Dangerous Adventures (cont.)

"The danger of an adventure is worth a thousand days of ease and comfort." Paulo Coelho

Here I am again... the internet signal is comme ci comme ca... it comes and it goes... I've been chasing it all around the kitchen - standing right next to the fridge, then moving to the window, and finally finding an okay signal right next to the sink!! you know the drill... when you need it, you need it! i know i'm crazy - (no wonder Sebastien calls me Coucou ;)))

but, i found it and i'm happy... happy i can share my travel-experiences with you...

so, let's continue... :))

father Nikola and I had yet another fun lunch together yesterday (2 hours long!). A shot of brandy, appetizers, a bottle of red wine, good meal...... and a rich and wonderful talk about history, arts, love and life... we started from Car Dushan and Gingis Khan and ended around WWII... who conquered what countries, why, where, how... who lived, loved, won and lost... life lessons... love lessons... listen to your mind, feel with you heart and continue to walk on! life is magical! type of a stories... of, what fun! :)))

Nikola is a highly educated man who traveled the world and accomplished much in his life. It was a real joy spending days with him in Split! He is now off to teach in the Monastery Krka for 2 days, and I am slowly wrapping up my stay in Split and am heading to Zagreb to catch a plane to fly to Dubai!

Where was I? (htela sam da kazem Where were we? ali sir Nikolaj Olic bi rekao da prestanem da persiram sebi ;)))

I enjoy challenges... I love adventures (the more dangerous the better ;))) AND, I LOVE jigsaw puzzles!! J'adore jigsaws!! :)))

Up until I was 8 or 9 years old, I used to put those big-peace, animal design, bright colors and up to 1,000 peaces jigsaw puzzles (all we can find in former Yugoslavia)! EASY! Piece of cake! If somebody asked me to put one together blind-folded, I probably would have been able to do it. :)) And, as a kid, I was dreaming of a new challenge...!

Voila - there it was.... Our family friends from Holland, Jan & Jannie, who would come to visit and stay at our home every summer for vacation, started bringing us puzzles! Surprise surprise! One year, they brought me a few boxes of those small 3-5,000 piece jigsaws!! What a challenge that was!!!! And, what a treat!!

-- This is what MARRAKECH, Morocco, Africa was for me - visiting a new continent, different culture and religion. A bit of a challenge!

All of you have had an opportunity to put together at least 1 jigsaw together in your lifetime. And you all remember that it requires patience. Starring at little pieces that all look alike and trying to think 'how in the world am i going to conquer this... where should I begin... what is my plan of action... and how long will it take?!!!' -- it requires determination, discipline and lots of patience! Recognizing color-tones and shapes, requires detailed-oriented eye... and then, of course, more patience!

--- Where to start? ...Take a deep breath... stay Open-Minded! :)) stay Cool :)) be Patient :)) I was trying to tell myself after I landed in Morocco and was stopped at the passport control, waiting on the staff to finish chatting! I got impatient and asked someone to check our passports as we've all been waiting for 15minutes (and looking at them trying to ignore us all - i couldn't believe my eyes!!) Anyway, 3 out of 9 of them finally sat at their stations to let us through (some 50 tourists) and they moved me all the way in the back of the pack to 'pay for my arrogance for trying to push them to work' Unbelievable!!! ...

Anyway... I got to the hotel safe and sound... people in the hotel spoke French & Arabic and very minimal English, there were no phones and no computers... and I had a couple of guides waiting for me at the door (ready to take my $). I kindly refused and explained that I like to tour on my own.

---Every experienced jigsaw puzzler starts with the "frame" of the picture. Getting the frame-work going is like building a base for a house before you put the walls and the roof :)) or, like looking at a map of the city you are visiting for the first time.

Every experienced traveler starts with the map of the city and ultimately a macro-tour. If you are on a limited time, like I was in Marrakech (4 days), you'd wanna either rent a car or a scooter and check out the city from the outside and then take your time over the next couple of days to see things of personal interest up close, on foot.