This is a story. A love story. A very unusual one. A story that shows there’s no power greater than love. Nothing can separate two souls that need to be together… Nothing.
Borders?
Just lines on Google Maps.
Ocean?
Nothing but a puddle.
Racial differences?
Don’t be like that, Americans are people as well.
Nothing can separate two souls that need to be together, even if one is blooming inside of a gentle American IT manager and the other one roars from the wild island poet.
Yet, even such souls need to find each other. And we’re glad that our Hvar Wine Tour was a spark that kindled a love story at least 3 times better than Twilight.
It was October 3rd, already in the shoulder season, with only three people, the tour felt almost private. When we picked up an American girl and a Canadian couple that showed up at the pick up spot in Hvar Town we couldn’t imagine they would become part of a story worthy of a Netflix show…
How Hvar Wine Tour Started a Love Story Better than Twilight (With 0 Sparkling Men Inside)
That day, Hvar wine tour was going smoothly as usual… Small talk in the Mercedes van mixed with information about the history of wine on Hvar, the island itself and our customs. The first stop was the Napoleon fortress, a hard-to-reach ace in the sleeve that gives an amazing view of Hvar Town and Pakleni Island. After driving on a scenic old road, through lavender fields and olive groves, we stopped at St. Roko’s Chapel to admire the Stari Grad Plain, a UNESCO listed world heritage site.
For the entire time, the Canadian couple and the American girl were chatting. She was laughing so warm, from her soul as we say here in Croatia. So once we got to the winery, we told the wine tasting host – “You’ll see the way this girl laughs.”
The host in Duboković winery was, (and still is), a local writer, poet, journalist, and a black belt… A combination that caused many of our guests to mention the host in very nice light. But he used to be married, until last year.
The American girl that got there that day came out of a long relationship too. She actually decided to treat herself with a Hvar wine tour for her birthday, October 3rd. If only she knew what kind of a present she was getting for that birthday…
That’s how much we knew about her before we closed the doors of a romantic candle lit cellar behind her and the Canadian couple leaving them in the arms of a local host, surrounded by some of the best Plavac Mali wines in the world…
Then, after an hour of wine tasting, the Canadian couple got out without the American girl. The Canadian lady seemed to be a bit worried – “He asked her to say for a minute.”
We knew what that meant… In Dalmatia there’s a phenomenon called – “galebarenje” – translated to English it’d be “seagulling”. It’s an art of picking up tourist girls. We heard that the wine tasting host was released from his chain recently, but we knew what kind of a gentleman he was, so we waited with a Canadian couple in the van.
A couple of minutes later, the American girl walked out. “Are you ok?” – the Canadian lady asked canadianly politely. “Of course I am. He asked me out for dinner tomorrow!” – answered the American girl whose grin was even wider after the tasting (12.000 glasses of wine surely helped too).
After the tour, we dropped the Canadian couple in the Amfora hotel and the American girl in the Adriana hotel. We thanked them for booking a tour with us, shook their hands, thanked God for (North) American tipping culture, and were sure that was the last time we’d see either of them.
Until a week after, we read an article in Slobodna Dalmacija, a local newspaper featuring the Canadian couple. The wine tasting host managed to connect with them as well. They were buzzing about bees and honey, so the host asked them to write an interview with them to compare Croatian and Canadian bees and beekeeping. It turned out Dalmatian bees work harder and longer than Canadian bees. Of course, the reason is the climate, yet still, people from the rest of Croatia mock Dalmatian people for being lazy, so it was nice to hear that at least bees are doing something to defend our honor…
The American girl?
She disappeared. No one mentioned her again. No one wrote about her in the news. And then we met the host from the winery for a beer (he had sparkling water, he’s a bit of a sissy) in Stari Grad.
Before the bubbles from his virgin drink hit his mustache during the first sip, he said – “Do you remember that American girl that booked your Hvar wine tour? The black one, the one that you said laughs with her soul.”
