Of all the places I’ve ever experienced a cooking class, my very favorite is now Croatia. Split, Croatia to be specific. And sometimes it’s not just the food and the process that make for a truly great cooking experience, but the very cook that is leading the class. My new friend, Tatjana Kezic is such the cook.
As I walked down the street searching for the apartment where the cooking class was to be held, my mind wondered into so many directions… Who is this woman teaching the class? What will being alone in her private home be like? Does she reallllly know how to cook?
I walked into her building, up the stairs, but realized I had no apartment number. and I didn’t know her last name to select the correct buzzer. So I tried to use my intuitive guide and walked up to the Penthouse section… Ring, ring… A handsome Croatian answers the door. Me: Tatjana?? Him: No. (Closes door).
So I walk to the next floor which, unlike the Penthouse floor, housed far too many door options for me to courageously knock on. So I sit on the stoop of the 4th floor… waiting. A man carrying a very large box up the the long flights of stairs makes his way to the last door down the hall. I decide to peak. Maybe I’ll get lucky. And lucky I did get!
A petite blonde opens the door to receive the package… I quickly call, “Tatjana??!!” Her: “Najaaaaa???!!!!”
BINGO!
I walk down the hall and before I enter the door, this bubbly, bright charming ball of energy asks, “Do you dance? Hahah… Do IIIII dance! And before we even begin our friendship she invites me to a DJ dance event 2 hours away, in the popular city where Game of Thrones was filmed, Dubrovnik.
And so it began.
Over the next 5 hours, Tanja as she’s called and I shared life stories of motherhood (she has two grown adult children), and marriage, and sex, and art and… LIFE!
We laughed and cried and connected in a way that is generally saved for long time friendships. And that is what if felt like.
Oh, and we cooked.
Did. We. Cook!
Life is too short to worry about calories. ENJOY!
Tatjana Kezic