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 
In the afternoon before the opening drinks we also met with 
We had a lovely time with 
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 Meลกtroviฤ 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 
As you can see we had our fun with
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.
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 ๐
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 
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 ๐
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 
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 
His mom spent some time in Europe, so it was interesting to talk about her experiences here.
We also talked with 
We were trying to take a selfie with
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 
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 
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.
I would like to thank 
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