Hvar - Day 7

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Tuesday morning started calmly – the calm before the storm. We headed up for breakfast, got towels from the hotel, and went to meet our excursion guides. After waiting for six other guests, including two that spent all of the previous day at the pool just like we did, we boarded our boat and headed across the bay to pick up a few additional guests; in total there were 12 of us. We had a little over an hour’s ride to our first stop – Blue Cave. We sat with 2 couples in the back – it was the shaded region of the boat. One was a couple from Canada (the guy was originally from Perth, Australia but had moved to Edmonton to be with his girlfriend). They were traveling for 2.5 months before going back to university for master’s degrees. Their travels were amazing, and sounded like a lot of fun. The other couple was from Miami, and the husband worked for Ultra – the music fest that took over the hotel. He is in charge of security, a retired Miami-Dade Chief of Police, and he and his wife said it was wise we got off the island. Turns out the wife has taught 5^thgrade for 35 years, so Stacey had some good teaching conversations with her. When we arrived at Blue Cave the 12-person group was instructed to stick together, no matter what. So we did, taking turns to buy tickets and find the bathrooms. This was a great time to get to know the other 6 people on the boat with us. The mother and daughter from the pool yesterday were from Chicago – the daughter had just graduated as an RN and started working for Northwestern; one couple was from Scotland, and the last couple was from Brazil. When it was our turn to get on the boat (a separate company operates tours to Blue Cave, so you have to load onto one of their boats for a short ride), all 12 of us loaded into one and off we went to the famous Blue Cave. We scooted around the island and started approaching this tiny depression in the rock that turned out to be the entrance – everyone ducked and just cleared the entrance to the cave. Once inside, it was magnificent. There is an underwater opening to the cave on the other side that allows light to come in, so everything is dark, except the water, which is this bright, almost neon blue color. We all got photos just in time for the next boat to come into the cave. Just like that, we were next to leave, ducked again to get out of the cave, and headed back to the dock on the island. We again took turns at the bathrooms, found our guide and loaded up for the next stop.

This time we went beach hopping – the guide tried to find some of the good swimming destinations – most of these are very small, secluded beaches where it’s typical that only one or two boats can moor up. The first beach we checked out was taken, but we got lucky on the second one. It was a great secluded beach tucked back behind some rock outcroppings – you couldn’t see it until you were nearly on top of it. The rock outcroppings reminded James of something out of the Iliad or the Odyssey (further supported by the other boat being completely composed of girls). We all got out, except the Scottish couple who opted for beer on the boat, and swam to the rocky beach. Beaches in Croatia are not sandy, they are rocky (this one had an area of smooth cobbles). There were some great big flat rocks everyone was laying out on. The water was cool and salty, but felt good in the heat. A few minutes after reaching the rocks, Stacey began to break out in hives on her legs and stomach, much like she did last time she was at the beach in Cape Cod (previously she thought the hives were from scallops). She needed to get back to the boat, so she swam back and used some of the drinking water to wash the salt-water off. The Canadian couple had Benadryl, so she held on to one in case it got worse. The swim back resulted in a small break out on her shin, but that was it. The hives started to go down, so she didn’t have to take the Benadryl and decided swimming in the sea should be avoided for the rest of the trip. We went to another swimming hole next, this one much larger and with a few dozen boats and inattentive swimmers getting too close to motor engines. There was also a bar on shore. A few people hopped in and swam briefly, and close to our boat, but most opted to stay in the boat, even after the tour guide tried to convince us to jump off a 40 foot cliff (which one person, not in our group, did, complete with a backflip; afterwards his two friends looked to be having second thoughts). After loading everyone back up, we headed to Green Cave. Green Cave is much larger and more accessible (with two large entrances) than Blue Cave, so we were able to take our boat directly into the Green Cave and get some good photos. Green Cave gets its name from the hole at the top of the cave, which lets a small beam of light in. Moss on the side of the cave reflects green in the water. Very pretty sight. On the way out, we watched some more cliff jumpers climb to the top of the cave entrance and jump, to which our tour guide just shook his head and said “the middle between the two entrances is the best spot, but not only do these people not jump there, they choose to jump at the entrance near boats and swimmers and risk injuring themselves and others”.

Our final stop was to the small hamlet of Palmizana on the island on Sveti Klement, which is a short distance across the harbor from Hvar. This was our lunch stop for the day, which most people appreciated, it having been 3:00 pm at that time. At the recommendation of the tour guide, we went to a restaurant called Bacchus which he said “has best steaks anywhere”. As appealing as that sounded, it was 95 degrees and we opted to split a risotto and enjoy cold beverages. The risotto was excellent and we had a great table overlooking the harbor with some enjoyable views and smiles as a gentlemen at the table next to us was surprised when he was served two wholly-intact and lightly grilled squid after he ordered the fried calamari. After finishing our lunch and beverages, we took a brief stroll along some paths to the other side of the island and came across a harbor where probably 100 yachts were moored for “Yacht Week”. Not owning a yacht, we made our way back to the other side of the island before spreading out on the rocky beach for a short while before finally boarding the boat and heading back to Hvar…and Ultra. The closer we got to Hvar, the more clearly we got hear the bass of Ultra raging at the hotel. The majority of the boat looked around at each other and laughed, then geared up for the push through the crowds to the hotel. On the way to the hotel, we had a brief “what the heck” moment when we saw a waitress with a plate of French fries snatch one off the plate and eat it…we’re hoping she was heading on to lunch break and not serving. After that brief laugh, and a detour to the front on the hotel, we didn’t have much trouble getting into the hotel with the wrist bands we were provided the day before. Once inside, we took advantage of the balcony to snap a few photos of the gathering crowd splashing water in beat to the electronica music blaring from the speakers. As much fun as it looked, we opted to head back the room, shower up, and head downtown to get as far away from Ultra as possible.

