Some people really do not want to check the calendar (or the website showing the sea temperatures), and consider every day to be swimming season!
When I was a kid growing up in Croatia, for my family (and many others) it was customary to go to the seaside for the May 1st holiday, and more often than not, the discussions revolved around whether it's going to be warm enough to take a swim in early May. But nobody ever, from what I can remember, talked about swimming in the sea for All Saints' Day.
These days, it seems like global warming and the increasingly rapid changes to the climate changed all of that, with people swimming in the Adriatic in November, and not even for a specific reason, but just because they enjoy it.
We posted a couple of days ago about the people in Split playing na male branke (a special local version of football) right by the sea, in their swimming apparel, but they were not in the sea, just close to it. That arguably makes it even worse, as it was quite windy at that point in Split.
Today, we bring you a photo from way up North, in Lovran, showcasing two gentlemen enjoying a nice, warm swim on November the 4th, some time in the early afternoon. The air temperature was somewhere around 16 °C, there wasn't much wind, and the sea temperature was around 19 °C, and as you can see in the photo, it was still quite wavy. The two entered the sea, took a brief swim, spoke to each other a bit while in there, taking their time, and then exited as if it was - August. Passers-by took some interest in them, as they were probably the only people in the Adriatic at that point without diving suits on.
And before you know it, the traditional New Year's Day swimming will happen all over Croatia, then Easter will come when the bravest people will probably venture out to say hello to the spring and summer by taking their first yearly swims... Before you know it, it will be swimming season all year long in Croatia, at least for some people!
