Cruise Continued

We visited at local olive oil and wine producing farm yesterday near Rovinj. This was our second stop on a bus tour, the first stop was a 1 hour boat tour up a local fjord. Some of the people on the bus must not have enjoyed the boat trip. I heard someone say on the way to the farm; “lets vote not to go to the farm” ha ha ha… What an ass. Lets vote him off the bus!

Croatia seems like a country that is just starting in the tourist business. At each stop on our cruise, its almost like they are making up little excursions for us to take if we should wish. I remember last year going mountain biking in Dubrovnik. I cannot imagine going mountain biking in Florence. The truth is that Croatia has much history, and more preserved historical, especially Roman, sites than anywhere. The years of communist government preserved the past. The years of capitalistic governments have destroyed the past in other parts of ‘Europe.

I think there is value in the past. Capitalism is a good system… it makes for a growing economy, but it is focused on change and “improvement” not preservation and history. How quickly can we forget our past? How quickly can we forget our mistakes? I think it’s a good thing that a concentration camp has been turned into a historical place; or a slave market. Where are the gallows in Old Salem where we burned witches at the stake?

I really enjoyed the olive oil and wine farm. The young family that is currently running the farm was very proud of their heritage of three plus generations of making their products. An olive tree can live over 1500 years. The farm was not self-sustaining as each member of the family had other jobs. The young man that spoke to us was hotel manager. He had a informative “power point “ presentation for us. I think this is was a Napa Valley wine visit might have been like 50 years ago. This is the budding of a positive part of the capitalistic system that is sweeping the old communist Eastern Europe. The olive oil was very good, the red wine pretty good, and the white wine was not something I would order.