05-VII-1973.
Took off at 4:45. Arrived at Belgrade with no fuss, visited Okac so I gave him the negative, talked with him, coffee ratluk, then hit it without stopping until after Tuzla. There we sat on the car roof, drumstick each and gnaw on it. The crumbs stuck to the hood until Bruno washed it with boiling water a week later. In Sarajevo, of course, ćevapčići at Mrkva's. They gradually get our way of eating, bit of this, bit of that, "ah, it's in the mix!". Walked over Ilidža a bit. On Jablanica lake stopped for a pee, they swam a bit, I couldn't be bothered to unpack to dig out my swim [pants].
Went to the Buna spring, had fried trout and a bottle of žilavka, took a nap on the beach. Rudolf gets up, Bruno immediately says "zwei", i.e. bring one cigarette for me too. "I'm going for a pee". Dropped by the camp on Bunica, to leave the message for my folks, they'd be stopping there in a few days. Around 19:00 we were near Ploče. By Omiš we stopped by some stonewall to take a leak, some girl saw we were visiting her so came to meet us, luckily was too far. Arrived at Zadar by 23:30, slept on the parking by reception. Played Shakespeare-Schiller-Goethe, they both said Schiller and I said Shakespeare, so I slept differently - in the car. They parked their sleeping bags under some boat.
(scrambled eggs for breakfast, had that often... the colors are just right, my jeans were so... purplish)
5th of july. Got up around six, found practically the same place in Borik as last year, by the fence, pinched tents. Some kid ran to us right away, asked whether we were the hat club. Sure we are, how not. Two girls were asking about you. Who? Dutch, one blond. Rosanne or Ita. Rosanne is not blond. She is. Oh no she's brown. Oh you blind fool she is blond. Anyway, boy, thanks for the news.
Found Hogar parked along the path to our place, with his three daughters (or four?), we know each other since the last year, The Lady to whom I tipped the hat each time is the oldest. At the beach met Nora (whom I didn't recognize, short hair now)(but did recognize her in 2021. when I searched for her, same bulgy eyes and everything still in place), and her friend Anita - very cute, and later turned out to be not too smart. Whom I simmered during the day because I counted on Bruno going for Nora again. Rosanne came right away and stayed with Rudolf, so this one goes to me, but no, in the evening Rosanne couldn't go out, Anita fucked with Bruno in the dark tent, Nora with Rudolf in the car, and I got the empty orange tent. Actually lost rhythm around dusk, because I chanced upon Feri and his wife (small is the world, actually they got a tip from my parents), so we tried to talk without a common language. Then some dutch, Joe, a 15 year old kid, came by with lots of wine, got into pushing me to translate his lousy english into my nonexistent hungarian. We were not sober. By the time I extracted myself out of it, the girls managed without me.
So went for the dock in the evening. Nisla, as soon as he saw me, said "Grakula, sit baj maj sajd!", which was between two dutch sisters. The older one avoided me, managed to kiss the younger one, but then they vanished in two minutes. Then I turn to the plump one with a bit of a nose, some Ans who appreciates her friend so much that she used her name, Anja (and who knows what else was bluff, too). I tried a bit with her, but she did the classic dutch girl act (boyfriend at home, faitful etc, as the one last winter said "until the first chance"). We kissed a couple of times but said we'll see about that tomorrow and then went off. Tried with some toothy Belgian, no go. Then I almost left but Ans came back. Then didn't feel like sleeping, so half drunk (had about a liter of wine altogether, spread over the whole evening), mad at Bruno for lifting a girl off me each year, and listening from the car how they fuck until half four.
6th of july. Woken up by my burned skin getting tight. The chicks appeared late, dead tired, didn't catch much sleep. Befriended the guys from Varaždin, tent next to us - Hus, Đuza, Boro, Franc and Šmit. Didn't see Ans until evening (and she is a bit plump). Met our Hungarians' daughter, shorter hair, looks fuckappealing and even more nuts than before. In the restaurant by the table, met Ginter aka Drunken Cobra (so that's who it was). He's a professional soldier now, shouldn't be using his leave in a socialist country, but he still did it.
