16 May, Jurasi and Otta, my new friend

May 16, 2023

Jurasi was meant to be a one night stop after which I was cycling about 7km to the ferry at Brestova and a crossing to Cres the most northern Dalmatian island.

At my accomodation I was met by a scraggy looking guy about my age. He had a wistful smile and from the start of was clear he had a sense of humour. Otta was born in Zagreb but his parents took him to Germany (Stuttgart I think), where they remained, at the age of 5. He has now retired, partially through disability, but has built a summer tourism business in north Croatia at Jurasi.

I was pretty impressed with his and Annie's (his wife who only speaks German) house. It's quite large and I think they have 4 or 5 double bedrooms they let out from May until the end of the summer. I was one of the first customers this season and I got the impressions Otta was delighted to have some company. The house was very well appointed in quality finishes including marble. The grounds included lots of sitting and social areas, a pool and a lovely view over the adjacent bay.

I was met with a coffee, an offer of a beer and confirmation that they local restaurant was closed but he didn't know why. However he would happily drive me the 3 or 4km to the nearest village with a restaurant. During all this there was quite an exchange of information about ourselves along with jokes and laughing. Despite his appreances he seemed a really solid guy.

I quickly showered, this always the first thing to do after a ride as I feel the need to rid that sticky/sweaty feeling. Then it was time for one of Otta's beers. He explained that he charges these at cost but to be honest I didn't really care. It was cold and wet.

As he promised he took me to a nearby village where one of two restaurants was open and I had a decent meal. He then collected me, all the time joking and laughing.

The next morning I woke to a howling gale and driving rain. I doubted that the ferry would be running but I dressed as if I was leaving and headed downstairs where Otta offered my a breakfast. This could be the last meal I was going to get for a wee while so I took up the offer. What he described as scrambled eggs was actually an omelette with smoked ham. Whilst waiting for breakfast I did some surfing and eventually message the ferry company who quickly messaged me along to their Ferry Interruptions webpage. As I feared it and lots of others were not running.

The previous evening Otta had told me he was expecting 7 cyclists the next day. They were coming off Cres and would more or less fill his place. I told him the ferry wasn't running sohecalled the other cyclists who had no idea what was going on. They were actually stuck on Cres. I asked if I could stay another night and he agreed saying we would come to a deal.

The wind blew all day and rain made intermittent appearances. It dropped enough by about 1500 to let the ferry resume (I could see it from the pool area) but it was too late by then, I had cancelled my accomodation on Cres and was settled for a do nothing day. There was nothing to do. It was cold, windy and wet. Jurasi is just a bunch of holiday houses on the coast. It was Netflix and emptying the snack box!

The next Monday thing the wind was much more acceptable and the ferry company website confirmed the ferry was not interrupted. So after another of Otta's breakfasts I headed off and up the hill to the road to the ferry terminal.

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