Adriatic Island Hopping Finale: St. Klement-Hvar Town-Stari Grad

With only two nights left on our week at sea, the horizon was near and we began to get depressed that this amazing trip is coming to a conclusion. As we woke up in St. Klement, you walk to the back of the boat and see 15 feet to the bottom of the sea as if we are floating the water was so clear. We had a short hike on the island before pulling up the anchor and making way to Hvar. We left at about 12:30 to get there in attempt to get a mooring spot along the promanade. This would not be so however, as for some reason the most busy harbor we made it to during the week had some of the fewest mooring spots. We quickly gave up on getting a spot and instead took one of the mooring lines on the other side of the harbor. While we had to dingy into the promanade, the commanding views of the city were great. Also, despite the traffic in the harbor, the water was some of the clearest of the week, we could jump in the water without hesitating. We got settled, helped an english couple with a bum propeller get moored up, then had some pizza in the historic square of Hvar, dating from the 1500s. The city was definitely more touristy then the others we visited, but it was still beautiful, with old buildings, churches, and lots of history. We walked around for a while, took a nap on the boat (Erin was especially cute), and then had some cheese, bread, and wine for dinner. We had more wine than needed, which got the girls into the dancing mood when we made it back to land for the evening. After dancing on the promenade for 15 minutes at one bar, we went to the imfamous Carpe Diem, which was a cool bar in a great location (like all bars we went to this week), but definitely not worth all the international hype it gets. Afterwards we made it to our second fortress night club of the trip, which was an awesome club with a great setting perched on top of the harbor of Hvar town. There was even a swimming pool that people were dancing in. It was almost a cancun-style party in a 13th century fortress, definitely a unique experience and it was nice to have people our age, unlike our Rick Steve's recommended Dubrovnik spot filled with kids nearly half our age (depressing).

We didn't get much sleep that night as the club took us till 4:30am, and we were up at 8:30am, waking up to a beautiful sunrise over the renaissance city. We had a quick cappuccino, got a few more essentials for lunch and set sail to the other side of Hvar island, to Stari Grad (it was either Stari Grad or Vbroska, but Erin beat me in paper, rock scissors, so it was SG). We stopped in an idilyic cove that was full of sunbathers (mostly nude, but we were immune to those particular sight). The ladies made a terrific lunch while Ryan and I explored on land for a couple minutes, and we enjoyed our final cove swim of the trip in the most calm waters of the trip, we didn't even need to drop anchor if need be...and we are at sea!?!?

After the lunch, swim, and such, we headed to Stari Grad, the oldest of the stone villages we moored during the trip, dating to the 1300's, but some of the foundations of the current city buildings were built on roman ruins, as this was a roman outpost 1800 years ago.

We walked around the city for a while, taking in the scerenity of the narrow cobblestone walkways (to narrow to call streets) surrounded by quaint stone cottages and buildings. After a few games of cards and finishing the last of the Croatian butterscotch liquor we bought in Jelsa, we headed to Emeritas for dinner, an old hermitage on the outskirts of town whose chapel is still in use today....as the wine cellar (only house wine served here). We had an amazing meat tray, followed by a mediocore fish tray, walked home for the championship of the weeklong cribbage tourney (Ryan beat Erin in a landslide - hard to accept still), and Ryan and I finished the last bottle of wine on the trip; we purchased most of our wine on the trip based on the existance of a donkey on the lablel or not. When in Croatia, go donkey label or go home!!!

The next morning we had one last dip in the Adriatic surrounded by killer bees before we returned the boat to learn that we had to purchase an unusual souvenier during the week....our anchor that we allegedly bent during the week. Too bad for the low-cost european airlines luggage restrictions, because that would've fit well above Meaghan and Ryan's fireplace back home!

It was definitley a trip of a lifetime and might be our last time to pretend to live the high life yachting the adriatic in seach of Buoey Boy and Bridgette. Maybe next time we'll see them at Carpe Diem:-)

Adriatic Island Hopping Part 2: Kut-Vis-St. Klement

Ahhh yes...another day, another Ozujsko!!!

The night in Kut was a little rough on us, we woke up still swaying from the previous night. After breakfast, which consists of a cappuccino and using the restaurants facilities (as we wanted to use the pump flush in the boat toilet as little as possible). We then moved our boat across the harbor from Kut to Vis town in expectation of a more peaceful night (continue reading for actual night sleep). Once the boat was parked and all was settled, we grabbed some fruit and rented scooters at a local shop and hit the road to explore Vis for the day.

