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Published: July 26th 2015
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The drive from Plitvice was longer than I think any of us thought, so we split up with the boys going to get Zoran and Anja from the airport and me riding with Luka, Ivana and Fay. Poor Ivana - we all slept while she drove until the last bit when Luka took over. We didn't get to the marina until about 10:30pm. The reception office was closed by then but we were free to sleep on the boat overnight, so we searched for it, eventually finding it at the end of Pier B. Our home over the next week, Painkiller, is a 46' boat with 8 berths (sleeping quarters). Fay and I shared a room over the week; she got a lot of slack about her oversized suitcase, but she was going to England immediately afterwards for two weeks. I thought I had overpacked as well with my hiking pack, but I actually wound up wearing every single thing at least once.
The next morning we took our last showers and grabbed a "coffee" (I don't actually drink coffee, so I usually get a cold drink like sparkling water or iced tea). The locals picked up breakfast, which was
similar to our breakfast everyday the coming week and consisted of fresh baked bread, tomatoes, ham, and patesta. Patesta - I guess it is like pate, but I had never eaten it before. I wound up really enjoying it. They tended to get Tuna, Salmon or Chicken flavor, with Tuna being my favorite. Then we were on our way. Zoran is in his element here, steering us out of the marina and onto the sea. It was pretty amazing to see Split and the Dalmatian Coast slowly fade into the background. I didn't realize the mountains here were so high, but it was pretty dramatic.
It was an approximately 2 1/2 hour trip to our first stop: Solta. We entertained ourselves and stopped at one point to test the water. I commented about the main difference between here and California is that you can't really go swimming in California, at least not without a wet suit. Yes, for a few weeks of the year, you can find some beaches where the water is nice enough to enjoy or when it is so hot out that you just don't care, but I have never heard of anyone taking a boat
out and then jump in to swim. I shiver just thinking of it!
We anchored near the port and enjoyed more swimming before heading in to get a late lunch. Of course, my mouth was still salivating over the fish from the day before, so that's what I ordered. It was good, but not as good. It was just so exciting to be on our first island. Solta is a small island and not overly touristy, which suits me just fine!
So it was an easy day, but what was the best part of the whole day was to come. The sunset was beyond amazing. Just absolutely amazing. I wish I could describe it and the pictures do not do it justice. The sun was not down completely until well after 9pm and the colors were just phenomenal. This was followed by a bright red (red!!!) crescent moon, which climbed only partly into the sky before disappearing completely before 11pm. Then the sky was pitch black so Christoff and I enjoyed staring at the stars for the next couple of hours. You could clearly see the Big Dipper, Little Dipper, Cassiopeia and even the Milky Way. Satellites and
shooting stars were also prevalent. I was in heaven and the trip started out great!
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