Hvar and Brač

Days 6 and 7 in Croatia: Hvar

It was very sad to leave Korčula. We had such a great time there (except for the bit where Tam was attacked by a sea monster) that I could have stayed much longer, and maybe have bought a little place there to live in. But hey, we'd booked our accommodation on the next island on and so we had to catch the ferry over to the bigger and more popular island of Hvar where it's famous for receiving about 2724 hours of sunshine every year (that works out to be on average about 7.5 hours a day), which isn't much really, but it's actually more than anywhere else around there, apparently. It's a tiny place and they don't even have street names, which makes trying to work your way around fun. But it's still not as quaint and small as Korčula, as the population here is about 4 times larger than Korčula.

We arrived, made our way through the labyrinth to our family-run hostel, dumped our bags, had a long chat with the owners (a Croatian man and his Brazilian wife) who gave us some advice on what to do and where to go. Nice, friendly people. It was still quite early and he suggested that we hike up a 'mountain' to check out the Fortress Španjol (Spanish Castle) and the amazing views.

This is an old 15th century well at the main square of Trg Sveti Stjepana, which similar to the Placa in Dubrovnik, used to be an inlet that they filled in.


This is the Katedrala Sveti Stjepana with bells that ring and ring and ring. We couldn't work out what each set of rings signified as it would ring on the hour, but would ring out about 10-30 times.


We made our way through the Old Town of Hvar and up the hill to the citadel. On the way up, we strayed from the path and found a little church building and had an almost Blair Witch moment.


The Fortress Španjol. There's also a French castle further out from town, but we weren't too curious to check it out.


But the views were fantastic. This is the view looking down on Hvar Harbour with the Pakleni Islands in the background (which we planned on visiting, but didn't actually manage to get to).


Hvar town (east)


Hvar town (west)


Cannon-riding is strictly mandatory.


As is a compulsory stay in a funky prison cell underneath the castle.


Having done the Castle, we headed back into town to check out the sights. This is the statue of St Benedict (who did not make eggs) and the Benedictine Monastery




So we walked through the main square, checked out their local market, and along the water, where we could see in the crystal clear waters, evil sea enemas.


For dinner, we went to the Paradise Garden, where Tam had extremely delicious Spaghetti Frutti di Mare and I had the squid and chips. When the bill came there seemed to be a bit of a discrepancy as they claimed I had ordered and eaten 1200 servings of french fries, which they charged us for. We had the matter sorted out with much joking and laughter and the boss, quick to blame his much younger and very attractive young wife, gave us a glass of delicious Croatian dessert wine each.

The next day, I turned a ripe old 27 (no longer mid-20s), and we decided to skip the Pakleni Islands (famous for their naturist beaches) and caught a catamaran to Bol on Brač Island, to see the famous Zlatni Rat beach. It's apparently the beach to go to and they include it in all the tourism advertising for Croatia. It's a tongue-shaped beach (see poster in last photo) of small, smooth pebbles and the beach actually changes shape according to the wind and tide.


Bol is the windsurfing capital of Croatia, and if that's not up your alley, you can always hire one these mobile aqua-slippery dips/pedal boats or ride on speedboat-pulled bananas. Which we didn't. For the first half of the day we spent on the calm eastern side and indulged in some sunbathing and some swimming. Then, we headed back into town and had a picnic lunch from the supermarket on the dock. Then back again to the Zlatni Rat, but this time to the rough western side to bodysurf on the raging waves.


Then it was time to catch our catamaran back to Hvar and it was rough going on those choppy waters. I was about 5 minutes from sea sickness when we finally made it back into Hvar Harbour. We could still feel the rocking motion for the rest of the night.


As it was my birthday, Tam treated me to dinner (of fresh tuna salad and a seafood platter) and then out for gelato. A nice way to end our stay in Hvar.