Penultimate day in Veli Losinj

We woke to a warm morning and sat outside for breakfast, watching the lizards play and scurry in the half sunshine, trying to catch ants and the odd butterfly foolish enough to swoop down so low to the ground.

At lunchtime, we made our way down to Rovenska harbour to enjoy a light meal of calamari, blitva, French fries and salad. We watched shoals of fish jump out of the sea, like a smattering of gentle rain, as children threw pieces of bread into the waters next to our seats; and a somnolence settled around us as if a heavy blanket made of the finest strands of sunlight was resting upon our shoulders. I began to feel quite dozy, wanting nothing more than to snooze for a while on the pebbled beach, listening to the water lapping nearby.

As we paid the bill, all ready for a few hours at the beach, the grumbling thunder began to make itself heard, as if reproaching us for our laziness. Mama went home, anxious about the storm, while I went on and swam a fresh and invigorating 200m or so, in the calm clear seas, marked only by ever increasing circles as the droplets of rain gently began to fall.

I am home again now, my mind alert yet peaceful, as I listen to the gentle rain fall outside, hitting the leaves of the oleander and mandarin trees, and perhaps also some roofs made of tin or wood. It has been a good penultimate day on the island.