Pomalo

Akuna Matata, pura vida, and hang loose all basically mean the same thing to chill, slow down or just take it easy.

In Croatia, they say pomalo. To those in Dalmatia it is a way of life.

After a very active and busy time in Turkey the Heroes (see blogpost-Hellespont Heroes) were in need of some pomalo. A time to re-connect with the sea, new and old friends and why we like to swim.

So it was off to Prvic Luka for a Swim Trek week in the Dalmatian Islands. Prvic is about couple hours northwest of Split in one of the 1200 islands that dot the Adriatic Sea in Croatia.

We arrived at Hotel Maestral by boat. This small hotel sits at the end of a quaint harbor on this car-less island.

There were 14 Swim Trekkers in total. Most all had met on a previous trip or two. They were Brits, Aussie’s, a German an Irish person and three Yanks.

It was quite apparent after the acclimatization swim and dinner that this group was fun and we were going to have a great week. I felt very fortunate to have been invited to attend.

While the islands were only 20-30 minutes away from the mainland they all felt so remote with an air of pomalo. The surrounding Adriatic waters were amazing shades of blue and turquoise. Every day post breakfast we would march down to the boat and meet up with the amazing Swim Trek team; Eoin, Ella our guides and boat captain, Boyan.

The Swim Trek team depending on the day and the weather conditions had mapped out a variety of different swims; coastal swims, circumnavigations and a couple of crossings.

We would leisurely swim about 2500 meters in the morning and then pull into a small harbor or cove and have lunch. After lunch, we changed locations and swam another 2500 meters or so. There were shenanigans to be sure; it could be someone hiding the Nutella, or the same person pulling on swimmers feet or racing for the boat at the end of a swim (hmmm…one person comes to mind). On the other hand there was looking for sea shells and sea life or just hanging out or looking for gelato.

Pre-dinner yoga was offered (thank you Christine) followed by Gin Trek aka happy hour (thank you Janty). Dinner tended to be in smaller groups and then it was early-ish to bed and then happily we did the same thing all over again the next day. Kinda like lather, rinse, repeat. Honestly, it felt like adult summer camp. I love it.

There are so many fond memories however there are a few things that really stood out to me. First, I am not sure how it really happened but in the afternoons spontaneous dance parties would break out. Music truly unites and despite the various nationalities people were singing and dancing together. In fact, our boat captain Boyan enabled the mayhem by bringing a boom box for us to take it up a notch (not that we needed it).

Second, as we were all generally the same age we laughed about our future swim vacations in our later years and how we would need to rebrand our trips to Silver Trek. What age related accommodations would be needed? Thankfully there were two youngers Yuko and Tanja that volunteered to take of the elders in the future. 😂.

And lastly, the comfortableness and ease of conversation when you get a group of people together of a similar age that share a passion for swimming and water. Conversations of the silly and inane to reflective thoughts of life stages and insight are strong positive memories.

I am not sure when or where this group of Swim Trekkers or dare I say Silver Trekkers, will meet again…however I am sooo looking forward to it.

Part two of this adventure was a cycling tour of Croatia from Split to Dubrovnik in the beautiful Dalmatian islands. Alert-I know is a swim blog however I think I can pull this transition off from swimming to biking under the heading of continued pomalo.🤞🏽

As I was swim trekking Shannon was traveling on her own in Bosnia and Croatia learning the violent history of this young-ish country. We met up in Split with our fun and adventurous friends Lynn and Steve from Bend. We were going to embark on something we have never done before—a bike tour! Yep-basically a swim trek but on bikes.

There were 20 people in our group all interestingly enough from the United States. We were led by three guides; Dali, Hrv and Kiki that were awesome and exemplified the meaning of pomalo.

Much like swimming our days started with breakfast and a briefing of the days ride. My friend Steve and I were on regular road bikes and it became quite apparent quite quickly that being in swimming shape is not the same as biking shape.

Our rides would take us from Split to the islands of Brac, Hvar and Korcula and eventually Dubrovnik. The scenery was beautiful and with great photo ops.

Biking was so different than seeing things from water level. Mid-day we would stop for lunch in a little village and followed that night by dinner. The food and each individual dining experience was unique and fabulous. From olive museums, water side cafes, to warm konobas set in someones home or small restaurant. Not sure what I expected however the food was excellent. Good food is always a plus.

There were some days where the elevation gain was a bit more than I expected. Nevertheless we persisted. In fact, twice in one day I felt “the hand of Dali’ on my back gently pushing me up hill ☺️.

Strong remembrances were Steve from behind saying super fluid, super fluid as we would approach an upcoming hill or likely me beginning to slow down.

Lynn and Shannon also practiced their own sense of pomalo by sampling the figs along the roadside.

On Korcula, one morning we had a rain delay and I was able to find an open water pool to do some laps…ahhh.

The most fun was spending time with Lynn & Steve outside of Bend and seeing and doing something different and meeting new and interesting people. I think we will even be able to get a few to folks to come visit Bend.

In reflecting back to both adventures it seems like one key to happiness and I suspect longevity is community, connection and relationships. That was certainly the case with the swimmers and bikers we met in Croatia.

I opened my last blog Hellespont Heroes referencing Greek mythology so I guess I will bring this European adventure full circle by referencing the Greek god Kairos. Kairos is one of the symbols of Trogir, Croatia and the god of happy moments. Happy moments can fly by fast and we may not always notice or appreciate them at the time. In that spirit, here’s to living with our eyes wide open and collecting and appreciating happy moments everyday.

Zivjeli (cheers) Croatia!

The happy moments didn’t end in Croatia! A quick postscript on our two stops traveling home.

First up London where we got to catch up with old friends. So fun!

Second stop Iceland. Dramatic, stunning and powerful. Can’t wait to go back.