Rest and Renewal
Traveling on a Rick Steves’ tour is exciting as you have so many new and interesting experiences with different cultures and lands, our tour of Croatia was no exception. Like many tours, though, you are moving from hotel to hotel with stays no longer than 2 days. As the days go by, you begin to get a bit tired and just want to rest. We were fortunate that our Croatia tour included a day of full rest and renewal on an island called Korcula.
Oh, did we enjoy that! A day where you were had no tours or early rises to meet at the hotel lobby to head off to the next location. Just a day on your own to enjoy doing whatever you wanted.
So, I decided to begin my morning exploring a hiking trail that was a short walk from our hotel. I love hiking in forests of the Pacific Northwest. What would this island forest in Croatia be like? I was greeted by a chorus of bird song as I began the walk the early morning sun lighting the trail. The birds were encouraging me to explore more. The sound of my hiking shoes crunching on the trail with the birds singing, well, what a way to start the morning!
So, what to do next on our free day? How about some beach time? Off we went on a short walk down to the beach. It was not a sandy beach but a beach of white polished rocks. Oh, this was interesting, indeed. So different than our Pacific Northwest beaches!
I learned to swim in the clear waters of Lake Chelan but the clarity of the Adriatic Sea was just stunning. Just look at this photo I took of the rocks beneath the water in the shoreline area. Now that is pristine clear water!
Don’t these waters look inviting to explore?
The water was refreshing and I found it just the right temperature and not too cold. Just right when you wanted to cool down. So, I sat in water right at the shoreline. Perfect. When I watch this video, I can feel this moment as if I was still there!
The cute little town of Kortula was calling us to explore so we headed back to our hotel to change. As we passed by a large planting of flowers (Lantana’s) we were surprised by butterflies flitting from flower to flower. Amazing little creatures and fun to watch.
Beautiful Kortula!
Later that evening, we our tour included a happy hour boat ride around the surrounding islands!
Oh, those waters, so beautiful.
Boy, was this day just what we needed! Days of rest and renewal are needed by everyone! Doing must be balanced out by not-doing, in the Jewish tradition, it is called “Sabbath Rest”. It is important to slow down enough for our soul to catch up with us as the saying goes.
On the path together,
John