In the middle of our trip, Marina and I( Adriane) decided to ask each other, what motivated us to come on this trip. So we decided to film ourselves and ask some very personal questions and offer some insight into our feelings what it’s like going back after a lifetime and rediscovering our roots and how they connect to Marco Polo. We left Slovenia when we were little children, and now, well…lets just say, we are well seasoned.
Picture of us before leaving for Canada
What we left behind…
I remember crying, we were so close to my grandma and grandpa and my aunt.
This was my best friend in the whole world. We did everything together.
And this was Marina’s best friend.
When we came to Canada we spoke no English. Life was hard for my parents; they worked at jobs below their skill levels just to put food on the table, learning a new language, new customs, raising us and a whole new way of life. Adventure being in their blood, they decided to build a sailboat and sail the world. So our teen years were spent boatbuilding and frolicking along the docks and bonfires. We didn’t have much money, but we had each other.
Our boat that my dad designed and we all built.
We sailed with them along the coast, and shared many adventures.
Then, Marina and I got married, and we had children of our own. So we got busy with our lives and lost all contact with our family back in Slovenia. My mom and dad lived aboard the sailboat and sailed on, then spent a few year in Hawaii for a few years on their boat.
Once Marina’s and my children grew up, they left home to start on their own adventures. Now empty-nesters, Marina and I started asking about our past, who are our ancestors were, what are our roots? We have heard many stories from our father how we all came from a small coastal village in Dalmatia, now part of Croatia. We also heard many stories told by our father who heard it from his father that we were related to Marco Polo. So we decided to dig….
Then one day everything changed. Facebook came online. We joined. Through it, we found our family back in Slovenia. We decided to go back, reconnect and explore our roots and find out more about this Marco Polo connection.
To document our trip we created a web series called Marco Polo Family Ties. You can watch it here. Here is the link: Marco Polo Family Ties
We also wrote blogs to chronicle our visit, which you can read on this website. See our blogs starting with Vienna. https://www.marcopolofamilyties.com/beautiful-elegant-vienna/
So here is the interview from Korcula, which is the birthplace of Marco Polo. We thought it would be appropriate to film it there. We rented a little apartment, half a block away from the centre and the house where he was born.
Watch our interview from Korčula HERE