Adventures with Julia

October 15, 2017

We arrived in Hvar two evenings ago and have had a delightful time.  The weather is continuing to be sunny and warm without being hot; a slight breeze without being windy.  Yesterday, October 14, we enjoyed breakfast outdoors on the veranda for the first time on this trip.

What a treat to overlook the harbor and the square while having breakfast.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Hvar guide, Dejana, met us at the hotel entrance and walked with us all around the old town.  Smaller than the cities we have been in recently,  Hvar is very charming, comfortable, friendly and laid back.

A little west of the central area is the Franciscan Monastery, built in 1461, and the Church of Our Lady of Grace.  Part of the monastery is used as a small museum with some interesting 16th and 17th century art.

 

 

 

 

I especially liked another anonymous painting of the Last Supper, which was very difficult to photograph, and a bronze statue of Francis, both from the 16th century.  Also in the museum was a collection of coins from a ship that sunk off the Hvar coast in the second century AD.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At one time Hvar minted its own silver and copper coins.   In the monastery, there is currently only one monk, and Dejana says he is hard pressed to keep the place going.  Most understandable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Up an alley on the other side of the main square is the Benedictine Nunnery, the Church of St Anthony the Abbot and a store where the 7 nuns sell the fine lace work they make.

 

 

There are not many of them left either, in spite of the fact that Croatia is dominantly Catholic and there are churches all over the country and several in each town.

 

 

 

 

As we were in Hvar over a weekend, I was able to attend services in St Stephen’s and the Church of St Anthony, where all 7 nuns sang their hearts out.  It was lovely and the church, although small, was full.  In St Stephen’s there was an exposition of the Blessed Sacrament when I happened by, so I stayed for the end of that service.  Just like at home, very few people were there.

Another building, the Arsenal and Theatre, sits on the corner of the square and the harbor opposite our hotel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everything is very close and easy walking, except the Fortress at the top of the hill.  We were too lazy to climb the hill, so will see it by car when we depart.

Dejana was most interested in talking about Croatian wine, especially a particular Hvarian grand cru made by the producer Zlatan Otok.  We promised to try it when we could and let her know what we thought.  Am wondering what she has at stake as she is so insistent about us getting some.  After 3 hours, we agree to end the tour and see her in a couple of days to visit the fortress at the top of the hill, drive to Stari Grad, tour the countryside and the town and catch the 2:40 ferry to Split.

Once on our own, we shared a pizza at a place called Kogo in the middle of Stephen Square.  Then checked out the PO about sending home a box of stuff we have slowly acquired.  Wandered into a shop full of creative and colorful art and bought a cute bird to sit somewhere on our patio.  This is the first piece of “art” we have purchased on this trip.

Spent the afternoon on our patio relaxing and watching the activity below without having to engage in it.  It is the end of the season and there are many fewer tourists than a couple of weeks ago.  Makes for a more pleasant experience, without having to wait in lines or make reservations or jostle for position wherever tourists gather.  Later we walked along the promenade for a mile or so, saw a number of expensive looking summer villas with large gardens and gates.  Next to the path were many park toys for children including an interesting miniature golf lay out.  Slowly, we walked back in the late afternoon light.

That evening we had dinner at Giaxas Restaurant.  It is located on an alley street, in the rediscovered room with Roman columns that I photographed earlier in the day.  Mark had a whole sea bass and I had lobster and linguini in red sauce.  Even though I had a bib and several napkins, I managed to make a mess of myself as the lobster arrived  unshelled, sitting in the sauce and noodles.   As those of you who know my lobster eating habit will appreciate, I had a grand time eating the whole platter full of food.  Meanwhile, we were a little lonesome with only one other person dining in the place.  Soon there will be no restaurants open.

 

 

Sunday, Oct 15, we were up early so I could go to Mass with the Benedictine nuns at the Church of St Anthony the Abbot and be back in time to be picked up by our boat driver to take us to the island of Vis.  I couldn’t understand a word of the service, but I know the program and the singing was very nice.  I got back just in time to meet Goran, our guide and boat captain,  jump into his boat docked right in front of the Adriana…how fun is that…and head for Vis.

The ride to the island was very rough as we were beating into the wind and the waves.

 

 

 

 

I was very glad when we reached the island and the swells subsided.

