Barely two weeks after watching “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again” – the sequel to “Mamma Mia!” I am now on the island where it was filmed, not quite a year ago in September 2017, not Greece but Croatia. The island of Vis is as beautiful as it first impressed upon me in the movie, with plenty of locations to explore in the coming week. Over a multi-course fish dinner on the harbour last night, I declared, “I think I’m finally chilling out.”
How did I get here? Croatia was not on my radar screen but somehow “Mamma Mia” changed the well-laid plans of mice and men.
For at least a decade, my friend Guido has been inviting me every year to visit him in his summer retreat in Le Marche, Italy. He even built a website in English to introduce Montefiore dell’Aso, a medieval fortified hill-top town in Italy. This is the land of his ancestors. While the Adriatic side of Italy is less known than the Mediterranean side, it is not because it is less interesting but that it has not been discovered or marketed.
Amidst my usual “busy-ness” it took a leap of faith to book a one-way ticket from London Stansted to Pescara, secure a small rental car, and reserve seven nights at Casa Malavolta in Montefiore dell’Aso, a B&B operated by Guido’s multi-talented friend Lusi.
Watching the movie “Mamma Mia II” in Richmond, London changed everything. The ABBA songs spinned in my head nonstop as background music to my reliving the movie as the central character of young Donna traveling through Europe, fearlessly soul-searching on some unknown island.
Just where was the movie filmed? On map, the island of Vis is directly on the other side of the Adriatic Sea from Pedaso, which is a 15-minute drive to Montefiore dell’Aso.
I searched “Croatia” on my Facebook page and found a former conservatory classmate who is Croatian and lives in Zagreb. I contacted her via Facebook messenger. She immediately responded with enthusiasm. Suddenly it became real. It was very possible to change my holiday plans and see the island where the movie was filmed.
The Mamma Mia Effect, for me, is about having a dream, the will to pursue it, and then changing one’s plans to make it come true. It’s about having the time to explore, make connections with local residents, and change your life in the process.
After examining the ferry schedule from Ancona, Italy to Split, Croatia, I decided not to waste a day to cross the Adriatic Sea. Reluctantly I informed Guido that I’d cut short two nights in Italy to allow time to do an overnight ferry crossing from Ancona to Split and to explore Vis Island.
Guido was not impressed. Give up Italy for Croatia? The two opposite coasts of the Adriatic have been feuding for centuries. The towns are built within thick, fortified walls on hilltops for good reason.
The six day five night visit to Guido’s Italy was too short, to put it mildly, barely tasting the antipasti but enough to know that Montefiore dell’Aso (flower mountain on the river Aso) will be an ideal base for a musical and cultural retreat far from the madding crowd of tourists that flock to Tuscany and Split.
Mamma Mia! I simply have to return to Italy next summer.
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