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| Hvar Town |
“To move, to breathe, to fly, to
float; to gain all while you give; to roam the roads of lands remote; to travel
is to live.”
Hans Christian Andersen
Feeling almost like being at home, taking the ferry ($12
each) from Woodshole to the Vineyard (Martha’s) that is, we got off on a
decidedly different island. Hvar is
gorgeous. God, I had almost? forgotten
how much I love Europe. (Unbelievably,
it had been 8 years since my last trip to Europe. Clearly, a lot has been going on in
life…). We were met by smiling Jelena
with whom I had been communicating to rent “our “ home there. Spying her through a porthole, I knew who she
was before I even got off the ferry, and we embraced as though we were long
lost friends. Great beginning. And, it got better from there.
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| From the Spa's Rooftop |
She brought us to her brother Vladimir who took my bags and guided us to his Dad and car whereupon they brought us home and showed us around. Wonderful.
Hungry and not wanting to waste any time, we
changed, and walked slowly (per Vladimir’s orders!) down to the town (less than
10 minute walk) and decided to “lunch” finding a perfect place on the water,
Kod Kapetana.
Our lovely waitress took very good care of us
and introduced us to our favorite wine of the week,
Zlatan Posip (crisp white) from
a winery on Hvar which I am now on a mission to find in NYC?!
(This
was our most expensive meal of the trip, and we went soup to nuts.
It was about $110 with tip.)
Following a very long, leisurely lunch of
mussels, grilled octopus and tuna, we decided to go to the
Hotel
Adriana Spa next door, of course!
We
were totally spoiled with plush robes, wonderful massages, a swim in the
infinity pool, and relaxation on the rooftop deck and bar where we savored a
glass of proscecco.
(The massage was
$80.
The experience, priceless!)
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| Our ships have come in?! |
Having showered at the Spa, we meandered yet again around
the port, ogling the yachts and trying to peer in.
And, unbelievably, found ourselves a bit
hungry!
So, into the very fancy
Divino Bistro where we managed
to eat oysters, scallops, ceviche, and carrot cake (of course washed down with
more great Croatian wine.)
This meal
was about $100 with tip for the two of us.
This lovely place is apparently rated #1 in Hvar on Tripadvisor.
Croatia is relying heavily on Tripadvisor
right now, as tourism is the #1 industry.
(A friend texted me recently actually, saying that Andrew Zimmer
announced on Rachel Ray today that Croatia is a must place to visit.
I hate the secret getting out.
But, the good people of that country deserve
it.
They are wonderful, friendly, and very
hard working.)
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| The Blue Cave |
Saturday we were up and down to the port for a day’s
excursion with
Primi Boats (the
company Vladimir’s works with). Adrian,
our guide took Katie, myself, and nine others on a trip of a lifetime. Admittedly, we are not fans of “group tours”
where we have no control of the crowd. (Hence
why we rent cars, often.) Anyway, this
group was pretty cool, thank God. We
visited tiny secluded coves to swim in, one of which actually had a tiny café-bar! The caves we visited, Green and Blue were
absolutely magnificent. The colors were
indescribable. Stopping for lunch and
eating together, another wonderful lunch of fresh seafood (more octopus salad
and tuna ) made our group bond a bit. It was interesting to hear Katie discussing
her work with a young Austrian Woman who works with the U.N. in Vienna. (God love this lady, she did not love our
trip. She was scared to death most of
the day. All to keep her
boyfriend/partner happy? So good to grow
old and
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| Swimming Cove |
know that all experiences don’t necessarily need to be shared.) Later in Dubrovnik we bumped into one of the young Australian Guys on another adventure, and shared a cab with him there. You know I love the small world story of that. The diving and swimming from the boat,
exploring the underwater caves, and the ride back to Hvar being a bit reminiscent of our white-water rafting days, made me so grateful for those memories as painful as they can still be, as they prepared us for such great adventures in other lands, literally. The trip with Adrian cost about $150 with tip
for the two of us. The delicious lunch
was about $44 with tip, and yes, a wine
& beer.)
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| Jazz outside Red Wine Bar |
After showering we simply felt like pizza. In my researching for the trip, pizza was
actually highly recommended as Croatians love it. We had seen and commented on the lovely
setting and patio of the Palace Hotel, so we went there and had a delightful
meal on the
San
Marco Venetian Terrace. While savoring our mussels, simple pizza, and
need I say it, wine, we were entertained and mesmerized by the people in the
Square; out on the town for their Saturday night. Interesting, but not as ”fun” was being hit
by falling olives from the trees on the piazza!! (Dinner was $75 with tip.) Not ready to call it a night, we meandered
yet some more; so beautiful to do in these Medieval towns. We mentioned more than once how it felt like
we were on movie sets. Finding
Red
Red Wine Bar which was recommended by our Landlord and also ranked well on
Tripadvisor (indeed, we bumped into our Jelena there); we simply asked the
owner to choose our wine for us, which he loved, and listened to a lovely young
Woman sing Jazz while accompanied by her Dad. We closed the place. Awesome.
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| Dubovica Beach |
Sunday we awake to yet again glorious deep blue skies and
sunshine, and heat.
We went to the Town
Square to brunch and found ourselves at the
Central Park Club where we had lovely
meals of omelette and yogurt with granola.
From there we went to rent a car from a lovely
young Man we had met the evening before.
Antonio was
awesome.
