Weekly blog #140: The perfect getaway with friends in Istria

And just like that, the first holiday of the summer is over. Yesterday night – it was long after midnight already – I came home after a wonderful four-day getaway with my five best friends. Pula, located at the southernmost tip of the Istrian peninsula in northern Croatia, was our destination. For years now, warm feelings have come up when I hear the name Istria as I associate it with ‘home’ in some way. This is not for the fact that I had been there twice before already many years ago, but because it just so happened to be that I lived in Piazza Istria during my first year in Rome.

With only three of the six living in the same town and two living abroad, these days are extra special

So, Istria it was. The perfect setting for a girls’ weekend of six friends who see each other far too little these days. With only three of the six living in the same town and two living abroad, these days are extra special. There was so much to catch up on, and it definitely felt as we had to make up for some ‘lost’ time. Because due to the pandemic, this trip had been postponed for two years. In the meantime, two of my friends got a baby and a third is on the way. And yet during these days, it felt like nothing had changed and things were like they always had been. 

Friend H. who, with her down-to-earth, no-nonsense character, is the reason why every girls’ trip we spent together runs like a well-oiled machine, no matter if it’s a broken bike that needs to be fixed or managing the financial side of the trip

Friend S. – the very definition of a morning person – who jumped out of bed at 6.30 a.m. and started to rummage around, waking everyone else up with the homy smell of coffee and happy chattering. Friend M. who made you laugh at every moment of the day with her silly voices and accents. Friend A.C. who, just like in the old days, only needed a pair of statement earrings and to apply a red lipstick to transform herself from super casual to a prima donna. Friend H. who, with her down-to-earth, no-nonsense character, is the reason why every girls’ trip we spent together runs like a well-oiled machine, no matter if it’s a broken bike that needs to be fixed or managing the financial side of the trip. And friend T. who, with her soft and caring nature, is the reason that we all feel safe to share our greatest joys and deepest sorrows in our most vulnerable form. 

We form the most unthinkable group of girls you’d expect to be each other’s best friends. A bunch of young women who, at first glance, seem to have absolutely nothing in common

The people around us have told us so often: we form the most unthinkable group of girls you’d expect to be each other’s best friends. A bunch of young women who, at first glance, seem to have absolutely nothing in common. And yet it works. Together we do things that we might not have done individually. We put a backpack on our backs, rented mountain bikes and crossed around getting ourselves to the most beautiful beaches of the area, while heavily complaining about our painful buttocks. We approached strangers to have our pictures taken, sometimes with some girls protesting as they felt slightly embarrassed, but always glad that we had asked anyway because “it’s a visual memory that’s everlasting”. We tried each other’s breakfasts and some of us (including yours truly) discovered that healthy oat yoghurt is not that bad at all. But perhaps most important of all, no matter how different our lives may be at the moment, everyone listened to each other’s stories. Whether it was about the sleeping pattern of the babies or new adventures abroad and the desire for more freedom. I realise only too well how special this thing is that we share. A group of soul sisters who make you feel like you can do anything you want, and that you don’t have to do anything in this life alone. It’s a friendship that I wish everyone could have.

From now on, the name Istria will evoke even more associations of home

So, from now on, the name Istria will evoke even more associations of home. Not because of the piazza in Rome where I used to live that happened to be named after it, but because of the fact these five girls I was in Istria with will always feel like coming home. Wherever we will be on this beautiful planet.