Just not cool enough, Silent behaving, Attack of the Sea Monster, and Dances with Swords
Day 3 in Croatia: Korčula
The next day we caught our Jadrolinija ferry from Dubrovnik to the lovely island of Korčula, the birthplace of esteemed fellow traveller Marko Polo, and also the sixth largest Adriatic island. Korčula's such a beautiful place and I can't go on enough about it. First impressions were that it was very small as we must have walked around it and traversed it a few times after we got off the ferry trying to find the information centre to locate our hostel (the Happy Hostel). After our second time around the island we managed to find the Information Centre and learnt happily that the hostel wasn't far away.
Upon reaching said hostel, we were informed by the Saffa-Croat dude there that as we were a "couple", we would not have a good time. He told us that the hostel is really packed and overbooked and full of backpackers and gets really loud and parties well into the wee hours. No, he said, we'd be happier in one of his partner places. So, he then introduced us to this hot Croatia chick wearing a bikini (she was about to head off to the beach) who owned a place a few doors down. The place was like a mini apartment. The only thing missing was a laundry and a kitchen. And it was only £2-3 more than the hostel. Score.
So we dumped off our stuff and went off to explore the island (again). First stop was to the local Konzum (supermarket) to get some lunch. For most of our stay in Croatia, we lived on picnic-style baguettes, cheese, salami or ham, and tomatoes. Now, I've never been a tomato fan. I'd always preferred my tomatoes in paste or sauce, or sundried form and only in the past couple of years started to eat them fresh. But, the tomatoes in Croatia, man, they were some of the best things that I've ever tasted.
Then we walked through the cute little old town. It's so cute, Korčula is dubbed "Little Dubrovnik".
This is the main entrance into the old city, the Veliki Revelin Tower.
The Town Hall
Gargoyles and Marko Polo's Tower (well, not his tower, the tower of his house).
These beautiful purple flowers grow everywhere. They were also quite abundant in Dubrovnik.
House rules for the Katedrala Svetog Marka ('St Marks Cathedral').
Marko Polo's House, which has now been turned into a museum. It's not definite that he was born in Korčula, as other places have also claimed him as their own, but why not? If there's no evidence to the contrary it must be true.
Having a rest and trying to figure out what to do and where to go next. It was windy. I got splashed by the water. I didn't have an 'accident'.
We had arrived on a Thursday, and in Korčula on every Thursday and Sunday night, they have their traditional Moreška sword dancing, which is something that's been done for hundreds of years. It used to be performed once a month, but now it has become something of a tourist magnet so they do it twice a week now. They also used to behead a bull after the dance, but they don't do that nowadays (they tried in 1999 but people didn't like it and rightly so). It's so traditional that it originated in Spain. Anyway, so we bought tickets to that and then decided to go for a swim.
First off we went to the north end of town where they had a small pebbly beach with crystal clear but very cold water.
After some time there, we headed back to the eastern harbour and swam for a bit there near the boats. All of a sudden, Tam was attacked. It was underwater and happened so very quickly. No, it wasn't the Pirates of the Caribbean Kraken. It was a sea anemone/urchin (hereafter referred to as "sea enema" for ease of typing and reading). She'd been spiked three times. We managed to remove one of the spikes there and then, but the other two required some emergency equipment. So, we hobbled back to our place up the road where Tam tried to tweezer them out. I left and went to the small Konzum corner store and returned with some olive oil to loosen the needles (as advised by Lonely Planet). But the needles were quite deep and so out again I went to try and find a needle, but I didn't know where to look. I went back to the Konzum and tried my Croatian "do you speak English?". To which the woman blanked and shrugged and then back in English to me said "what do you want?" Next stop was to the local chemist who also did not stock needles. I told the lady that my girlfriend had been stung by a sea enema while we were swimming. At first she didn't understand what I was talking about, then the penny dropped and she was kind enough to give me her sewing needle (which she had in her handbag). So, triumphantly back to help Tam extract the evil sea enema needles. And we got those little suckers out. Crisis averted. Plus, we now had some extra virgin olive oil to have with our lunch.
Before heading out to dinner, we stopped off first for some wine-tasting at a little shop just outside our place where we sampled some Pošip (a nice white wine), Postup (red wine), Prošek (a really sweet and delicious dessert wine), and Pelinkovac (a strong herbal liqueur). We bought one litre of the Pošip and he gave that to us in a used Coca Cola bottle All their home-made stuff is sold like that. After dropping the wine in the fridge back home, we went out again for dinner at Planjak, which is a popular little restaurant-grill place near the big Konzum supermarket. And then we made our way back over to watch the Moreška sword dancing at the open-air stage near the western harbour. I've just finished reading The Little Prince, and I must say that I could watch 44 sunsets in Korcula.
Male choir groups are all the rage in Croatia. So, after an MC introduces the show, these guys sing on about the story of what's going on.
Look out! It's Shane Webcke and Brett Hodgson from the NRL with Vin Diesel. Snags.
Pretty much, Beautiful Princess loves one King (White, dressed in Red). Another King (Black) kidnaps her and hopes for Stockholm Syndrome to manifest. White King brings his homeboys down to get the Princess back. Black King and his homies challenge them to a traditional dance-off for the girl. Cue: Dancing. The White King's men prevail having brought it. Black King, humiliated, retreats and leads his men back home never to return again.
Here's the lovely Princess now.
And now we dance.
The Black team forgets to bring it on and suffer immense humiliation.