Vis was the most westerly Croatian island that was inhabited, but not occupied during WWII.

Because of its location close to Italy, Tito turned it into a Yugoslavian military base during the Cold War.   We motored clear around the small island and saw many heavyduty bunkers and some of the 17 military barracks.

The most interesting and unusual site was the fortified ship and submarine shelter.

 

 

 

 

Goran motored all the way into it and talked about how Tito was very proud of his “secure” military base and showed it to Saddam Husain, who liked it so much that he asked to hire the architect and contractor.

From this bunker we rounded the right side of Vis  and headed for the tiny Island of Bisevo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We stopped there to visit the “famous” Blue Cave.  This sure is a money maker for the locals, who required us to pay 50 kuna (or $9) to ride a small boat into the cave to see it.

The ride was all of 15 minutes.  But, of course, we paid.   And we really got our money’s worth.

It was exciting and a bit scary to watch the boat man try to negotiate the small boat through the equally small hole.

We waited several minutes and watched a number of waves roll in and out before the driver gunned the boat forward and through the hole.  With even slightly larger waves the hole would not be negotiable at all.    I sucked my breath as we passed through the hole with the front of the boat just touching the top of the opening.

Once inside, the boat settled down and our eyes adjusted to the darkness.

Inside the cave, we rode the swells gently up and down.  We could see the lovely iridescent blue in the water.  Light comes into the cave through an underwater tunnel.  It was quite a beautiful sight.

We enjoyed our all too short time in the cave, and were surprised how quickly and easily we blew out of the hole when it was time to go.

Immediately behind us was a group of 1o waiting for us to return.

 

 

Can’t imagine going into the cave in a large group.  Goran said the price in summer is 20 % higher and the wait is sometimes 2 hours long with no chance for only 2 people to go in alone.  Late season has its benefits.  In another week, the operation will close down until next summer.

Ten minutes later we were back on Vis at the very small and intimate village of Komiza for a walk about and lunch.

The village is quite laid back with only a few tourists.  With 1500 residents it is the second largest village on the island.

 

The houses are built literally on the beach with very little area for cafe’s and shops.  Goran took us to his favorite place, which was barely open with us as the only guests.  I had a small, grilled sea bream.  Mark had tagliatelle with black truffles and Goran had delicious squid–I know because he gave me a taste.

My fish was excellent too.  It was all so very fresh.  We walked out of the restaurant and stepped onto the boat and motored to another small island for a visit to the Green Cave.

It was just as expensive as the Blue Cave, but not exciting and not very green.   Very overrated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Goran stopped at a couple of popular swimming bays and beaches, but we were not in the mood to swim.  I compromised and put my feet in the water.  Cold as Lake Tahoe, but prettier water.

We spotted a couple more bunkers and then we motored back to Hvar with the wind and waves at our port side.   The ride was not nearly as rough as going out to Vis.  When Goran docked at the harbor in front of our hotel, we jumped off and bid him good bye.  We were his last guests of the season.  He had been fun and pleasant and quite handsome.  In fact, several of our male guides and Croatian men in general have been rather good looking.  Single ladies take note!

 

 

 

We relaxed at the Adriana and had dinner at The Top Restaurant, 3 floors above our room.   The food was quite good.

 

 

 

Today, October 16, 2017, we met Dajana, our guide from two days before, and stopped first at the grocery store to buy the wine we have tasted several times at her recommendation.

Locally produced in small quantities on Hvar by a company called Zlatan Otok, it is a very tasty Grand cru.  Mark bought 2 bottles.  Unfortunately, it is hardly available anywhere except Hvar Island.

Then our driver of the day, John, took us up to the fortress or Fortica as it is called locally.  The original foundations were started in the 1^st century BC to protect the Illyrian people living on the hillside.  Construction of the present-day fortress was begun by the Venetians in 1282 and completed, with the proceeds from salt sales, in the 16^th century.

The sign over the gate indicates the year 1551.  In 1571, the fortress saved the lives of nearly all the local people who found shelter there, when the Turks attacked the town, plundering it and setting it on fire, but not succeeding in conjuring the fortifications.   Several years later, at 3:30am on October 1^st, 1579, a thunderbolt struck the gunpowder store, causing a major explosion and damage to the fortress as well as the town below.

