this restricts the amount of people who can be on the slopes so a queue-free day results - smashing! Unfortunately, I found that my new skis are no more skilled than were the old ones, I want my money back!

After Golte, we went to Rogla, also in Slovenia. My ski jacket zip chose the Golte trip to lose the little thing what goes up and down on the zipper. Having spent most of the day looking like a skiing hobo, erdanslemaison bought me this fetching red number (right pic) to match the huge goggles I need to contain me specs! Sad innit? At least I've still got me teef.... mostly anyway.

(left pic) The Hains family at Rogla with erdanslemaison. (right pic) Nera Hains - making sure the cold doesn't get through. She's in there somewhere.

Introducing the Vidocek-Hains family, it should be spelt Vidoček-Hainš but i'm not sure if the special slavic/latin letters will work on your computer. Left to right are:- Nera the actress and youngest daughter with Dad Dragec. Then Silva's Petar-Kresimir with Hanja the gymnast... followed by Silva with old friend from University - Etika.

Varazdin boasts a new sports hall, a massive construction set by the river Drava (left pic). This is one of about five other newly built indoor facilities around Croatia in order to host the World Hand-ball championships. Teams from every continent are currently fighting it out to be crowned world champs, Germany currently hold that crown but look like losing it if current form is anything to go by. Big question:- What will Varazdin do with such a huge facility after the world cup? We already have more than ample sporting places and local people are concerned about the cost of keeping this place going. As for hand-ball, it grows on you. It's a tough sport played by people of normal stature, you don't have to be a freak to excel at it - unlike high-jumpers, gymnasts, basketball and water polo players, all of whom have to be either giants or midgets. Varazdin is currently overrun with visiting Macedonians - the country the Greeks insist on calling "Former Yugoslav Republic of..." or "FYR Macedonia" for pretty stupid reasons. Their hand-ball team is doing well and they are having a great time in the beer marquees and town squares. They've livened the place up no end.

This is Fran Ernoic (left pic), Despite my entreaties, parents Miki (Silva's brother) and Lola refused to name him 'Ernie' which, I think, would have given him a nice alliterative touch with which to go through life. He seems to be practising his "one day I'll be president" pose.
My annual spoonful of culture was provided (free as it happens) by the local "Pan-European Society" by way of a celebratory concert by one of Croatia's orchestras (right pic). Frankly, being a bit of a philistine, the pieces, all penned by Croatian composers, were a bit "out there" in a kind of Bartok-ish sort of way. Very clever and all that but not exactly foot-tappin' stuff, - always a reliable sign. We got invited back-stage to "canape" with the band etc. I always feel much more at home having a beer with the janitors.

Stop press

1. Off soon to see daughter Clare, her hubby Philip and my Grand-kids at their home in the French Alps at Megeve, I can't wait. We're going to drive across Croatia, Slovenia, Italy and through the Mont-Blanc tunnel. Should be a good 10 hour trip, we'll be following tomtom's instructions.
2. We're looking to sell the apartment in Varazdin in order to stop having to worry about the upkeep of it. If we sell it, where's a good place to put money these days? Pork bellies?
3. Silva's mum Marika is now down to using just one crutch. She goes to the shops and can cook and do a few things around the house. It's been a long haul but there's light at the end of the tunnel.
4. I've still not got my residency visa renewed. We think we've found a way around it by obtaining every single form in current use, adding every available rubber stamp to each of them and then talking to every single official in a bar somewhere. It might just work.

For the latest updates, go to pf500.com and hit the 'Fisch's BLOG' button.
[December 2008]