Hostel is owned and operated by a very friendly older couple who do their best to make you feel welcome. When I checked in, there was welcome shot of Croatian plum brandy. At the moment, I'm waiting for lunch - BBQd fresh fish, pototoes and vegetables. Everyone calls them 'Mama' and 'Papa' and I understand why.
(1 hour later)
Oh my god. That meal was amazing. Fresh, complete fish, simply cooked with olive oil and salt on the BBQ. A parsley and garlic oil mixture to drizzle on the fish. On the side was potato and collared greens, mashed with garlic and olive oil. Home made red wine on the side. I ate 1 and half large fish, and 2 smaller fish. So stuffed and satisfied. All for 50 Kuna (about 8-10 dollars)
Anyway, where was I...
Coming back home on Saturday, and coming to the shocking realization that there is still so much I want to see and there is simply not enough time. That's it... I need to do another trip like this... and then probably another (and repeat). I've now got the traveling bug...
My 3 nights on Hvar were amazing. Great hostel, great people, great food, and bar scene. Saturday night was particularly amazing as we kept getting free rounds of Rakia. Interestingly, every shot we had was different. 1st one tasted like Chocolate Mint, the next few rounds tasted like Tequila (which wasn't necessarily a good thing... good burn though), and the next one I had tasted faintly like Annis seed.
1st nights crew in Hvar was a good mix of Aussies, Irish, Brits, a few Canadians etc... Saturday, it was me and a whole lot of Americans. Good people, but I was getting razzed pretty good (for example, jokes about Canada being the 51st state etc...)
Sunday night, Sylvain from Paris showed up (who seems to be following me around!) and finally I had a non-yank around!
Saturday, I walked up the hill to the fortress and took in the view. See for yourself:
Sunday, during the day, a whole bunch of us rented scooters and drove around the island. Had a freaking blast! Went to Jelsa and found a beach to swim at. There was a seagull on the beach with a fishing lure through 1 leg and through the other foot... basically it was stuck. A bunch of the guys performed emergency surgery on the bird and managed to get the lure out of the foot but had to leave it in the leg. Not sure that bird will live, but they gave it a chance.
On the way to Jelsa, we went through this tunnel that was dark and cold, and extremely unnerving. On the way back to Hvar town, we went an alternate route up the mountain. Let me tell you - driving a scooter up a mountain on a narrow 2-way road with no guard-rail (i.e. nothing stopping you from a 500 foot drop) is freaking scary. Made it ok though, and that whole day is one of my highlights of the trip. The views we saw were breathtaking. Here's a picture of the scooter gang on top of the mountain:
I've been very lazy today, enjoying the hospitality here at the hostel. Gonna explore Dubrovnik this afternoon and evening and then come back to the hostel to chill with a couple of beers.
The plan for the rest of the week is a little hectic, and not overly ideal.
Early bus to Mostar, Serbia tomorrow morning. Gonna spend one night in Mostar. Then I take an early train on Thursday to Sarajevo. That's gonna be intense at there's still quite a bit of visual evidence of the early 90s war that resulted from the division of Yugoslavia. Friday afternoon, I take a flight from Sarajevo to Vienna (300 euros... but worth it so that I can see more of this area). And then I fly home Saturday morning. Monday morning, I go back to work. (Think happy thoughts... think happy thoughts... think happy thoughts)
Here are a few more pictures from Hvar.
View from the Marina:
Sunset on Hvar:
View from the ferry going from Hvar to Split:
That's about it for now. Til next time.
1 comment:
This place looks gorgeous Matt!
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