Day 22 - Hvar aka Paridise

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We awoke, brushed teeth and had a hobo shower (wet wipes) which was far from sufficient having almost sweated to death the day before and over night. We were annoyed to hear that our train would be late in to Split, cutting down our already tight 1h 15m transfer time from station to port for our 09:15 boat to Hvar. We had prepaid for our pricy 4 * hotel in Hvar, so not getting there was not an option! The minutes ticked by painfully, especially the 10 mins sat stationary just 5 miles out from Split and all belief in making the boat had faded. We were pleased to see that, of the two large stations in Split, we were destined for the one right next to the port (surely we would know that in advance right? Wrong as none of the trains, reservations or info screens make any reference to anything other an 'Split'....thanks again continental Europe train infrastructure!). Eventually we arrived 50 mins later than planned. Cue a stressful 10 mins exiting e station, rushing across to the info desk and then boat. Amazingly, we hadn't missed it and we boarded at 09:10 wi some people still queuing behind us! Thank god they are so chilled out here!

We got off the boat an hour or so later and were happy to find our self in paradise. Since we had seen the Croatian coast out of the window of the train at 6am this morning, I had thought we should have planned to stay here longer than 2 days, arriving in Hvar confirmed these thoughts immediately. I was considering asking local tour guides if they have any jobs going :-D We made the sweaty uphill trek to our hotel (we later found a MUCH easier route, live and learn) and checked in. Our room wouldn't be ready till 3pm so we changed and shuffled our bags contents around before leaving our big bags and heading down to the pool.

I spent most of the day here, sunning myself, getting drinks and food from the poolside bar and getting a quick Thai shoulder and neck massage (by a Middle Ages Thai woman with the strongest thumbs ever! I felt beaten up!) which my wallet didn't like that much, but it was treat day so what the hell. The hotel and pool was lovely, we had a superior double with a balcony and thankfully the headed my booking request for a twin not a king bed.

After some pool time and a little doze I had an amazing shower and we headed back into the town/port area and out to dinner. We had selected #3 for mid-range dinners in Hvar town, a place called black pepper, it did not disappoint. The waiter was really involved in the whole dining experience, everyone gets a taster shot and spinach pastry sample in between ordering and starters and the waiter talks you through the dishes and which peppers are best suited for your dish. I went for the shrimp gnocchi to start followed by the sesame seed coated seared tuna with a side of Hvar style roast potatoes for my main, with a beer. Much like my teriyaki salmon for lunch in the hotel, e fish portion was very generous, both times I got two large fillets. No concerns about it being tasty but small, like many fancy places, here thankfully.

We settled up and left a good tip for our man then popped down to the town to grab some more water (at 7 Koruna per 1.5 litre instead of the eye watering 35 koruna per litre e hotel was getting away with!) and sun cream. We headed back to the hotel, enjoying and photographing the beautiful Hvar port and waterline as the sun was going down. I got a decaf coffee in the bar of the hotel and caught up on a few blogs and FaceTimed with Ping to catch up before heading to bed for an early night at about 10:30 with an early alarm set to take advantage of the free hotel gym in the morning before breakfast.

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