Centuries of repairs and modifications followed.  At the beginning of the 19^th century, under Austro-Hungarian rule, a large new barracks was built and occupied where the damage had been.  In the late 19^th century, Hvar lost its strategic importance and Fortica was abandoned.

The view of Hvar from the top of the Fortica was very pleasing.

From there we drove to Stari Grad, where we caught the ferry to Split.  Along the way Dajana talked a lot about the agriculture on the island.

Thousands of hands have moved millions of rocks over the centuries to provide land for olive trees and grape vines.  Rock walls are evident literally everywhere.  In the 19^th century there were 5000 hectares of grape vines.

 

 

 

Then in 1910 phyllloxera, a grape vine pest, attacked and killed the vines in Europe and eventually on Hvar as well.  Today there are only 500 hectares of vines.  In 1926, lavender was planted experimentally and became hugely successful, in spite of the tremendous hand work needed to harvest the lavender crop.

After several successful years, however, the island sustained heavy fires damage during three different dry seasons and whipped out the lavender crop each time.

No one had the energy to replant after the third fire.  Meanwhile, there are 400,000 olive trees on the island, 200,000 of which are untended.

 

 

 

 

The population, which was totally agrarian until tourists arrived, has now switched to managing tourism and largely gotten away from agriculture.

Our first stop in Stari Grad was the post office to mail the items we did not want to carry home.  As Mark had already purchased a box, filled and sealed it in Hvar, the PO stop went smoothly.

We wandered around the nearly deserted port town for a couple of hours.  The most interesting things we saw were some remains of the original Greek settlement, Pharos, founded in 384 BC.

The city has been continuously occupied for 2400 years and is now a UNESCO World heritage site.  Illyrians were the first inhabitants well before the Greeks.   The Greeks came and were followed by the Romans and then the Croatians.  The main attraction of the town in centuries passed was the agricultural plain next to it.

It is basically a large flat area (70 acres I was told) that contains fertile soil with few rocks.  It is the largest growing area on Hvar Island.

About buildings, we saw only the exteriors including of the Church of St Stephen, built in 1605 and the exterior of the Church of St John and St Mary, built during the 5^th and 6^th century AD.

While walking down an alley we encountered a pretty, Czech woman artist, Justina,  working on a palm frond she was making into a piece of art. We walked into her colorful shop and were captivated by the creative “fish” she makes from the fronds and has hanging from the ceiling.  It was not long before we agreed to buy two “fish” to hang from the ceiling in our lake house bathroom.  As it was the end of the season, she discounted the price and agreed to send the art to us.  Now we have two fish and a bird as our art purchases from this trip—both from the island of Hvar.

Soon we said good bye to Dajana and boarded the ferry to Split.   The ride took just under 2 hours.

When we walked off the ferry, we were met by our hotel porter, Andria.   He was very entertaining as he put our bags into a golf cart he called a pope mobile and regaled us with the ins and outs of transporting us several blocks to his establishment, the Judita Palace, deep inside the old city.

It was a most unusual place.  Old and funky looking from the pedestrian street, a coffee bar on the ground floor, an open air walk up to the first floor where there was a tiny lobby, a few rooms, of which #2 was ours.  There was apparently only him to do everything.

He carried our bags, let us into the room, explained the details of the place, took our passports and checked us in, served us a bottle of white wine, handed us one real key, brought extra pillows and made dinner reservations at a place he picked, called Portofino. He also gave us the WiFi information we needed and told us it was only good for fun activities and not for work.  If we work the WiFi will self-destruct.  He had me laughing from the minute we met him at the ferry until he finally left us alone.

We rested awhile and then walked to the restaurant, 3 minutes further into the Old City of Split.  This Old City is very large and, at the same time feels small.  The alleyways are narrow with 5 story buildings on both sides, giving me the feeling of being cramped and intimate at the same time.   Unlike Stari Grad, which was deserted and Hvar, which was about to be deserted, this city is vibrant and full of people.

The Portofino was very busy with patrons.

Mark had to wait in line to buy ice cream after dinner.  Street musicians drew a good size crowd near the cathedral.  Shops were open and had customers.  Outdoor coffee bars were full of people.  Everyone seemed to be enjoying being outdoors in the balmy weather.