The Soccer Semi Final

Omg! Shoba n I drive in with our charming guide/driver/now friend Tomislav into Dubrovnik just in time to shower n change and race down to a huge multilevel terraced bar right in the Adriatic where clutches of people are amassed in front of huge TV screens to watch the semi final between Croatia and UK–first time since 1998 Croatia made it to the semis and are now in the finals! The celebrations after a fantastically close and evenly matched game were wild and such fun to be part of! Red flares, blue, red, white fireworks, thousands of cheering shouting Croats and sympatico tourists like us… flag-waving shirtless guys and woman in bikini climbing a flagpole (!) chanting and singing and jumping up and down….. then as we walked up long steep stairs to our place we got lost… wandered into an open living room where 3 guys were watching tv and drinking beer and invited us to drink with them (which ofcourse we did!)– then they gave us directions and passing yet more cheering fans heading back to their respective homes we too staggered back in at around 1 am….We felt safe and surrounded by a tide of joy and pride which in a sports saturated cultural moment, felt more than ok to be a part of…I’ll take competition/winning/losing playing soccer anytime over its uglier alternatives!This morning Tomislav came wildly happy and took us to his friends restaurant on the sea and after a delicious breakfast of cappuccino and wine soaked creamy crepes we are off on a good start to yet another exciting day in paradise…. More later on our incredible train ride from Belgrade to Podgorica and the meandering day down the Adriatic yesterday…..