Lovers reunited. How sweet.
Wannabe ninja-pirate
The next day we caught our Jadrolinija ferry from Dubrovnik to the lovely island of Korčula, the birthplace of esteemed fellow traveller Marko Polo, and also the sixth largest Adriatic island. Korčula's such a beautiful place and I can't go on enough about it. First impressions were that it was very small as we must have walked around it and traversed it a few times after we got off the ferry trying to find the information centre to locate our hostel (the Happy Hostel). After our second time around the island we managed to find the Information Centre and learnt happily that the hostel wasn't far away.
Upon reaching said hostel, we were informed by the Saffa-Croat dude there that as we were a "couple", we would not have a good time. He told us that the hostel is really packed and overbooked and full of backpackers and gets really loud and parties well into the wee hours. No, he said, we'd be happier in one of his partner places. So, he then introduced us to this hot Croatia chick wearing a bikini (she was about to head off to the beach) who owned a place a few doors down. The place was like a mini apartment. The only thing missing was a laundry and a kitchen. And it was only £2-3 more than the hostel. Score.
So we dumped off our stuff and went off to explore the island (again). First stop was to the local Konzum (supermarket) to get some lunch. For most of our stay in Croatia, we lived on picnic-style baguettes, cheese, salami or ham, and tomatoes. Now, I've never been a tomato fan. I'd always preferred my tomatoes in paste or sauce, or sundried form and only in the past couple of years started to eat them fresh. But, the tomatoes in Croatia, man, they were some of the best things that I've ever tasted.
Then we walked through the cute little old town. It's so cute, Korčula is dubbed "Little Dubrovnik".
This is the main entrance into the old city, the Veliki Revelin Tower.
The Town Hall
Gargoyles and Marko Polo's Tower (well, not his tower, the tower of his house).
These beautiful purple flowers grow everywhere. They were also quite abundant in Dubrovnik.
House rules for the Katedrala Svetog Marka ('St Marks Cathedral').
Marko Polo's House, which has now been turned into a museum. It's not definite that he was born in Korčula, as other places have also claimed him as their own, but why not? If there's no evidence to the contrary it must be true.
Having a rest and trying to figure out what to do and where to go next. It was windy. I got splashed by the water. I didn't have an 'accident'.
We had arrived on a Thursday, and in Korčula on every Thursday and Sunday night, they have their traditional Moreška sword dancing, which is something that's been done for hundreds of years. It used to be performed once a month, but now it has become something of a tourist magnet so they do it twice a week now. They also used to behead a bull after the dance, but they don't do that nowadays (they tried in 1999 but people didn't like it and rightly so). It's so traditional that it originated in Spain. Anyway, so we bought tickets to that and then decided to go for a swim.
First off we went to the north end of town where they had a small pebbly beach with crystal clear but very cold water.
After some time there, we headed back to the eastern harbour and swam for a bit there near the boats. All of a sudden, Tam was attacked. It was underwater and happened so very quickly. No, it wasn't the Pirates of the Caribbean Kraken. It was a sea anemone/urchin (hereafter referred to as "sea enema" for ease of typing and reading). She'd been spiked three times. We managed to remove one of the spikes there and then, but the other two required some emergency equipment. So, we hobbled back to our place up the road where Tam tried to tweezer them out. I left and went to the small Konzum corner store and returned with some olive oil to loosen the needles (as advised by Lonely Planet). But the needles were quite deep and so out again I went to try and find a needle, but I didn't know where to look. I went back to the Konzum and tried my Croatian "do you speak English?". To which the woman blanked and shrugged and then back in English to me said "what do you want?" Next stop was to the local chemist who also did not stock needles. I told the lady that my girlfriend had been stung by a sea enema while we were swimming. At first she didn't understand what I was talking about, then the penny dropped and she was kind enough to give me her sewing needle (which she had in her handbag). So, triumphantly back to help Tam extract the evil sea enema needles. And we got those little suckers out. Crisis averted. Plus, we now had some extra virgin olive oil to have with our lunch.
Before heading out to dinner, we stopped off first for some wine-tasting at a little shop just outside our place where we sampled some Pošip (a nice white wine), Postup (red wine), Prošek (a really sweet and delicious dessert wine), and Pelinkovac (a strong herbal liqueur). We bought one litre of the Pošip and he gave that to us in a used Coca Cola bottle All their home-made stuff is sold like that. After dropping the wine in the fridge back home, we went out again for dinner at Planjak, which is a popular little restaurant-grill place near the big Konzum supermarket. And then we made our way back over to watch the Moreška sword dancing at the open-air stage near the western harbour. I've just finished reading The Little Prince, and I must say that I could watch 44 sunsets in Korcula.
Male choir groups are all the rage in Croatia. So, after an MC introduces the show, these guys sing on about the story of what's going on.
Look out! It's Shane Webcke and Brett Hodgson from the NRL with Vin Diesel. Snags.
Pretty much, Beautiful Princess loves one King (White, dressed in Red). Another King (Black) kidnaps her and hopes for Stockholm Syndrome to manifest. White King brings his homeboys down to get the Princess back. Black King and his homies challenge them to a traditional dance-off for the girl. Cue: Dancing. The White King's men prevail having brought it. Black King, humiliated, retreats and leads his men back home never to return again.
Here's the lovely Princess now.
And now we dance.
The Black team forgets to bring it on and suffer immense humiliation.
Lovers reunited. How sweet.
Wannabe ninja-pirate
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