“Let’s go to the Rockabilly Festival in Daruvar!”
“Rockabilly? What’s that? Ah, you know what? We’re in!”
And so the preparations began: listening to rockabilly songs, secretly practicing dance moves around the apartment when nobody was watching, and ordering outfits from Temu.
Coffee before hitting the road, gathering the crew, and discussing why the wheel on the Karmann Ghia was sitting at a funny angle (predictably ignored by the technical department…). Some traffic, a bit of highway, a turn here, a turn there, and before we knew it, we were in Daruvar. Time for a little drive and a stroll around town before the festival. The air-cooled cult was invited to park right on the main square. All three Beetles parked without a problem, but the Karmann Ghia decided to dig in its heels…
That wheel we noticed sitting at a funny angle over coffee was now looking like Bambi on ice. The lower ball joint had popped out. Everyone found it hilarious except the technical department, which now had to crawl under the car. The ladies’ division headed for the dance floor, while the procurement department, with a little help from the locals, went hunting for a jack around Daruvar.
It didn’t take long for us to become the main attraction on Daruvar’s main square. Everyone contributed something to the ball joint repair, even the owner of the green beauty, who put a tremendous amount of effort into cheering on and teasing the technical department. Some sources even claim he tried his hand at the repair himself.
The problem was soon fixed, and we were finally off to enjoy the festival. The crowd ranged from 5 to 95 years old, the atmosphere was fantastic, and most importantly, there was no shortage of food or drinks.
The next day brought a drive through the countryside around Daruvar, a near-collision between two Beetles, lunch, and plenty of laughter. Some of us learned the hard way why pasta without truffles doesn’t actually contain any truffles. We’d like to take this opportunity to apologize to the waiter one more time.
The second evening of the festival was even livelier than the first. This time, everyone got dancing, some even while sitting down (Video 1).
The following morning, after coffee and burek, it was time to head home. But first, we had to find a sunflower field. The ladies insisted it would make for some amazing photos, and the men, absolutely thrilled with the idea, enthusiastically parked the air-cooled machines beside the field.
The photos really did turn out great. The Polaroid was clicking away in every direction, while the ladies were begging us to finally get moving.
The debate about where to stop for food lasted almost all the way to Zagreb. After about a hundred other (and better) suggestions, we eventually settled for pizza (thanks, Ena).
P.S. No shirts were harmed or stained during the Karmann Ghia repairs. Gringo taught us that you should never contradict your wife, which is how he ended up taking the blame for ordering pasta without truffles. No sunflowers were harmed during the making of this trip, and all the air-cooled cars that actually have paint on them were thoroughly washed to remove every fingerprint they picked up on the square.
Author: Marko Livaić