The NOT so sunny island in the Adriatic!

The rest of our trip in Croatia was spent on the island of Hvar, the island of Korcula, and in Dubrovnik.  We took a ferry from Split to Hvar, passing by some remote uninhabited islands, arriving by early evening in Hvar, the sunniest island in the Adriatic. And just in time for the rain to start. Boo! We walked quickly from the ferry stop to our hotel, The Amfora Hvar Grand Beach Resort, and took comfort in the fact that we had a great room with fabulous views of the pool and ocean.

We settled in and waited the rain out and thankfully it took a break for a couple hours, giving us enough time to explore the harbor and old town area in search of a restaurant for dinner. We ate at Restoran Leporini, starting with some refreshing prosecco, followed by delicious Croatian dishes, a fish filet for Travers and a seafood pasta for me. By the end of dinner, the rain had let up, so we wandered the streets some more, finding the Central Park Club that had a man singing and playing guitar. We enjoyed the music, singing along to some well known reggae songs, then found another bar around the corner filled with a lot of young people dancing and drinking and spilling out of the bar into the small stone alleyway. We joined them for a drink or two, dancing along and enjoying the break in the rain.

The next day it was still a bit rainy and overcast so we rented a small car and decided to drive around the island, stopping in a bunch of tiny towns, mostly consisting of a couple buildings and homes at most, and getting some great views of the island and ocean.





We stopped in Stari Grad, one of the oldest towns in Europe, which had narrow stone alleyways and buildings. We stopped in a open plaza that had a church and a tower, but stood with our backs to them, faces to the sky, as we were blessed with a the few rays of sun that had broken through the clouds.  We strolled along the little harbor, passing by shops and restaurants on one side and lots of boats on the other. We bought some rolls, deli meat, and cheese then hopped back in the car and continued our drive along the coast, finding tons of small pretty coves along the way.





















We stopped at a pretty cove that we had all to ourselves, and ate our lunch. The water was so beautiful and calm that Travers decided to take a dip in the water!  It was really cold, but he braved it and now can say he swam in the Adriatic!









Getting back in the car, we continued our drive, noticing that we were getting into the wine country of Hvar.  We kept seeing signs for wine tasting, so we finally decided to just stop into one and taste some Croatian wines. The place we stopped was literally an old woman's garage that she had turned into a wine cellar. She barely spoke any English but we managed to communicate enough to have a few tastes of her wine and ended up buying a bottle!

Getting back in the car we were headed towards a part of the island that there was only one way in and out, but had been told that it was a nice town and part of the island to see. We approached a tunnel that was a one-lane tunnel so we had to wait our turn before entering as other cars were coming from the other direction. Once inside, we saw just how narrow and small this tunnel was and how rough and unfinished the walls were. It was quite scary to be in this long tunnel with no lights except our headlights to guide us and no idea just how long it would last. When we finally made it out the other side, I realized that we would have to go back through it again on our way back and was not looking forward to it!

We continued our drive, seeing the other side of the island. We ended up driving into a dead end of the town we were aiming for, and barely made it out again because of the steep hill, stone paved road, and rain making it very slippery that our little car barely had enough power to get out.  After the scary tunnel and almost getting stuck at the bottom of a hill, I was ready to get back to our hotel, get warm, and relax. After the long day of driving, the rain and cold, we decided it was the perfect night to stay in, order some room service and have some of the bottle of wine we had bought earlier in the day.

Our 2nd full day in Hvar was one of the worst weather days ever so we decided to turn it into a spa day. We slept in, had a leisurely breakfast at the hotel, then walked to the spa where we each got a massage, followed by some lounging by the indoor pool.  The rain was not letting up at all, so we dashed into town to a busy pizza restaurant, sitting outside under the awning, watching the rain and eating some warm delicious pizza.  The rest of the afternoon was spent laying in bed, snug under the comforter, drinking some more of our wine while we watched and waited for the rain to give us a break.

Once it cleared up, we got up, and got ready for our final night in Hvar. We had dinner at Passarola, a Croatian restaurant in the old town that had arched stone ceilings and a live band playing music in the corner. After our meal, we strolled through the town, along the harbor, but called it an early night as the weather the next day was supposed to finally be sunny, so we wanted to get an early start as it was our last day in Hvar.

As promised, the next morning was beautiful!!  We got up early, walked down to the harbor and rented a small boat. We hit the water, heading out to the nearby islands that we had been staring at over the last few days. Travers drove the boat, loving every second of it, and I took photos and soaked up the sun!

We found an island with large beanbags placed on the rocky beach, and a family-run restaurant just waiting for us to arrive. We docked the boat, had a coffee and soaked in the relaxing environment.

Some clouds were threatening the island however, so we hopped back in the boat and continued our adventure. We found another larger island, where we docked the boat, and walked over the hill to the other side of the island where we found paradise!  The water was a light blue, the waves gently rolling in, and two beach chairs just waiting for us to sit down.  Grabbing the two chairs, we soaked ourselves in the sun, letting the water lap at our feet, and took deep breaths as we were finally enjoying the sun in the Adriatic!

