Funny how sometimes a short drive on the road you passed hundreds, maybe thousands of times, can feel fresh, new and eventful like some small scale odyssey.
It seems that, at least sometimes, for traveling far a right state of mind can be almost enough ...
... and this is an epic short story about that little journey :D. I'll start the thing with this Indiana Jones styled map travel animation (Would be nice to have the appropriate music theme here :D ), where you can see my small homeland peninsula and a small part that I drove through on that occasion.
The sky was just slightly overcast, the day was clearly on the way to become sunny. I passed by some nice old churches and homesteads in and around the village called Liznjan, in the first five or six kilometers ... but I was too lazy to stop and take a shot, and now I'm too lazy for a detailed description, so let's imagine that I arrived to the next village - Shishan , at warp speed. On the photograph above, I'm entering Shishan. A black dog is approaching, walking confidently in the middle of the road. I'm pretty sure that if this small street had the middle line, the dog will walk on that white line like some tightrope walker in circus.
He looked like the town's sheriff from a distance ...
... but when seen more up close, with that canine smile on his face, the dog looked more like some hostess, greeting me in this COVID-19, touristless times. I almost expected that some other dogs will appear bringing wreaths of flowers for the guest ... like in that old TV show Fantasy Island ... because the day had the strong fantasy feel in every aspect.
I read somewhere, or heard, that diversions are the best part of every journey - so here comes one :D. Do you remember that show? Fantasy Island? I watched it as a kid on some Italian channel. Never aired in Yugoslavia, nor later in Croatia. At first glance it looked like some bizarre soap opera, didn't look like something I could like back then (or ever), but when I discovered the fantasy elements, the slight Twilight Zone feel and the cool main characters I got hooked ... and I still ... sometimes, usually late at night, watch it on YouTube, where episodes appear and disappear to unpredictably reappear, quite appropriately for that fantasy atmosphere.
I followed the river of asphalt ... surrounded by banks of green ...
... I passed by many wooden entrances to small farms and fields ...
... and through some shady natural tunnels ...
... on my way to the village called Valtura ... that you can see on this photograph ... I mean, you can see the first few houses :D not the entire place. The village is small - but not that small.
A small tractor ...
... with the small crew visibly in good mood, was my guide through Valtura. I passed through the village very slowly, observing the surrounding stuff ...
... like these lovely gas bottles by the fence ... they looked like a chubby pair waiting for the bus ... or taxi ... and then ...
... following the narrow lane that leads out of the village, into the woods ... I started to travel not only through space, but also through time ... and very soon ...
... I was in the distant past!
Nesactium is the oldest town on the peninsula. Now is populated with flowers, insects, small birds, mammals and reptiles ... and the occasional human visitors, tourists and the maintenance crew mostly. First signs of the human settlement on this hill are dating from prehistoric times. Many interesting things were found on this archeological site, both from Roman and before - Romans civilization.
The most visible layout is showing us the Roman fortified city ... but this place has many more layers.
I walked for a while ...
... among ancient stones ...
... surrounded by flowers ...
... many whispering flowers ... I mean - I can't prove that the flowers were actually whispering, but I had that sensation ... maybe someone else will hear the whispers of ancient ghosts in this place, or some angelic presence reluctant to talk loudly ... or just a voice in the head telling him or her- Kill! Kill! Kill! - but I heard the gentle, barely audible flower talk ... on some ancient botanical language.
Some flowers were growing near the walls ...
... and later, on photograph, they looked like some tourists posing in front of some famous monument.
In some places the dandelions were ready to spread the seeds ... with the first stronger wind the air will be filled with parachutes, like in some peaceful war scene.
Yap, another flower shot. I witnessed a real flower power on this ancient fortress that day.
The ivy invaded some places, giving a nice melancholic touch to the scene.
I took a shot of these interesting seeds on one of the trees around Nesactium ... and then ... a short walk to the car ...
... and the drive back home.
While driving through Valtura again ...
... I photographed the tired road maintenance crew in front of the small local grocery store.
And now ...
... with this shot taken while approaching the road sign that says "Medulin" ...
... and this one, taken while approaching the biggest church in town ... is time to end this journey ... as always in these posts on HIVE, all the photographs, artwork, drawings and animations are in every segment my work - THE END.
[//]:# (!pinmapple 44.863910 lat 13.949206 long A sunny - funny drive from Medulin to Valtura and the ancient city of Nesactium. d3scr)
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For those who continued to scroll after THE END, following the trail of dots like breadcrumbs on the highway ...
... I put here one behind the scenes shot, taken by a friend :=) ... is not much of a reward, but at least the decision to follow the dots can now make some kind of sense ... or almost.