“Yes. What with her?”
“Well… We went for dinner the day after we met.” – he stared and then took a sip of his toddler beer. He loves to be dramatic… So once he started speaking again, we didn’t interrupt.
Now This Gets Really Better Than Twiglight… – Still, No One Sparkles Here
The day after she booked a wine tour with you, we went for dinner together. You know that I usually dress like a homeless person that fights garbage cats for scraps, so I went to split to get a suit. All the knowledge about New York I had was coming from the TV show “How I Met Your Mother” and in there, Barney Stinson wears suits all the time… So to go on a date with a New York hottie, I had to suit up.
She stayed in the Adriana Hotel in Hvar Town…
I got to the rooftop bar right at sunset, I was so purple. The white stone houses with red roofs, green pine trees on Pakleni islands, almost black sea and deep purple sky. It felt like a 007 movie… I could feel something magnificent was about to happen.
Then she entered the bar… In a tight dress in the color of a full bodied red wine. I gave her Moj Otok, an orange wine from Duboković. The wine she bought during the Hvar wine tour. Yet, the one I gave her was from under the shelf, it was from 2009. Something people can’t even buy. That one was for her to take home. For us I had a bottle of the best breakfast wine in Croatia, Laganini, also aged, from 2016. That one was for us…
But first, we had the most amazing dinner even though we barely touched the food… We just talked and laughed and had some wine. She was so special, her laugh, the way she moves… Everything about her was feeding me, I didn’t even need food. And don’t get me wrong, the duck was as great as always, I tried her monk fish cheeks too, amazing as well. Yet my body wasn’t hungry, not for food, I needed her.
Her body wasn’t hungry either. Later I learned that she actually eats like a baby. But I guess she doesn’t need more. She’s 160 cm and 50 kg. When she told me she was 110 pounds I had a feeling that dinner was done, but once I converted that from McDonalds system to kilograms, I waved to the waiter.
Still…
I’m a gentleman, Peter. We went to drive around the island. To Jelsa, through Stari Grad, and back to Hvar on the old road. We stopped to watch the stars next to japjenica. They don’t have anything similar in New York. No place where you can feel alone, but welcome. Then she told me there is a small park near the place she works at. Her voice was so sad when she said that she hides on a bench to get away from the city. I think she showed me that park later, it was night, but it didn’t look like much. Other than rats, they were massive…
“Girl, you can stay. Here, you get to be you, not one of the rats racing around.” – crossed my mind, but I’m also not stupid, Peter, so I didn’t say that to her after knowing her for 3 hours.
I said after knowing her for 12 hours. Like a real man.
That happened the next day before I had to go to work. She was supposed to go to Dubrovnik that afternoon. I was at work, in Duboković winery, barely able to exist in this world… Then God decided that our Netflix show needs another chapter…
“The catamaran got canceled because of the wind. I’m stuck on the island.“ – I got a message from her. Ivo Duboković is a great gentleman too, so when I showed him the message he asked – “And, what will you do?” “Her.” – I replied. He smiled, nodded and allowed me to run away from work towards love…
The second night in Hvar Town wasn’t nearly as wild or prestigious…
A simple yet romantic walk around the town instead of a drink in a rooftop bar. A pizza instead of one of the best restaurants in Hvar Town. Instead of showing her the island, I allowed her to show me herself.
The night before that, I asked her about her ethnicity. “American!” – she answered proudly, staring at me with those big brown eyes and chocolate skin. I looked at her like she was stupid for saying that and then she said – “Jamaican.”
So the second night, while sitting in front of Franciscan Monastery and Church of Our Lady of Mercy in Hvar Town, I asked her to tell me about Jamaica. While speaking about it, her energy got up, she became brighter and warmer. It looked like she was shining. (Keep in mind it’s shining, not sparkling, we can’t drop down to Twilight cringe level). I think I fell in love with her there…
We stayed in Križna Luka in Hvar Town that night, in Villa Domus Marini, my aunt’s house. She revealed more about her there. I was shocked when I saw her iPhone was in its birthday suit, without a case. She said that cases are off brand for her, and she has Apple Care anyway. She then told me about her achievements, her path until now, and desires for the future.
