Dear Friends,
I hope all is well. Let me tell you a story.
I was searching through old photos the other day, and I found two that reminded me of a strange and funny occurrence.
Martha and I traveled with friends on a Viking Ocean cruise. We started in Barcelona, Spain, and went east along the Mediterranean shoreline, past France and Italy, then popped across the Adriatic Sea to Greece and Croatia, then back across the Adriatic Sea to end the cruise in Venice. One of our ports of call in Croatia was the lovely city of Dubrovnik. Part of the city is a walled town known as, well, Old Town.
Old Town’s claim to fame these days is that it was the site of the castle scenes in the Prime video series “Game of Thrones.” It’s a very cool place.
As we toured the Old Town with our friends, we stopped at a little sidewalk cafe. It was on a narrow street paved with flat stones. We quickly learned that the part of the café was indoors on the left side of the street and they used a storeroom on the right side of the street. While it was a sidewalk café, there was no sidewalk—we were sitting on the edge of this medieval street.
While we enjoyed some ale and snacks, I noticed some weird activity by the staff. I saw people sticking their heads out the café door, looking at us, then popping back inside. That wasn’t too strange, but sometimes it was two or more people at the same time. It reminded me of the old Looney Tune cartoons and a comedy routine from the Three Stooges.
The definitive event was when a young man strolled “nonchalantly” across the street. It took several seconds for him to make the journey, and he kept glancing at me.
Our cruise buddies noticed it, too. My friend Tim McElderry turned to me and said, “What the h— is this all about?”
I must tell you, I secretly hoped I had stumbled across a group of my book fans, who were amazed to find their favorite author in their hometown. Ah, but it was not to be.
I called our server over to our table.
“Do I look like somebody’s brother or something?” I asked.
“Oh, no,” she said. “You look like general / war hero / politician here in Croatia. Everyone wanted to see you.”
“Well,” I said, “Would you like me to pose for a picture with you and your café?”
“Oh, yes!” she said, and laughed out loud.
It was fun to take pictures with her, and we captured a group shot of us cruisers in the street in front of the cafe.
Do I really look like this guy? Sorta. You be the judge. Google “images of Zoran Milanovic.” Let me know what you think. Do you see it?
Until next time,
Cheers and Regards,
Kim