The scooters were awesome and we had great views all over the island.

Our first stop was Stiniva bay, an absolutely remarkable bay that is kindof like an hour glass, a strenuous walk down a cliff takes you to the white pebble beach with amazing clear water. One of the coolest spots this side of Koh Yao in Thailand.

We snorkeled and swam for a couple hours before re-boarding our scooters to Komiza on the other side of the island. Komiza is another beautiful town on Vis island that is frozen in the 1700s, one of the most amazing little stone villages we have ever seen. We walked around, grabbed some ice cream and then headed for Darko's.

On the way, we pulled over to see how the grapes were growing for this falls harvest. Looks like the 2008 vintage will be lovely!

Darko's was raved about on a couple websites I found when researching for the trip. It is literally a meal on his grape vine covered terrace, where EVERYTHING is homemade and local. The only thing not from the island is the fish! We started with some homemade appertifs, which got things off on the right foot. We had octopus for a starter, then seafood pasta, and for our main we had three different kinds of fish (forget the name) and calamari. It was all really good, but definitely not as good as Roki's (not nearly) and priced higher. We were shocked when we got the bill (€7 cookies (x2) for desert is shocking). It was all in all a great experience, but the price was a bit of a set back. Choose Roki's if deciding between the two. There is Darko in the background; he'd love Adamo of Montepulciano

That night we made it back to the boat and had a few bottles of wine over some cards and conversation with some Sweedish guys in the boat next to us. The boat on the other side of us as I mentioned earlier, was massive and the engine pumped fumes right into our porthole, it made us dizzy and gave huge headaches, but tis life at sea. After Ryan got done yelling at them, it made us feel a bit better, however, this night of sleep was not as good as expected, despite the calm seas.

The next morning we hit the seas early and found an amazing little cove to swim in and have lunch. Good snorkeling as well. It was a great day cap for Vis as we said goodbye to a most amazing island with even more amazing waters.

We crossed back over towards the coast to the Pakleni islands, which is just off the coast of Hvar and parked our boat in an amazing inlet on St. Klement. After getting our boat anchored (the hardest thing to do on the trip), we settled in and found probably my favorite part of the trip, Novak beach bar, literally a tiki hut set into the rocks in the bay, complete with bamboo bar, tree seating, and pure relaxation. We had a couple cold ones, enjoyed the sunset, and played cards all while soaking in complete tranquility. Ryan fell asleep in the tree he was sitting in at one point.

It was a great bar, but the relaxation quickly left us when we found our boat had shifted quite a bit while we were enjoying the scenery. Right at sunset, I jumped in and we got things figured out. After dinner on the boat and a glass of wine, relaxation set back in and we had a better night of sleep in the bay (albeit a little paranoid as we kept thinking the boat was moving).

Onto Hvar island - take two.

Adriatic Island Hopping: Split-Jelsa-Kut

Ahoy-

We set sail on the Gloria II on another perfect Croatian september morning, with nothing but blue waters and relaxation in front of us for the next 6 days!

Our first stop was on Brac island, where we dropped anchor in an idyllic cove and did some snorkeling. My God was the water clear. This cove also had a 2 mile hike that took you to monestary built into the cliffside. I was very beautiful, but we didn't consider brining money for admission and Erin wasn't wearing proper attire to get into a church-esque building (i.e. a bikini). Regardless, it was a cool hike that got us sweaty and ready for another dip before taking off toward Bol, and the famous Zlatni Rat beach, which is like a big hook of pebbles jetting out of the mainland. It was pretty crowded and we felt like a little more privacy, so we headed toward the north coast of Hvar island between Jelsa and Vrboska, where there was perfectly still waters and just a couple sunbathers. Following our second dip-stop, we headed to Jelsa, which is a beautiful little village complete with a couple little churches and lots of narrow alleyways between the stone buildings.

We successfully moored up the boat for the first time with minimal trouble, showered at the public beach, and walkted around the town for a bit before having a couple bottles of wine on the boat. After that, we walked to town and saw a concert in the 17th century town square with 9 or so accapella singers who did an amazing job. I literally think we were some of the only tourists there, as it seemed the entire town was there to watch the local men perform. It was definitely a unique experience. After the concert, we grabbed some good dinner on a cool stone terrace and called it a night.

The following morning on our way to Vis island, which is the furthest west island off of Croatia, we encountered what the sea is supposed to be like, with some seriously choppy waves. It was a little stressful getting over, but once we made it to Vis, we tucked around the island to more calm waters...the most beautiful I have seen.