I tried it a bit with The Lady, but she had the dutch story ready (boyfriend at home etc). The cashier at the restaurant seemed familiar, and I thought it was from last year - nope, it's some Rada from VIII1, who left in april 1970 and nobody heard of her since. Small world it is. Talked with her for almost two hours until her rush time, when she got too busy. Went to the hat club, and saw Ita. They sat most of the afternoon around the tents, had a lot of wine, and the Joe guy got so drunk last night, that his dad thought we drugged him. Rosanne and I had to go talk to the guy. He won't let his kid go play with the nasty older kids. We already had accumulated empty bottles (even with the returns, they seemed to crop up somehow), so we started lining them up on the fence, and strike a notch on the roof of the mercedes (by 22nd there were 88 notches).
Now with Rosanne being with us this evening, tried my luck with Nora, and got the upgraded version of the dutch girl story - not only having a boyfriend, but he's also coming here, she just doesn't know when. Along with that, she's lonely, disappointed etc. Which didn't bother her last night. Then I sat with Ita, and she had an even stronger version of that story. At least I got a kiss for comfort. We all went to the dock and I told her that I can accept when a girl says no, bye. So I went looking for the plump Ans. Now with her was a new girl, Anja, and a younger niece. Well Ans's father has a bar, and Anja tends it. Ans's boyfriend is Anja's brother and vice versa. So crossed over and loving each other like horses. And now Anja feels sorry for her brother because Ans cheated him with me last night (oh yeah a lot happened).
- so I don't like it that she's with you
- don't you like me?
- oh yes, I like you
- so why don't you come with me?
So she mumbled something and then they went dutch hr hr with each other and then this younger niece turns to me and says "she will come with you now, just wait a few minutes". And really, there she comes, says just don't leave the camp. And said it was her birthday, so we sat somewhere and I congratulated her. It was wild. We end in Bruno's tent and manage to push to poles so it fell on us a few times. And at once she goes "oh I am drunken. You go to Ans. She likes you. I must think of my boyfriend."
Nuts hundred grade. Somehow we get the tent upright. On the dock she and Ans pass me raise bids on me, you take him, no he's yours, yes I like him but you take him. Eventually Ans promises for tomorrow, then I escort them both and later go with the Varaždin gang to "Zubatac" (Milan is closed, Galeb is closed). Then sat withh Rudolf, Bruno, Rosanne, Anita (Nora was absent), joked with Varaždin gang, drank only kokta as if disappointed, while we waited for Boro to leave the tent with his french girl. Found him by the watering hole. He was in a shower cabin, looking at his dick. "Wassup, Boro, what's the inspection... you'll see guys tomorrow Boro will make a slogan 'I have fucked something last night' and will carry it all over camp" (in pure kajkavian dialect). Then Boro and I pull out two mattresses and lay them in front of their tent, for the night. I usually slept in the car, except this time. The four others got the tent. To silence them, he goes "cmon now you inside, step on it, jerk in a choir, one two".
(just a remark: Nora, Anita, Ans, Ita, Anja are all blondes)
BTW, Anja is actually quite cute. Looks like potentially fat in some future, there's not much of a waist, but everything else is just right. The teeth are somehow pulled back, really neat job, one of the younger sisters still wears braces, seems to run in the family. Asked how did she get teeth like that, and she fired, on the spot, a „fell of a horse“. Well, at least there's imagination. The bangs of exactly her length, hair bright gold, and finely broken voice, not hoarse but just a little so, to charm. She'll be a bomb in a few years. Then later I noticed that Valerie Perrin, specially in „Slaughterhouse five“ looks quite like her, at an age of some four years later.
Mentions: Ács Ferenc (Feri), Borik, Bruno Kessler, ćevapčići, Geraldine van Grijven (The Lady), kokta, Rosanne, Rudolf Ochsner, Slanislav Dunjić (Nisla), VIII1, Zadar, in serbian