23 May, Zadar to Sibenik

May 23, 2023

https://www.strava.com/activities/9125139015

"Ping", my phone sprung to life. I was just settling down to breakfast or a couple of pastries and a cold, prepackaged, latte some 10km south of Zadar. This was my first morning of starting early to reduce my exposure to the heat of the day. Yesterday was hard going with temperatures of 26-27°.

Gavin, back in Dunbar, was pointing out that when in Zadar I should go and see the Sea Organ. Bugger! This had been on my very original list of things to see but it had slipped with all the other stuff I had to think about.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_organ

Gavin meant well, he was just 12 hours too late. I wasn't planning to cycle back 10km….. oh well, maybe the next time.

Today's ride was very pleasant with occasional spells of heavy traffic. It was a real coastal ride making navigation very easy and the views pretty good although I was never really elevated enough to get a view until, that is, I found myself beside this bridge which was very elevated giving the most magnificent view down river to Sibenik.

My best memory of Sibenik was the hostel. Clearly it had been a nice hotel in a previous life. It had a bar, a restaurant and a pool. The rooms were very well appointed but instead of just a couple staying in each they were slightly squeezing in 5 beds.

The receptionist was very enthusiastic about telling me where to go in the town and to show me around the hostel. Then it was the usual, shower, change and get out to stretch the legs after the cycling.

This walk threw up a surprise. Taken from FB.

I was dreading this day but felt I had to step up and take one for the team.

Lavender is grown all around the Mediterranean and many places make a big thing of its products.

It really does add to the landscape when it is in flower. That colour is, really, indescribable. Purple, sort of, lilac a wee bit, blue, in the right light. It's unique and makes for tourism in the same way, and more, as the tulips in Holland. (A wee distraction, I often wondered how and why the tulip fields could "wash their face" as a tourism thing. They don't have an ever lasting smell, like lavender (more on that later), there isn't a dried by product. They grow, look pretty, people visit & take photos & make nice sounds and then they die (the tulips not the people). Being a gardening ignoramus I didn't realise that this is just part of the process of making bulbs to sell all around the world. Did you know that? Answers on postcard to that wee mouse in Amsterdam).

A friend and former colleague takes (seriously good) photographs and he has several of the lavender fields in the south of France. I urge you to have a look at his website. https://www.richardpeacephotography.com/la-belle-france-gallery

He also has some of the Bridge to Nowhere for my Dunbar friends.

Any how, I was wandering around the sea front at Sibenik when I saw an ice cream parlour proudly declaring "Home made ice cream". I was still reeling from last night (SEVEN BLOODY EUROS!!!!) so with some trepidation I took a look. They had all the usual flavours and I was struggling. I am fed up with caramel (and derivatives), chocolate, raspberry and so on. Then I saw Lavanda. It was time…. At least it was not the vibrant colour of lavender in bloom. It was a sort off-white lilac.

Once bitten, twice shy (I was only 80km down the coast) (SEVEN BLOODY EUROS!!!) I checked the price list. They had 3 price levels. Small 1.90€, Medium 2.20€ and Restricted 2.50€. What the heck is Restricted? Was it imported from Chernobyl or some other dodgy place?

I asked for a small Lavender, only to be told it was Restricted. OK, I said, muttering under my breath "Seven Euros, Seven Euros…….". The lady said, in a most apologetic fashion, that Lavender was restricted. Initially I was confused then I realised that restricted was special or a limited flavour and hence they charged a premium. She needs to have a wee trip to Zadar!

Happily I paid up.

Now, lavender to me brings up memories of the smell of one of my old Aunties. Aunt Betty from East Kilbride (as opposed to Cranhill, although I would not be surprised if this applied to both aunts, they were of the same era). Aunt Betty had a spare room which smelled of lavender. It was that room I slept in everytime we visited so the smell is ingrained in my brain or olfactory system. (See, I know some fancy words!). The idea of eating ice cream which smelled like Aunt Betty's house is just wrong. At this point I had to pullback from saying that the lavender potpourri was usually in the drawers of the unit in the bedroom, and the resulting inference.

So here we have Lavender.

The texture was smooth and light, just creamy enough to know it was ice cream but not enough to coat the tongue in a fatty way. The temperature was perfect. Cold and refreshing but not melting immediately.

Now the taste…. It was delicious, seriously delicious. Subtle, light on the tongue, enough of a sparkle to make you want more. Hard to fault. Easily matches if not betters the benchmark established way back in Italy.

Lavender, Wrong 5/10.

Please note that with the adjusted scoring system this is now the highest ranking ice cream so far.

Today's ride: 134 km (83 miles)
Total: 3,587 km (2,228 miles)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	0
Comment on this entry	Comment	0