We decided to eat at the Park Restaurant tonight (the restaurant with the nice hostess that small-talked instead of pushing her restaurant), they have a beautiful terrace overlooking the town center and that sounded like a nice atmosphere. The Park also greeted us with a complementary drink – a mimosa (one of Stacey’s favorite drinks). Tonight, we decided on steak. James got a green pepper steak and Stacey got an herb butter steak. Both were served with a side of croquettes, Stacey’s were cheese (similar to a mozzarella stick) and James’ were plain. This was definitely Stacey’s favorite steak in Croatia. Tender meat and great flavors. James really liked his too, but he said it was hard to beat the venison steaks the first night in Hvar. Thank you Victoria Noland for the dinner at Park Restaurant, it was so peaceful, relaxing, and delicious. At the end of the dinner, we were again served a complimentary sage brandy. While enjoying the sage brandy, we decided we should look for a bottle and asked the waitress where to find it. Apparently the sage brandy is homemade and she thought we could buy it, but recommended asking at the front of the restaurant. Wanting to go dancing tonight, and questioning our ability to walk into a bar with a giant, opened, unmarked bottle of clear alcohol, we decided this was a good task for tomorrow.

After dinner, we took a short walk around some of the side streets and marveled at the old-world charm of the centuries-old streets and buildings. Afterwards, we both grabbed a gelato and enjoyed it while watching passerbys offer to help a drunk Brazilian girl (very scantily clad) that had passed out in front of the cathedral while her friend sad idly by on her cell phone, apparently content with her friend being face-down on the pavement. She was even taking photos of her drunk friend passed out. Fortunately for the drunk girl, two random strangers asked if she was ok, got some water and brought it to her, and then carried on their way. Shortly after, a motherly woman asked the girl if she needed help waking up, and then dumped some water on the back of her neck, which got her going in the direction of her hotel before a group of guys that had been eyeing the situation moved in. Probably a good thing.

As the clubs weren’t quite hopping yet, we then stopped by a small market and bought a water and Karlovacko beer to enjoy for a while (drinking in public areas is okay in Croatia). We decided to sit back on the side of St. Stephen’s Square and enjoy the view and people-watching (we particularly enjoyed a group of young Brits sitting in the middle of the very-busy pedestrian area be asked by police to stand up and find a new place). Shortly after the Brits left, Stacey started noticing smoke and then a congregation of police officers. Apparently, someone had lit a trashcan on fire, the police dumped a cooler of water and ice on it, which took care of the smoke and fire.

We decided to check out the dancing scene in Hvar, starting at a place next door to Nautica (we don’t know the name of the place we went, but Nautica was a popular spot and it was PACKED). We danced to some Euro techno tunes with very few words but a lot of bass. We got some more people watching in at the bar, as the group of Europeans next to us were living it up on the dance floor…but the dancing was really limited to us and that group – the rest of the bar and outside was really packed with people standing and talking. The bar allowed indoor smoking, so we didn’t stay very long – hot, humid, and smoky make it hard to move around a lot, plus there still weren’t many folks dancing. We tried to find another place, but nothing was really picking up, so we went to the Top Bar at the Hotel Adriana (same hotel chain as Amfora). Stacey got a Bellini to drink, James got a Staropramen (Czech Pilsner). From the view at the top of the hotel, we were able to watch all the people returning from Ultra – surprisingly, not that many overly-intoxicated people. There were a few zig zaggers, but for the most part, people were in pretty good shape. After finishing our drinks, we decided to brave the on-coming traffic from Ultra and walk back to the hotel. We decided to take the higher path, avoid some people, which did have fewer people, but it was unfinished and uneven ground. The hotel was still pretty rowdy when we got back, but the party was definitely over and people filled the lobby chowing down on hamburgers and fries. All in all, it was a great day, despite the Ultra event. The caves were beautiful and we enjoyed being in Hvar with a little less people (since so many were at Amfora for Ultra).



Link to photos:

https://picasaweb.google.com/106540574540801835369/HvarDay7?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCP-8-ZfW_5adrwE&feat=directlink

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Photos

Blue cave
The next boat that came in after us is towards the back of cave.

James swimming
This was the beach we went swimming at.

Green Cave
Green reflecting off the water

Opening of green cave
The light beam that makes the cave green.

View from restaurant
Palmizana