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Chapter 08 / 09 · Mea’s notebook

Croatia

Stone, shade, and the shared square

Croatia — Mea Zen’s illustrated journey

The sea returned in another shade of blue. I began to recognize my own habits: look for a stair, follow a wall, stop where a patch of shade makes room for a person.

In the old towns, every frame already contained somebody else's afternoon. I made myself smaller in the drawings. There was more room for the place that way.

By the islands, the notebook no longer felt like a collection of things I had found. It felt like a record of places that had briefly made room for me.

An imagined travel diary inspired by original Travel2City photographs. Mea’s scenes and words are a creative interpretation, not a documentary account.

01

Along the wall

Dubrovnik — illustrated scene with Mea Zen
01
Dubrovnik

The wall held its shape. The light kept changing the story.

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Dubrovnik — illustrated scene with Mea Zen
02
Dubrovnik

I chose the stairway that disappeared before I could see its end.

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Ston — illustrated scene with Mea Zen
03
Ston

A narrow street is a conversation between two walls.

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Trsteno — illustrated scene with Mea Zen
04
Trsteno

The garden answered in a language of shade.

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02

A square is never empty

Split — illustrated scene with Mea Zen
05
Split

The arches gave the sky a place in the city.

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Trogir — illustrated scene with Mea Zen
06
Trogir

Across the water, the town looked almost like its reflection.

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Sibenik — illustrated scene with Mea Zen
07
Sibenik

Even the birds had somewhere important to be.

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Istria — illustrated scene with Mea Zen
08
Istria

The masts drew a quiet score across the evening.

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03

Islands in the notebook

Hvar — illustrated scene with Mea Zen
09
Hvar

From above, the town could almost fit between two pages.

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Korcula — illustrated scene with Mea Zen
10
Korcula

I kept the island at its proper distance. A drawing can wait.

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Lokrum — illustrated scene with Mea Zen
11
Lokrum

The most confident traveler here had brought his own magnificent coat.

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Peljesac — illustrated scene with Mea Zen
12
Peljesac

The sky used every color I had been saving.

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