My HiveFest experience

It's been more than two weeks since we returned back from Croatia, and I'm finally able to talk about my impressions. We had some mishaps on the way home, so it took much longer than it should and I was exhausted. The next day I started to feel a bit iffy, and I thought that I had a flu. The first couple of days I wasn't feeling too bad, but then it started to get worse, so I spent more than a week in bed, and I must say that I haven't fully recovered yet. My GP said that there are many people with similar symptoms coming from Croatia, but I still have no idea what it was. Anyway, I feel better now, so let's start!

When I heard that HiveFest would be held in Croatia I knew that we would join. It's so close to home and I haven't been to Croatia before, so it would tick the box of visiting new countries too. We arrived a couple of days before the conference to enjoy the surroundings. I didn't know what to expect, and I fell in love with Split instantly. The weather wasn't on our side, but we didn't mind as we wanted to enjoy our mini vacation as much as possible because my husband had to work during HiveFest. It wasn't planned like this, but some deadlines were approaching and he didn't really have a choice.

This wasn't my first Hive meet up as I joined HiveFest two years ago in Amsterdam, and last year we both joined Hivebeecon in Krakow. I was looking forward to meeting my old friends as well as making new ones.

The opening drinks were held on Tuesday evening, and I was so excited to see familiar faces. We were among the first people who arrived there, so we collected our goodie bags and waited for others to come.

I remember that we instantly clicked with @zirochka when we met in Amsterdam and it was like we knew each other for ages. She forgot her cigarettes in my car, and as I forgot to bring them with me to Krakow last year I threw them away only to learn during the opening drinks that my husband took them out of the bin, and we still have them at home as a 'souvenir'. We had a good laugh about it. This time also her husband Nick and her daughter Natalia (not on the photo) joined us and we had a great time together. It was a great pleasure and an honor to meet her family.

In the afternoon before the opening drinks we also met with @livinguktaiwan who arrived in the morning. She was tired, but didn't want to stay inside, so she joined us in the city. We spend some time catching up, and then walked back together (as her accommodation was on the way to our hotel) to get ready for the evening. I also met her in Amsterdam and Krakow, and I was so happy to see her and her husband again.

Photo credit @louis88

We had a lovely time with @creativemary. I have seen her name on the chain before, but I wasn't really familiar with her account, so it was interesting to learn a bit about her. She is such a positive person with great values and many passions, and it's so pleasant to talk to her.

I enjoyed talking to other people too, but as much as I love taking photos of nature I don't like taking selfies, so I have no other photos from the opening night.

This is how much fun we had talking about education system in Switzerland and Romania.

I would love to give credit to whoever took this photo, but unfortunately I don't remember and can't find it back in the old posts.

The first conference day was held at the Meštrović Gallery. We came early, so we had to wait for a few minutes before somebody opened the door. We didn't mind as there were a few of us gathered already, so we spent time talking together. I was a bit worried when I saw what became known as the 'greenhouse', but I joined others when I saw them taking their chairs and placing them under the trees. Soon there were many of us sitting outside, and only a few people stayed inside.

I enjoyed listening to the presentations, but I will not talk much about them as there were so many posts shared by others already. You can find them all in the HiveFest community if you're interested.

The organizers took great care of us and there was some delicious breakfast and lunch waiting for us. I loved the vegan options! We also had access to the refreshment all day which was good because it was hot. Some people even went for a swim as we were very close to the beach. During lunch, I had a pleasant conversation with @ninaeatshere who is so open, clever and understanding, and it was my pleasure to get to know her better. Of course I didn't take a selfie with her, and I forgot to take a photo of my meal too.

As you can see we had our fun with @creativemary again. BTW, look at her stunning hair!

Photo credit @louis88

At the end, we took a group photo, and from our smiling faces you can see that it was a good day. We were a large group, and there are even some people missing.

Photo credit @bil.prag

Our gala dinner was located at a restaurant next to the sea. The building didn't look charming to me, but when we entered inside I changed my mind. The restaurant was elegant, the tables were beautifully set, and the waiters were professional. With my husband we enjoyed the vegan menu that was delicious. We had spring rolls, pasta with pesto, sausages with salad, and fluffy cake with lemon cream. This is the spring rolls to give you an idea how fancy our meals were 😊

Our dinner was accompanied by artists and their musical performances. I loved the fact that when the artists are part of the group you can meet them after their performance and talk to them.

