Vrboska
Imagine. The year is 1900. You are a young woman from Vrboska who works in the only canned fish factory on Hvar. The factory opened 6 years ago. Since then it became famous for the quality of fish and olive oil used to conserve it.
Pride fills you when somebody asks what do you do for a living. You are thankful to your dad for finding you a spot in the factory. Not only because it's a good job, but you have also found love there.
He’s a fisherman like his father was. A wild tanned man who doesn’t care about anything except sea and wine. Hard work at sea built his body and he looks like one of the Greek gods you saw in cousin’s book. That’s why you were so surprised when he asked you to go out with him.
That happened 7 months ago. You’ll never forget that day.
You ran home after work to wash the smell of fish and get into your finest dress. Shoes with a hard heel played on the street in the fast rhythm of your steps. Desire to look perfect made you forget about time so you were running late.
Rushing between old stone houses you were desperate to get in front of the fortress church of St. Mary as soon as possible. You didn’t have a watch so you didn’t know how late you were.
Fortress church of St. Mary is a beautiful building, you have seen it many times before. However, that was the first time you saw him, a wild fisherman, well dressed. He greeted you with a smile and a sage branch full of violet flowers.
You being late didn’t bother him so you went for a walk. Vrboska is a romantic town thanks to its long promenade, small bridges, and narrow stone streets. Since childhood, your dream was to walk around Vrboska with a man who’ll look at you like you’re an angel. Now, that was happening.
The sound of the mild sea was a background for your conversation. You walked until the sun went to sleep and then he followed you home. On the way home, you stopped on the romantic stone bridge and gazed in each other eyes. Hot summer air full of herbal scents was cold compared to your wish for kiss.
The fisherman was a gentleman. He knew what people think about girls who kiss on the first date so he overpowered his desire, almost completely. Nothing could stop him from hugging you. Hard and soft at the same time. You wanted to stay in his arms forever, but you knew that you need to go home. Dad doesn’t like when you are late. The men usually don’t.
In front of the house, he hugged you once more and whispered that he wants to see you again. Your look was enough for him to realize that you want the same. After that, you were together almost every day.
Today you’re going out again. You can’t stop watching at the big clock on the factory wall.
Finally, a shift is over and you can go.
He’s already waiting for you on a small bridge where you fell in love. Usually, you first go home to wash and change, but he insisted on seeing you after work.
There he is, looking nervous. You run to the bridge and ask him what’s wrong. “I’ve talked to your father” he answers.
Time froze for a moment. You know what that means, your dad is very strict. In a moment you became scared. He can read you like a book and he hates to see anything else than happiness on your face, so he asked right away:
“Will you marry me?”
“You know I will” and a kiss sealed your love.
Now, stop imagining, come back to 2020. Vrboska is still romantic - it’s even called little Venice. It’s a perfect place for a date and it’s easy to get there from Oxa Dreamland.