8 minute read
Small talk with the columnis
from Luštica Bay LIFE
by Lustica Bay
Small talk with the columnist:
DO PEOPLE MAKE PLACES, OR IS IT THE OTHER WAY AROUND?
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In November, our team had the pleasure of hosting Buro247 from Belgrade, Serbia. Iva Chuljak, the columnist, and Jelena Karakas, editor in chief, enjoyed our Maslina apartments, testing the November weather and marvelling at the stormy sea. Following her visit, Iva Chuljak wrote an impressive article for the Buro247 portal, which we couldn’t resist sharing with our magazine readers. Join us while we sail through Iva’s impressions from a stormy autumn weekend. Get cosy, grab a glass of your favourite drink and enjoy this little insight.
LB: What does the sea represent to you?
Iva: When I was in high school, after one summer holiday spent on the coast, I told my parents that I was going to marry a Dalmatian guy. When they asked why, I replied – so that I could hear that sweet talk every day and be close to the sea all year round. As time passed and I grew up, I experienced and lived through enough failed and sad Dalmatian romances, gave up on the idea of marrying anyone, and as my career advanced, I realised that my dreams should not be fulfilled by a husband. The sea, however, remained the object of my worship.
LB: Still, you live and work in a big continental city. How does that feel like?
Iva: Recently, one Tuesday, I found myself in a typical Belgrade traffic jam. It is five in the afternoon, and it is raining. There are three hundred trumpeters around me, but no single tin instrument in sight. Anger blows in every lane, and when you look at another vehicle, first you notice the tension, and then you see the driver. On the red traffic light, I pick up the phone and record my ritual video diary. I am tired of the energy of the little quartz; I tell myself in the reflection on my front camera. I am tired of this tension, tired of proving, tired of neurotic behaviour, and tired of rushing. I feel a strong urge for peace. I want to be idle, not in sixth gear. I found myself at the airport the next day. After thirty-five minutes up in the clouds, I arrived to heaven. To you!
LB: Dealing with stress is never easy, and big cities indeed create a sort of tension as soon as you place your foot on the ground. Do you have any rituals that help you recharge?
Iva: The shower stall is something like a temple to me. And the water that flows through the shower is as holy to me as the bottle with a sticker of St. Anthony is to my grandmother that she brings home after church rites. My grandma is of the belief that what the pope consecrates is healing. “Your faith is your healing, Grandma! Not religion and that plastic bottle”, I shout inside. However, there is no point in telling this to Blanka, my grandma. Everyone has their established ways .
Back to the point! In the sixth gear driving around the city, with the mind always planning some future endeavour, showering is a ritual during which I get back to myself. Often, it takes me some time, so it happens that I use almost two hot-water tanks until I complete my soul searching process. The water starts running cold, while I am still taking off all those costumes I wear every day. I freeze until I am completely naked.
LB: You said, ‘After thirty-five minutes up in the clouds, I arrived to heaven.’ Thanks for the compliment! Could you elaborate on it for our readers? How did you feel arriving to the brand-new destination of Luštica Bay?
Iva: I went from city sixth gear to serenity . To serenity in Luštica Bay. The healing water from Luštica had all shades of blue and grey. I was located at the apartment in building Maslina 2, a stone house with blue shutters. There, after a quick shower, I observed the open sea from my terrace for a long time. The weather was your typical November scene. Some people would say - bad. For me, it was wonderful. The rain falls, then stops, the waves intensify, then calm down. Sirocco could be felt. Sirocco did not bother me, on the contrary, I came to it already distracted and completely deconcentrated. It could only turn for the better. Surprisingly enough, it did! The stronger this south wind-whipped, the harder the sea hit the rocks, my inner peace amplifed. #FunFact: In the past, during the Venetian Republic, there was a regulation according to which laws were not allowed to be passed while sirocco was blowing. It was thought to affect mood and concentration, and that decisions should not be made in such a state. Even today, sirocco is an excuse for many imbalances. Something like Mercury retrograde, many would say. The subliminal self, naturally and always, manages to find some external culprit to account for and justify such imbalances.
LB: Did you manage to unwind in our little sanctuary?
Iva: In the evenings, I would go to bed, open the door of the room, and just listen to the sound of the waves crashing on the rocks below my balcony. You could not hear anything else. It was magnificently strange and eerie, I thought. Lately, I have been looking for sounds like these on YouTube to help fall asleep, so I would often play something different, and by the time I would remember what I came for, it was already two after midnight. There, in Luštica Bay, I did not need any of the fabricated screen stimuli to create a nightime song. All the relaxing sounds were in front of my nose. Literally. I would fall asleep quickly and easily, waking up earlier than usual, before dawn, eager to welcome the day with the first cup of coffee on the windy terrace, observing the colours the sea had in store for the day. Every morning, on that terrace, I felt like those heavy duvets that Grandma Iva used to take out to the wind to air out, so when she brought them into the house at the end of the day, they would look brand new, all fresh and clean.
LB: How were your rainy days at Luštica Bay?
Iva: The hedonist I am or ‘poguzija’ as they would say in Bosnia, I visited all the restaurants in Luštica. At Kiki’s, while tasting salmon and chardonnay, I enjoyed listening to the story about the owner Kiki, an Italian woman with a magnificent story to tell about the restaurant and her business. To be honest, I was marvelling at the degree of passion with which people talked about her. Unfortunately, I missed the opportunity to sense the energy of this amazing woman in person, but I definitely felt it reflected in the mesmerizing interior and the carefully selected eye - catching details. I heard that if you visited Luštica one time, you immediately fall in love, purchase a property, and stay. This was confirmed later that day, when I went for a glass of wine, one that easily turned into another glass, and then another one. I was greeted by Mr. Srđan, a charming owner of a small winery, originating from Herceg Novi, with a long-term address in the Netherlands. As he poured the wine, he talked about how he came to Luštica to stay just for three months and then never returned to his previous life. During dinner at the Villa Cesare restaurant, I met Tony the owner, an Italian, a cordial and charming man with brilliant hair. He asked if we liked the food served in his gastronomic corner. I can assure you that the “Mmmm” coming from my full mouth, was enough of an answer. One evening, at The Spot Restaurant, there was a night of Asian cuisine. ‘Poguzija’ gets there too. I have never been full from eating sushi in my whole life. Until that evening.
LB: What are the impressions you carry with you from your November visit to Luštica Bay?
Iva: In those few days in Luštica Bay, I was delighted to encounter a cosmopolitan community of people. All that beautiful architecture, fairy-tale houses, the fragrant Mediterranean plants, and the impressive vessels, anchored and waiting for summer, are just a perfect front cover of a book that awaits you. That book contains all the people who came there from different parts of the world, fell in love and stayed. Along with sirocco and the healing holy salt water, I experienced an international microworld in the middle of Montenegro, containing the whole world in the palm of your hand. I did not have to spend two or three water tanks for inspiration, it was enough to stand in front of the azure sea.
LB: To End this delightful talk with some advice for the readers who would like to visit. What would you tell them?
Iva: When your stomach churns, take a walk to one of the restaurants, and when your back gets heavy, head down to The Chedi’s SPA for a massage in the deft hands of great women from Bali. After all, the soul of every place resides with the people belonging to it.
The trailblazing women
BEHIND LUŠTICA BAY’S GROWING DEVELOPMENT
They are breaking boundaries and leading multi-cultural teams; they are ahead of time in design creativity, while cultivating Montenegrin history and ensuring that the identity of our town is never lost. They are the inspiring minds putting Luštica Bay on the global map of real estate sustainable growth – meet the four revolutionary women behind the town’s unique aesthetics.
