I can’t walk through Cres without thinking how much it has changed over the last thirty years. For one thing, the old ladies are different. I am trying to remember if there ever were the black-clad widows in Cres, there must have been when I was young. The Italian-speaking-patterned-tunic nonas of my grandmother’s vintage are almost gone too. There are a few seniors still hanging out on the benches in front of the post office now and then, but if I didn’t see “udruga-penzionera” (retirees-union) secured wireless web when I selected my wireless connection from the cafe I am sitting in right now, I would not even know they are here.

The communist slogans written in cheap red paint on town walls half way through the last Century are pretty much all gone and the remaining ones are so washed out they can only be found if you know what you’re looking for. Structurally, Cres is very well taken care of. Houses that I remember always having been boarded up have been renovated and show happy signs of life. Most year-round residents now live in the “suburbs” and the old town center now seems to be mostly cottage country. The “suburbs” have at least quadrupled over the last thirty years but with exception of one or two questionable architectural choices, they look very spiffy and I don’t blame the locals for moving there.

Despite existence of people not picking up after their dogs, the town is very clean. There are two guys with street grade vacuum cleaners walking around. Last year they were always together (one vacuuming up what the other had missed?), but they must have gotten sick of each other and this time I have seen them an entire street apart.

With the growth of the suburbs and revitalization of downtown, the summer season is now busier and it starts earlier. Being spoiled and snobby as we are, we don’t bother going to the beach before 5PM as it is too crowded. The beach is wonderful after 5 so it is well worth to use the “afternoon shift”.

My favourite description of our vacations in Cres is that it is like camping in a really old tent. I am continuously amazed at how good a shape our house is in and how bad a shape our house is in. This is the only location I have been “living in” pretty much continuously throughout my life so it is in a sense a second home. Unlike vacations where you rent a room, I don’t mind staying indoors and it is not unusual or unpleasant to stay in the house for as much as a third of the day. I would really like to know more about our house from historical perspective such as when was it built and what kind of family would have lived in a house like this. I know for a fact that this house is listed in the archives in Rijeka, but as I don’t know the last name of my grandmother’s cousin I can’t look it up.

One thing that I really didn’t care for as a kid but have gained appreciation for now that I am older are personal wooden boats. I had not realised how well a wooden boat can withstand time. There are still some wooden boats in the harbour that were “old” when I was a kid. Back then they looked like they were relics about to be replaced by the new plastic boats. Today, with their slick lines and fresh, gleaming, white paint they looks so much more vibrant than their plastic brethren. Not to say anything bad about plastic boats, they are still floating about, which is more than you can say about the cars from the same era.

Mosquitoes, which have been absent for the last 15 years, have returned. With them around the population of swallows has increased as well. Both seem to be the most active at around 4 in the morning. Note the swallow feeding her young and the other little swallows looking out for their moms in the photo above.