Operation: “The World” is a Go

(7/23 - 7/27)

Hvar was beautiful! We heard it was the new “hot spot” for tourists attracting the most affluent of visitors. The harbors boasted all kinds of yachts and boats letting us use our imaginations of who was on board.

We arranged a room for three nights before we left Split that was just a 10-15 min walk from the harbor. As we walked to our new home, for the next couple days, we had the mountains to our right and the ocean to our left with little kiosk and cafes crammed in between. The island is known for its lavender and it leaves a great scent in the air.

We arrived at our room dripping in sweat since it took us a little while to find it. Our host greeted us with a traditional lemonade made with cherry juice and we chatted for a bit about the island. We were excited to find that our room had a terrace! This was the view:

Day:

Night:

Each place seemed to be getting better and better! Hvar’s beaches/rock cliffs seemed to be a little nicer and just a short walk down the hill from our room. We started to realize that the Dalmatian Coast is a great spot for beach vacations and spend most our time doing just that.

With a suggestion from our guide book, we went to a place called Luna for dinner one night. It was spectacular. We both had salmon fettuccini. The seating area of the restaurant was on the top floor and the ceiling was cut out so you could see the sky above.

We have found that the food in Croatia is a great mix of Mediterranean and good ole home cooking. From pizza and pasta to grilled fish and chicken, Croatia has great food prepared with care. Hvar was especially a great spot for our bellies!

Hvar is also known for its nightlife. Most of it is laid back in local Konobar (outdoor cafe that serves drinks), but we decided to venture into our second nightclub. It was packed with great music. It was half indoor and half outdoor and had a very chic feel to it. Not usually our scene, but fun to try here and there. Here’s what it looked like during the day:

It’s a bit more impressive at night.

Then we caught a 280kg tuna!

Just kidding! We didn’t catch it, but as we were catching the ferry for Korcula, a proud fisherman brought this to a local restaurant near the ferry port and put out a sign that read: “Tuna Party Tonight!” If we hadn’t bought tickets for the ferry we probably would have eaten some of it!

Next we hop to Korcula!

(7/15 - 7/23)

It’s time for “Fun in the Sun”. We became a little anxious and decided to travel to Croatia a little earlier than planned, eager for some warm and dry weather. We arrived in Split, Croatia on the morning of the 15^th and followed the crowds to a bus that took us into the old town. We found a private room for the night and took a well needed nap after the bus, train, and plane rides.

We woke up realizing that we definitely found the sun. It’s been about 95-100 degrees everyday and no rain. The couple that owned one of the internet cafes we frequented, found us an apartment to stay in for the rest of our time in Split. It was sort of like a cave with air-conditioning so it served us well.

We spent about a week in Split going to the beaches and exploring Diocletian’s Palace. The beaches are more like rock shelves, but nonetheless the water was clear and beautiful.

Diocletian’s Palace takes up most of the city and now hosts shops, cafes, restaurants, and several small ice cream parlors (our favorite!). The Roman Palace was surprisingly well preserved for being centuries old.

After a week, we were well adjusted to the sun and enjoying Croatia immensely. For the next week and half we were going to explore some of the islands with our first stop being Hvar.