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.
No comments:
Post a Comment