The Journey Begins... [55]
Off to pick a President
Dear Festive Friends,
I hope you have all had a great time / rest / haven’t argued with your families more than entirely necessary.
A slight change of format this week as there has been a slight change if plans that will see me leaving for Paris to vote tomorrow - Mrs B being the voice of reason and reminding me that trying to drive to Paris and back in a day is, potentially, quite a big thing to do! I mean, it pains me to say it but she has a point.
So, the original plan is nicely illustrated by the map above. Basically, I was going to drive from pretty much St Ives to Paris and back… yeah…
For those of you who didn’t read last week’s newsletter, where the hell were you? Also, to fill you in (in case you don’t want to read it by clicking here), Sunday is the first round of the Croatian Presidential Elections. I have always taken voting seriously and been very sneery at people who can’t find the time to go from their front door to the school hall to vote - so I’m going to go and vote at my polling station. However, for me, that’s about 600km away - so a lovely little 1200km round trip!
Also, because it’s between Christmas and New Year, there are no available train seats or plane seats available/vaguely affordable so…
I received the confirmation of my polling place on the eGrađani site today. eGrađani is the secure e-citizens site for Croatian citizens. I think that I have mentioned this site before but I’ll check and, if I haven’t, I’ll give you a deep dive of it at some point in the future - it really is extremely good. Coordinated, integrated e-government services. I know what you’re thinking but, yes, it is possible!
Also, did I mention that I’ve never voted for my Head of State before? Because, up until now, my Head of State has been chosen by accident of birth. The more I think about those words, the more ludicrous they are. Sorry but…
Anyway, this is the notification that I got:
Off to the Embassy I go!
New For This Week!
This weekend, as a thank you to those people who have kindly bought me coffees since I started this newsletter, I will be posting content over at my BuyMeACoffee page. And if you could help out with a coffee, you’ll get it too and you can join me on the journey, as it happens.
I am committed to keeping this newsletter free but I think it’s also only fair to give a little something extra to those who have been so generous.
Who’s On The Ballot?
Eight candidates are running. Here they are:
Miro Bulj Most
Tomislav Jonjić Independent (Croatian Party of Rights)
Ivana Kekin Možemo!
Branka Lozo DOMiNO
Zoran Milanović Independent (Social Democratic Party)
Dragan Primorac Independent (Croatian Democratic Union)
Marija Selak Raspudić Independent
Niko Tokić Kartelo Independent
I am 90% sure of who I am going to vote for but, if I am being honest, I am considering voting for someone else. As well as not having previous experience of electing my Head of State, I’m also not used to anything other than First Past the Post…
Powered by Coffee and Generosity
As regular readers know, these emails are powered by coffee! A coffee helps keep me writing - thank you! My buymeacoffee link is at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/jamesmb and I’ll post a photo of each one you get me as a thank you!
A huge thank you to last week’s anonymous coffee friend! Thank you! As promised last week and this week, all coffees will go towards the cost of going to Paris to vote (and, if I can afford it, the second round in two weeks time) - including the inevitable coffees that I will need to sustain me on the journey! Each trip is about 1,200 km door to door plus car charges and coffee - so all help would be gratefully received!
Now, it’s a bit shorter than normal this week because the decision to start the drive tomorrow was only taken a few hours ago and I need to get ready to leave very soon!
Good night, if you’re seeing this tonight! Good morning, if you’re seeing it in the morning!
Have a great week!
James x
ENDPIECE
Thank you to Mrs B for this Christmas present!