Not only did he take great care
of us for a great price ($80 for the day); he made recommendations for our day
trip around the island we never would have found on our own.
Not long after hitting the road, we found
Dubovica Beach, recommended by Antonio and rated #1 beach of Hvar on a few
sites I had researched.
It was a bit of
hike down to the beach (and back up!), but so worth it.
(There’s a reason I never threw out my Teva’s
from white water rafting days.
This trip
was why.
I wore them often.)
Continuing on our road trip we then headed to Vrboska,
considered the “little Venice”of Hvar.
It was stunning.
We found a
little café to have a simple salad.
And
ice coffee sounded good.
What we didn’t
realize, was that in Croatia, that is apparently a dessert. (think ice cream
sundae, or frappe/ice cream float.)
Awesome! We meandered around the back alleys as there were a couple
of stunning little churches I wanted to explore. Croatia is 80-90% Catholic. (These always make me think of my beloved
Uncle John, Jake, Faather. He used to
tell me his dream in life was a little Church with no parishioners. I never believed him as he was so good, and
special, at what he did.) Alas, even in
a tiny town in Croatia, the churches are locked when not in use.
On the road again, simply loving the beautiful
ride. Following Antonio’s recommendation, we found
Vina
Tomic, a lovely winery in Jelsa.
(Antonio said one would be okay.) We discovered that tours needed to be
prearranged, but a lovely young Lady offered us a private tasting. The cellars were stunning, and we thoroughly
enjoyed ourselves! From there, we simply
took the “old road” back to Hvar town.
Driving along cliffs overlooking our gorgeous Adriatic, through lavender
fields, (stopping to
buy lavender treasures at road side stands), we ended our
road trip at the “castle” on top of the hill we saw from everywhere in
Hvar. (Honestly, the castle/fortess
itself was a bit anticlimactic, but the views were stunning.). Upon arriving home to shower, we were
greeted by Jelena with two beautiful pieces of cheesecake she had just
made. How did she know?! We then happily shared with her a glass of
our special red wine brought home from our day’s excursion.
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| Final dinner in Hvar |
Wanting to catch a good Croatian sunset, we took a long walk along the waterfront promenade passing many little cafes, and bars on the way.
(Alas, also a loud, rocking one as
well, appropriately called the Hula Bar.
I know I’ve done a “good job” when a daughter
exclaims that she has always hated that “scene”!)
Unfortunately, the name of the little café
where we finally settled escapes me, but we had a thoroughly enjoyable couple
of hours relaxing on the bean bag like lounges and enjoying the peacefulness of
the sunset, even though many came to join us.
Then we went back to town and walked up many stairs to the truly
“Croatian” restaurant that Jelena had recommended.
Konoba
Menego was awesome.
We finally got to taste (and love) Pag
cheese, fresh capers, shrimp with garlicky cream sauce, “Momma’s baked
vege’s".
For dessert, we went home, and
drank the wine from our day’s excursion under the glittering lights of the
fortress up above.
Life is good.
Monday morning early, after hugs goodbye to Jelena and
Vladimir, had us being driven, so kindly and graciously by Mr. Micic to the port
for our ferry to Dubrovnik. ($55 for the
two of us.)
Having read much about Buza
Bar, I wanted to check it out for sunset.
There are two, Big & Little, and they are set on the cliffs just
outside the walls of Dubrovnik. (Very
close to our apartment!) It was as
promised. A gorgeous setting and fun
watching the “young ones” cliff jumping into the gorgeous Adriatic. (Katie was ,oh, so tempted.). After a couple of hours, we were, you guessed
it, hungry. So off we went. And, literally fell upon our host Nikolas’
restaurant Konoba Jezuite. We were greeted with big hugs, and treated
like great friends of the house. We
started with mussels, and finally had the ćevapčići, the traditional
sausage of the Dalmatian region, squid ink risotto with kettlefish and octopus,
of course with lovely local wine.
Dessert was Nikola’s homemade cherry liqueur. ($51 with tip. We received the very generous 20% friends and
family discount.) 
Tuesday was hot, again. So donning our bathing suits, we had a simple
salad next door and jumped on the ferry for the quick ride to Lokrum, site of an old
Benedictine Abbey and much filming for “Game of Thrones” (actually filming is
done all over Dalmatia.). Here we spent
the day resting on the cliffs and playing in the Adriatic. Meandering among peacocks, we had a lovely
late afternoon snack of cheese, meats, wine for me, and Katie enjoyed her
appertif of Aperol spritz. Heading home
we stopped into a cute little place, Pizzeria
Mirakul for an amazing mushroom-truffle pizza. And called it a great day. Before and after our Lokrum excursion we
browsed the markets of the town buying some lovely treasures.
Early Friday morning we climbed onto a quiet bus for
the five hour trip back to Split.
Thankfully, as happened most of my trips between Boston and NYC, I slept
much of the way. Going “home” to our
little apartment in Split was a treat.
And, then we decided to simply meander to find a good place to eat. Oh, boy, did we! Augubio
Congo in the Palace Augubio was historical, beautiful, and served amazing
food. Perfect place for our last big
meal in Croatia. We ate long and
leisurely, savoring the cucumber soup, gazpacho, black pasta with octopus,
scallops and bacon with celery mash, and, need I say it, a bottle of local
wine. ($90 with tip). Then we did what
one does in Europe. We siesta’d. Finishing our week almost where we started
it, we had our final nightcap with Tin at his Marcvs
Marvlvs Spalatensis. 