So as any rational person would, we dropped anchor, had a dip and probably the best snorkeling of the trip and made lunch.

After lunch we headed toward Vis town; we knew it might be a little busy, so we arrived early...thank god they had lots of spaces! There were about 70 sail boats that occupied ALL of Vis harbor, which relegated us to the other side of the bay, in Kut, where the water was a bit more unprotected to the winds of that day. At least we got a spot! Below is us docked in front of Kut town, another picture perfect fishing village. The island was acutally frozen in time from the 1800's because it was a British Naval base until 1989, when they finally opened the island to outsiders. It made the ambiance of the island that much more magical.

I then made a call to Oliver Roki, owner of Roki's vineyard, who also hosts parties to his vineyard for AMAZING meals. Oliver, the owner, picked us up in his van next to the Kut police station and drove us to the restaurant. We were the last ones there (there were probably 5 groups of 6 or more people), so he showed us around the property, let us peek at our Peka (traditional way of cooking Croatian food), and gave us a tasting to wet our appetite. The cellar was built way way back when his great great grandfather began to make wine (nobody knows when it was built). The ambiance for the dinner was sooo perfect. We sat outside on his terrace, had a couple bottles of wine and without question, the best meal on the trip. We were licking the bones of the Gunnard we destroyed! Another great day to the trip had filled our memories and our bellies!

PekaGunnard

Gunnard carcus!

Cruising the Croatian Coast - Dubrovnik & Split

The time had finally arrived; Meaghan and Ryan arrived two wednesday's ago already almost a week into their 17 day coverage of europe that would take them from Iceland, to London, to Dublin, to Croatia, and back on a similar path (sans Dublin). After a night of pub crawling and gastro-pubbing and a night of packing and recovering, our flight to Dubrovnik arrived. We came in on an amazing Friday morning, sun blaring and vitamin D abound!
We spent the first day in Dubrovnik, the most beautiful walled city in the world, meandering about the city and climbing around the walls. The city enjoyed its golden age in the 15th and 16th centuries, when it was a trading center in the mediterranean. This is when its beautiful walls that protect the city were built, surviving multiple earthquakes that destroyed many of the city's buildings. The buildings are mostly from the late 1600's.

During the Bosnia-Serb conflict, the serbs invaded the town and it was under seige for several months. However, the serbs could not penetrate the city's old walls even in the 1990's, and the young men of the city held off the Serbs until the Croatian army came from Split.

It has such amazing history and the beautiful orange roofs and massive walls seem like they are out of a fairy tale. We walked the walls (counter-clockwise of course, thanks Slick Rick Steves) under the hot sun and afterwards, made it to Buza I, which is a tiki bar and scattered chairs placed between the western-most wall and the water, on a few rocky ledges. We had our first of many Ozjusko's and then jumped in the water at the foot of the bar. Not a bad start for this vacation! For dinner we ate at the old port seafood stop called Lokanda Peskarija, went to a shishi club called Gil's (no need to go unless you are somebody SUPER cool) and then to a 15th century fortress hosting a nightclub. Rick Steves talked of a young crowd, but we felt like we were babysitting highschoolers. Since we paid admission, we made ourselves have fun and actually ended up having a great time dancing and making some underage (i.e. 18) friends while we were at it:-)

The next morning, we had a cup of coffee with our Sobe proprieter, Pero, who runs Villa Ragusa. There should be no other option when staying here, as we paid €30 per couple to stay in the heart of the old town...which is unheard of in Dubrovnik. Pero even dropped us at the car rental place, from which we were off to Split to get our boat!

On the coastal drive that makes Hwy 1 up the Northern Cali coast seem like playing house with your sister, we stopped in Ston, a cool little village with the second longest fortification wall in the world after the great wall of China, which we found pretty impressive. The walls were erected to protect its salt mines from being pirated (see far left of photo below). During the 1500's, salt was more valuable than silver.After arriving in Split to a minor (nearly major) boat complication, we got everything worked out, and walked into Split to enjoy a pizza for dinner and cruise Diocletian's Palace, which dates back to the 300's when the former Roman emperor built it as his retirement home. It was eventually taken over by the town and today the 1700 year old palace is still integrated into the city, with cafe's and banks still tenants in the palace. It was a very unique experience as if this was in the US, it'd be a national monument, but here, its just the local hangout where as Slick Rick would put it, teenagers lick ice cream off eachothers faces:-) We set sail tomorrow!