弟とクロアチア My brother and Croatia

パリから戻ってくると、弟はホッとした様子。弟にとってはザグレブの方がパリよりも落ち着くみたいでした。パリに比べたら小さな街だけれど、きれいで治安がいいことが弟にとっては馴染みやすかったのかも。

My brother seemed a bit relaxed after returning to Zagreb from Paris. Zagreb is smaller city compared to Paris, but clean and safe, so Zagreb was cozy place to be for him.

帰国前日には、弟をプリトヴィッツェへ案内。忙しいサラリーマン生活から解放されて、プリトヴィッツェの絶景にかなり癒されたと言っていました。

We also took him to the Plitvice before he returned to Japan. He said he was so refreshed by the breathtaking view of the Plitvice and in this great nature.

まだまだ観光シーズンが始まったばかりで、観光客もそんなに多くなく、ゆっくり回ることができました。そして歩きながら会社のこと、クロアチアのこと、海外で生活するということなどなど、今まで話したことがないくらいに、たくさん話をしました。

Since it was the beginning of the tourist season, so there weren't so many people in Plitvice and we enjoyed walking around the beautiful emerald-coloured lakes. While we hiked in the Plitvice, we talked about his jobs back in Japan, about Croatia, about living outside Japan and many many things. To be honest, I think it was the first time we spent such a loooong time together and talked that much.

 弟にとって初めてのヨーロッパ。片言の英語で、クロアチア人に話しかけていくその大胆な行動と勇気にびっくり。片言の英語でも、日本語とクロアチア語の会話でも、意思疎通ができたことがとてもうれしそうな様子でした。そんな勇気のある弟にとても感心しました。それくらいの度胸でがんがん現地の人とコミュニケーションできるといいなぁ。

My brother knows only the very basic English. Although, he tried to communicate with local people in Zagreb with his limited English knowledge. And he was very happy when he could communicate with the locals in his limited English, and even when the communication was done in Japanese and Croatian! I was so surprised and impressed by his attitude. I wish I could act like him - try to talk with local without worrying about limited language skills and about making grammatical mistakes.


最終日には、ザグレブのピッツァリア、Maslinaへ。ここは中心街から離れていることもあって、地元の人の穴場ピッツァリアです。オーダーしたのはジャンボサイズのピザ！これで90Kn。ピザが大好きだと言う弟もおいしいと言って、満足してくれたみたい。クロアチアで自然も、おいしい食べ物も満喫して帰国の途につきました。

We took my brother to the pizzeria Maslina, which is popular to the local people. We ordered "jumbo" size pizza. It was huge! The pizza was very tasty but very cheap, only 90Kn. My brother found out that Croatia has not only great nature and beautiful cities, but also tasty food :)