Tuesday, August 23- overnight in Karanac, Croatia

 

We left Sarajevo at 9 AM for Karanac.  One the way out of town, our guide pointed out the area where she lived, which was near the large cemetery where Gavrilo Princip, the man who assassinated Franz Ferdinand and Sophie, was buried.  He was considered a national hero.

We had a surprise stop on the way to Karanac- a stud farm where the famous Lippizzan stallions were bred. Most get their pure white color after they mature.

Karanac, Croatia, population 600, is not on the radar screen of  most tourists, especially American tourists, but OAT tries to find out-of-the-way places where their travelers can get closer to real life for the locals.  We stayed at a working farm (the stables had been converted to rooms!).  We were greeted with sliivovitz, the local plum brandy, and freshly-made doughnuts with apricot filling, we greeted the tow local dogs and a curious kitten and surveyed the area- chickens, roosters, geese, outdoor ovens, vegetable gardens, fig and plum  trees, tomatoes cooking for tomorrow’s lunch.  Before dinner,  we were taught how to make cheese, starting with milk obtained from a cow so recently it was still warm (and unpasteurized- horrors!).  We added rennet, stirred it and put it into a strainer after 35 minutes. Two hours later we weighted the two batches down to stand at room temperature overnight.

Dinner was with a local family- an impressive spread.  Our hosts were a couple who had been married 42 years, who had two biological children and had fostered 8 more.  They met while working in a sugar factory and clearly were still happy together.

Dinner

Indoor oven at the farm

We went back to our rooms and slept in fresh air- A/C not needed.  As I closed my curtains, the kitten was staring at me from the other side of the screen.

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 [RB1]