When we were in Amsterdam we spent a lot of time together with @zirochka, @livinguktaiwan and @sjarvie5 who unfortunately couldn't join us in Split. We missed her, and her brother @jarvie took a couple of photos of us that he sent to her with our greetings. And this was the last time when I saw my badge.

Photo credit @jarvie

Before we left, I returned to the table to collect my Hive bag, but there were a few of them on my chair. I wasn't paying attention, so I slipped my badge in one of them and took it with me. Luckily, I looked inside and realized it wasn't mine, so I returned it and found mine. However, I forgot to take my badge out of the bag and left, so I have no idea who has it now. I still had my wristband, so I could still easily get to the other conference location later in the week.

The next conference day was held at the Diocletian palace, and I even remembered to take a photo of the location 😊

The breakfast was served, and people started to gather. We talked for a bit, and then we sat down for the opening. We had the emperor and his crew to greet us! Then it was time for the presentations. My favorite presentation was the one from @arcange as he shared some thoughts that are not easy to talk about. Thank you for being so open and real. I'm not going to say more as you can (and should) watch it online if you haven't watched it yet.

Our lunch was ready, and my husband was finally able to join us for a couple of hours. During the break we talked with one of the musicians @fondew and his mom @mamafondew. These two are best friends and I admire their relationship. It was funny how he confused us with his cowboy hat during the dinner as we thought that he would be a country singer, so we were surprised when we started singing and he was really good (no offence to country singers, but it's not the music that I would listen to)

His mom spent some time in Europe, so it was interesting to talk about her experiences here.

We also talked with @iamlosi who had an amazing performance the night before. My husband loved it so much that he had to stand up and dance. We also met her at the gate when we were leaving Split as she was returning to Miami through Zurich.

We were trying to take a selfie with @arcange for some time, but all of our photos were blurry, so we asked @livinguktaiwan to help us. Now we have a great photo with two banners!

Photo credit @livinguktaiwan

HiveFest became a Hive family event to me. Here you can see what I mean - happy faces of three families becoming one during the event. We spent most of the evenings together, and on Saturday we went on a trip to a fortress nearby Split. You can see Split in the back.

We were not the only ones who had this idea and on the way back we met @gtg and his wife, @blocktrades, @alpha, @hallmann, @foggymeadow and Ola. We parked the car next to the entrance, so we didn't have to walk much, but they got off the bus too early and had to hike up the hill 😊 They just arrived, so we spent a couple of minutes with them before they went to explore the fortress and we went back to the car.

Photo credit @zirochka

Before we went to the bar for the closing drinks we had light dinner at the Asian fusion restaurant because we were not sure if there would be any food in the evening. I must say that it was a bit confusing to find which tables belong to our group when we arrived, but soon enough we found one free table and ordered our drinks. The food arrived a bit later, so we were hungry again and didn't mind that we had something else before. It was a sushi platter and it was delicious.

I was sitting next to @livinguktaiwan husband who tried to teach me some Chinese. We were joined by @growandbow and soon the conversation became quite scientific I would say. We asked him so many questions, and he patiently answered all of them. I kept the piece of paper with the characters that he showed me. I just wish we added the English description too 😊

I enjoyed many conversations that night, but I was also kind of sad that I didn't manage to talk to more people. There were so many of us that it was impossible to talk to everyone if you tried to have some meaningful conversation.

@creativemary surprised me with a wonderful gift before she left. We talked about my love of gardening, and she thought about that when she went on a long walk to the forest and saw some sage. She brought me a couple of leaves as well as some seeds to plant, so that I would be reminded of our days in Split. This is one of the most thoughtful gifts that I have ever received, and I will make sure to plant the seeds in spring. Thank you again, Mary!

I would like to thank @lordbutterfly and @roelandp for the organization. They thought about every single detail, and I know that it's not an easy task to organize such an event, so thank you for taking the time and effort and making our trip unforgettable.

Thank you everyone for lovely memories. I'm not going to tag everyone I spent some time with as I would surely forget someone, but you know who you are.

I will never forget this HiveFest, and I can't wait to meet you all again soon!

Cheers,

Martina