I realized that the differences between our pasts and presents were huge. Yet seeing her in my lap, with that tiny smile in the corner of her purple lips felt so natural. Nothing can separate two souls that need to be together… Nothing.
The next day she had to leave from Hvar to Dubrovnik. I said goodbye to her on Hvar promenade, hoping that she would actually call me before coming from Dubrovnik to Split. Those couple of days lasted a lifetime. Yet she sent me a message – “I’m in the catamaran.”
I picked her up in Split Ferry Port. Uber took us to my dad’s apartment, a place where I grew up. I had 0 shame in inviting someone used to luxury into an apartment that hasn’t been renovated in 50 years.
She didn’t mock anything. She said it was cute. She said it was a home.
We went out. I wanted to show her another of my homes… The streets of Split.
We started lightly, touristically… Dicoletian palace, then the viewpoint on Marjan Hill, and a walk by the sea to Bačviće Beach. She has small legs, but she walks at New York pace, so we kept walking all the way to Žnjan. From there, we climbed back to the hood.
The next day, she had to leave…
Again.
I took her to the airport, we had an unusual kiss before she left. Like both of us were asking – “What is this? How is this possible?” Like we were both too scared to admit the depth of our feelings. She walked in that place where you drop the luggage, I was staring at her as long as I could. I wanted to save her in my brain, I wanted another imprint of her on my soul. I was scared she was gone forever.
“Croatia is just a flight away!”
But she wasn’t. We kept talking to each other. First texting. Then texts turned into long video calls. After a couple of days, everything I did was molded around her. I wanted to see her as much as possible. She felt the same…
Every second she had, she’d spend time with me on the phone. With a random guy from some random European country she discovered while planning a Croatian honeymoon for her friend. And she’s the type of lady that doesn’t even have to say what she wants to get it. She thinks of it and the world adapts…
But despite all the differences, all the hurdles the world put between us, she chose me.
For three months I was telling everyone that an Africanamerican girl from New York will return to Hvar. Everyone doubted that… That’s why they don’t live lives worthy of Netflix shows, their lives read more like an ingredient list of fermented cabbage.
But anyway, she came back. For 12 days to test if our feelings were fooling us. It turned out they were. We underestimate them. And when I had to look at her back in the airport again, I had no fear – “That’s my girl. She’ll come back.”
So she did. And now she’s here to stay. We plan to make a DMC agency specialized in bringing American tourists to Croatia. We’ll do some content to help preserve and show Croatian culture, we’ll enjoy flying with each other.
The Full Circle – from Hvar Wine Tour to Kids Carnival in Stari Grad
My God, that Stipe can speak forever…
When he finished the story, we were happy our Hvar wine tasting tour helped to bring him so much joy. He had to hurry, so he chugged his mineral water and left the bar…
The next day, there was a carnival for kids in Stari Grad. In such small towns, the whole population enjoys such events. Stipe has a small daughter, so he was there. Nicole doesn’t know anyone on Hvar, so she was there too. We were there because Anita works in the school, I – Petar – was there because I’m such a supportive husband. And of course, I couldn’t miss our son dancing with his kindergarten.
Stari Grad is small, so it was easy to see Stipe and Nicole, she was probably the only black girl on the island at that time. Stipe introduced us to Nicole, asked Anita if she was pregnant (a shameless bastard) even though she was just dressed as a dinosaur for the carnival, and left us there when his daughter started to dance. A wild man, but a great father.
We talked to Nicole for a couple of minutes. She thanked us for organizing the most romantic wine experience Hvar offers, thinking of our Hvar Wine and Olive Oil Tour… The tour on which she met her soulmate.
Little did she know that that tour wasn’t even the most romantic couple’s experience on Hvar.