After an hour or so, we felt rejuvenated and refreshed. We left our little paradise in search of some lunch. We had hoped for a store where we could buy some sandwich supplies and make our own, but they were closed. So we improvised and headed back into the boat and back to the first island and restaurant we had stopped by earlier in the day.

we shared a large plate of mussels, Travers followed it up with a hearty dish of pork chops and I had a fresh tuna salad, then we lounged in the bean bags by the water, soaking in more sun.

We didn't want to leave this gorgeous island. The water was so clear and cool and the view just amazing.  But we had to catch the afternoon ferry to another island called Korcula. We said goodbye to the island, got back in the boat, and headed back to Hvar.  After returning the boat, we grabbed our bags and headed to the port and caught the last ferry to Korcula. Even though we had a few days of rain and bad weather, this final day of fun in the sun on the boat more than made up for it. And now to us, Hvar will always be the sunniest island in the Adriatic!

The Sunniest Island in the Adriatic!

Ah Croatia!  What a wonderful country, filled with friendly people, delicious food, and lots of sun and water!  Travers and I spent about 10 days in Croatia, one of the longest trips we have taken in a long time.  While I want to blog about Croatia in its entirety, I am very far behind in my blogging, so you'll just have to go there someday to truly experience everything we did. And we sure did a lot!

We started our trip in Zagreb, the capital of Croatia and one of its largest cities. Getting in our rental car, we drove into the city to have some lunch and explore the town. While it is the largest city of Croatia, it is by far one of the smaller European cities we have been to. With a cobbled old town area, a couple of churces, and some fun restaurants and bars with outdoor terraces, we were wondering why we weren't spending the night there. But we had plans to see something even better the next day and it required us to get in the car and drive a couple hours south which we didn't want to do the next morning. So off we went to a small town called Grabovac which is near the Plitvice Lakes, an UNESCO world heritage site.

Spending the night in Grabovac at basically a road-side motel (but clean and friendly and would stay there again if we found ourselves in that area for some reason), we got up early the next morning and drove the 10 minutes to the Plitvice Lakes.  I'll let the photos do the talking (even though they don't nearly do it enough justice), but we basically walked the trails and pathways of these lakes for most of the day, stopping to absorb the breathtaking waterfalls and scenery surrounding us. At times, we were on these narrow wooden walkways that sat right on top of the water and others running right next to or on top of a waterfall. Amazing! I would highly recommend going here at least once in your lifetime. It was that spectacular!

After getting our fill of the lakes, we drove another couple hours towards the coast to Zadar. We were staying in an Airbnb apartment, so once we met our host and got settled, we headed to the old town area, which is a walled-in part of the city that sits on a peninsula.  We strolled the cobblestone streets, and made our way around the old town area, making sure to pass by several of the touristy hot spots, like churches and viewpoints.  Just before sunset, we headed down the boulevard that runs along the water's edge, and made sure we were standing at the end so we could watch, according to Alfred Hitchcock, the most beautiful sunset in the world!  And I think, Mr. Hitchcock got it right. What a sight!

After the sun set, we had a nice dinner in town, followed by some more strolling and finally back to our apartment. We rose early the next day, got back in our car, and headed to our next destination, Split. We drove along the coast, seeing some amazing azure blue waters, and stopped at several small towns, all quaint and charming with old churches and castles and amazing views of the water.

Arriving in Split later that afternoon, we dropped the car off at the airport and took a bus into town, arriving at Hotel Luxe by early evening.  We dropped our bags, got ready for the evening, then headed out to explore the Split's old town, which is based around Diocletian's Palace, a large walled in section of the city that is now filled with restaurants, shops, bars and churches.  We wandered through the narrowest cobblestone passageways we've ever seen (and we've seen a lot of these in Europe, but these were definitely the narrowest). And we found our way to a quaint looking restaurant filled with locals and tourists alike, and were welcomed by a friendly waiter.  After having a delicious Croatian meal, we wandered the passageways within the old palace walls again, eventually finding our way back to the hotel.

The next morning, we checked out of the hotel, leaving our bags behind for the day, and went to explore some more. We walked out to the beach area of Split, which turned out to not be as pretty as we had imagined as the sky was turning grey and clouds were coming in. Seeing the weather turning, we headed back towards the old town area to see it during the daylight.  We wandered again through the narrow streets, ending up at the bell tower near the center of the city.  Climbing up the bell tower on narrow metal stairways that didn't look like they would last much longer, we made it to the top to take in some panoramic views of the city.  Making our way back down on shaky legs, we decided it was time for lunch. We found a small bar/restaurant that had a 2nd floor balcony that overlooked the main shopping street, so we could enjoy our food and people watch at the same time.

 Wandering around some more, we eventually headed back to the hotel to pick up our bags before getting on our ferry to Hvar, the sunniest island in the Adriatic!

To be continued....