VENICE CROATIA DAY 11 – Ghost Hvar

We’re taking the car to explore more of the island today.  First stop is the abandoned village of Malo Grablje.  It’s up on top of the mountain, down a narrow, stony path through an olive grove, rocks kicking up into the undercarriage as we drive.  Public Service Announcement: Never, ever, buy a car that used to be a rental car.  At least once on every trip of this blog, there is a dirt road, rocks in the undercarriage, river crossing or somesuch other rental car shenanigans.  We park-ish on some big boulder and at least three wheels are still touching the ground.  We get out and immediately hear a swarm of bees swarming, pollinating whatever those flowering trees are.  There’s a ton of them, both trees and bees, and the sound is more then a little scary.  OK, it’s a lot scary.  We hesitate, but realize the bees are not interested in us, so we duck our heads and head up the stairs past the worst of it.  The village was built in the mid-1800s and included a school, a church and 2 stone mill, all mostly intact still.  At one point the entire place was just abandoned, apparently judged to be past its usefulness, and this ghost town was left.  Croatia only broke free of it’s communist-socialist roots in the 1990s, but they’ve really adapted this whole capitalism thing.  Case in point, some dude thought to run a single power line to one of the buildings at the top and start a restaurant.  We did not stay for coffee.

Next stop, Stari Grad, a lovely seaside village in the middle of the north side of the island, far more lovely then it's soviet-era name would suggest.  A less popular destination then Hvar Town, but no less beautiful, we enjoy the perfect weather and lack of crowds on this late season day.  Pizza and beer for lunch along one of the squares is nice, but we’re shifting down another gear.   

We head back for a long afternoon at the hotel pool.  On our way to return the car, we stop at a high vantage mountain vantage point to enjoy the sunset.  Dinner was so good at Junior our first night, that we go back, something we rarely do.  We’re greeted by our first names and enjoy our last night’s dinner here at what has now become our favorite streetside table in town.

VENICE CROATIA DAY 10 – Young Salt

 

A day on the water is always good for the soul, exploring tiny islands good for the sense of wonder.  It’s late season so there are plenty of boats available and the owners are willing to deal a little.  We pick a 25’ RIB, a Rigid Inflatable Boat with a 175HP outboard, fast, light and maneuverable, well suited to exploring little coves and passageways of the Pakleni Islands.  The owner of the small fleet of rental vessels introduces us to Rocco, our young, handsome captain for the day.  We prefer an Old Salt, but we figure he’s probable grown up on the sea.

The water is smooth as we make our way to Vis Island.  First stop is Stiniva Cove.  There’s a narrow passage at the back of the cove, only a few meters wide and we swim towards it, through it.  The other side opens to one of the most picturesque beaches we can imagine facing out to a curve of tall cliffs.  We sit for a few minutes, panting from the long swim, taking in the scenery. 

Next stop is the Blue Cave, Croatia’s version of Italy’s famous Blue Grotto, albeit smaller.  Like the Blue Grotto, the Blue cave is created by sunlight filtered through the sea from an underwater opening, and only small rowboats can fit through the opening.  We disembark from the RIB, pay the fee and hop into the little skiff with a handful of others.  It’s high tide, so the opening is so small we have to duck down below the gunnels so as to not bash our heads.  We watch another boat come out and it’s weirdly reminiscent of childbirth.  Once inside the cave really does glow like a sapphire. 

Next stop is Komiza, the island popularized by the filming of Mama Mia there.  We dock and Rocco leads us to Konoba Jastozera for lunch.  It’s a fantastic setting and we take plenty of snapshots, but the food doesn’t live up to the atmosphere.  Walking back to the boat, Rocco chats more freely.  When I ask him how long he’s been a captain, he’s too honest to fib.  “I took a gap year after high school to try to play football (soccer) professionally.  I didn’t make it, so I went to University.  I got my license after classes ended just before summer started.”  Mandy still has not forgiven me for asking that question.

Two last stops.  At Park Bidihovac, we swim at the very lovely, very secluded beach which, inexplicably has a donkey.  The final stop is Marinkovak Island, the one closest to Hvar, known for it’s summertime clubbing scene.  The waters are getting rougher now in the late afternoon, so fortunately it’s just a 10-minute hop back to home port where we disembark and say our goodbyes to the Young Salt.

Back on dry land, we shower and head to Hula Hula Hvar, the popping little day club built into the seaside cliff just outside of our hotel.  DJ Bulldog and cheap champaign sets a fun late afternoon vibe.  We settle in to a table right at the rail and wedge the phone into a beer glass to livestream sunset with Mandy’s mom as a way of checking in and sharing our experience. 

The full full moon is low in the sky just above the big cathedral as we walk into Hvar Town for dinner.  Table for 2 at Macondo where we enjoy the seafood and chat with couples on either side until the wee hours of 9:30pm.  It’s been a long day.

VENICE CROATIA DAY 9 – Exploring Hvar Island (with Gatto!)

 

We’re really getting used to this whole fantastic breakfast at the hotel thing, especially with this view of the moored boats bobbing in the calm blue sea.  This morning we’re picking up a car to explore a bit of the 44-mile-long island that is Hvar.  The women at the front desk tell us about Dubrovica, their favorite beach, so we head there first.  This island is mountainous with tall cliffs dropping off to the shore.  We pull the car into the tiny parking area on the side of the road then hike down 150 feet or so on the rocky path.  The challenging hike drops us into a secluded rocky beach along the perimeter of a little cove.  We lay out our towels, catch some rays and splash into the blue blue water.  We’re entertained by a small dog chasing a fluffy gray and white cat up into the top of a grape arbor.

On the edge of the beach are two restaurants.  Well, one restaurant and one less formal eating establishment, a shed with a few rag-tag picnic tables.  Of course this is my choice for lunch.  Our server, and mostly likely the owner, lazily gets up from eating her own lunch and offers us menus.  We sip from the half a liter of house white wine while we wait for our order of lightly fried Hake to arrive.  We’re not the only ones waiting for the fish dish.  The moment it’s delivered, that same cat, who we name “Gatto” because it’s the only foreign word we know for cat and he kinda looks like he’s named Gatto, hops up on the bench right next to Mandy.  We take Gatto’s loving head rub on Mandy’s side to mean “Mmmmmm, looks good.  You sharing?”  He’s right, it’s very good, crispy hot, flaky with just the right touch of salt.   While Mandy keeps Gatto at bay with kind words and a few head rubs, and a kitten shows up at her feet, partners in crime to be sure.  We save the last few bites for our new friends so when we tell Gatto it’s OK, he uses his best table manors to gently take the bounty with his front paws while we slip kitty a few bits, too.

We hang on the beach for a while after lunch before undertaking the steep climb back to the car.  We head into Jelsa to the Tomic winery where we’ve scheduled a 2pm tasting.  The winery is new, but built in the style of the ancient buildings in the surrounding towns.  In the tasting room, we’re seated next to a French couple who are taking this experience waaaaay too seriously, looking for investment bottles and missing the whole point that this wine is about this place and should be paired with this food and this sunshine.  The whites are good.  The reds are (despite being from the grapes that are the forefathers to California zinfandels) thin, and drink like whites.

Enough adventure for one day, we head back for some pool time.  The days are just packed.

The moon hangs big over Hvar Town as we walk in for dinner.  Kudos to the set designer… nice touch.  Dinner at Sagun, an adorable little courtyard off an adorable little alley.  For this first time this trip, we’re offered a big platter of fresh catch by way of tonight’s specials, and we pick a fine 2kg bream as our entrée which we meet again later over a nice tray of grilled veggies and potatoes.