August 26, 2023 – A fabulous piece of news for bench tourism in Vrboska on Hvar – the return of the bench after a philanthropist intervenes.
My inbox is never dull.
I was contacted by a friend a few weeks ago who I had not heard from in a while. She wanted my advice on an unusual topic, a subject she thought I had some expertise in, as well as the contacts to make some change.
Benches.
It got me thinking about my legacy. When I finally depart this magnificent planet, the only two things I might be remembered for are getting sued and bench tourism.
Quite a legacy, but I will take it.
My friend was calling on behalf of a friend with a house in Vrboska, who was really upset about the disruption to the daily routine that had been caused by the extensive works on the riva. Apparently, that most sacred of institutions – the Dalmatian bench that was the daily gathering point for the wise old men of Vrboska – had been removed. According to my friend, the old chaps were left to impart their pearls of wisdom as the Dalmatian Google and Island Wikipedia in a makeshift alternate location close to the Studenac supermarket.
It didn’t feel right, and the old guys looked miserable and out of sorts in exile, and the lady in question wanted to do something about it so that they could have their dignity and old way of life back. She was even prepared to buy and donate (anonymously) a brand new bench for the guys, but she had no idea how to go about it.
My friend knew that I had a thing about benches, and also that I had contacts within the Jelsa administration (Vrboska falls under the Jelsa mayor for administration). What my friend had not picked up on was that I was not exactly the right person to be pushing the Jelsa mayor to allow this very generous bench gift – as you can see below, the last time I was in contact with him back in 2018 – ironically in Vrboska – he announced in a public meeting that he was suing me.
Some five years later, I am still waiting for the lawsuit to be delivered. Croatian justice seems to be moving slower than ever in this case…
So while I thought that perhaps it was better if I didn’t get involved myself, I was happy to put my friend in touch with the right person in the Jelsa administration who could make such a momentous decision.
Time passed, as it does in Jelsa and Vrboska.
And I thought no more of it.
Until this morning, when I got the following message on WhatsApp from my friend.
Phone calls indeed were made, the offer of a free bench was put forth.
And the offer was apparently rejected. Soon after, the original bench was apparently returned to its original position, and the wise old men of Vrboska were able to carry on as they had for years, and their forefathers before them. Perhaps it would look better for the local administration to return the original bench, rather than have a private citizen donate one.
It got me thinking. Perhaps someone could offer to donate a bench to Jelsa in its original location, and perhaps the same thing might happen. See the original Jelsa bench that inspired my bench tourism promotion back in its glory days in the lead photo. Want to learn more about bench tourism? It is so cool, I even made a video about it.
As for the Vrboska bench, I may not have achieved a lot in life, but a small contribution to the renaissance of bench tourism is at least something…
