Zadar / Hvar - Day 5

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We started the day early with a delicious breakfast at the Hotel Ethno. Although nothing exquisite, the breakfasts have exceeded our expectations of breads and cheese; each breakfast had several choices and a few American-style proteins (eggs, sausage, bacon). However, if you thought bacon was bad for you, you should see the bacon in Croatia – it’s almost entirely fat, with a small portion of meat and generally not worth eating unless you really enjoy the taste of pure fat.

After packing up our gear, we headed out of the Plitvicka Jezera area and made our way towards the Dalmatian Coast. The trip was generally uneventful, but there was some magnificent scenery along the way. A lot of rolling hills in the first hour (fun side note: Europeans consider this area most similar to the Western US to the point that German and other filmmakers filmed European “Spaghetti Westerns” in this part of Croatia) and some impressive mountain ranges in the second hour, punctuated by at least half a dozen tunnels, with one in excess of 3 miles.

After a two-or-so hour drive, we arrived at the City of Zadar, a short side-trip on our way to Split and a good opportunity to explore another Croatian city. After finding parking and sorting through all our luggage and pockets to find loose change for parking, we made our way to the City Center. Zadar is a very old city and was a key port city in the Republic of Venice such that a large wall was constructed around the City to protect it (primarily from Ottoman Turks, who expanded into the Balkan Peninsula in the 1300s and threatened expansion for the next several centuries). We entered the City through a gate with some very old sculptures and engravings on the front and found ourselves in a city very reminiscent of Venice – tight streets (just wide enough to fit a single car through); large, worn, smooth stones composing the pavement; and small shops lining the entire way, but very difficult to tell they were there until you were standing in front of them. Stacey stopped into a few shops to find a dress and a swimsuit cover-up before hitting the more-expensive tourist towns of Dubrovnik and Hvar. We also stopped into a small shop for our first wine and liquor tasting – Stacey (Croatia has a zero limit on blood alcohol level when driving, so James played it safe) tried one wine and a few local liquors. While the wine was great, we opted to purchase only a Maraschino Cherry liquor as a result of a 1L per person limit on what we can leave the country with.

After finding both a dress and swimsuit cover-up, (fortunately for James, Stacey did this very quickly and efficiently), we made our way to the City Center, a large open square with one side open to the Mediterranean, and two churches and two bell towers bracketing the east and west end of the square – a small-scale version of Piazza San Marco in Venice. After snapping a few pictures of the bell towers and nearby Roman ruins, we made our way to the coastline to see the famous Sea Organs and Greeting to the Sun. After briefly struggling to find the Sea Organs, we found ourselves standing on top of them when we realized they were small holes cut into the sea wall that reverberate and produce sound in reaction to the waves. Not much to look at, but they produced an almost whale-like song. Unfortunately, it being about noon, we weren’t able to fully-appreciate the Greeting to the Sun, which performs a light show in rhythm to the waves after sunset and produces a visual complement to the Sea Organs acoustics. After enjoying a good espresso and cappuccino in the main square, we made our final way through town to take a few photos and grabbed a quick bite of Borek (the bread-herb-and-cheese concoction that we had for lunch in Zagreb, and Croatia’s choice of fast-food) for lunch.

Fearing our international data plans were nearly complete, and due to our dashboard GPS not having Croatia loaded into it, (despite not using our phones much, we’ve found out that the map feature uses a lot of data), we set off for Split without a GPS. While we weren’t sure what to expect, we made it safely and easily to our rental car drop-off location in Split thanks to the excellent signage in Croatia – it was very obvious which direction Split was, and upon arriving in Split, there were great signs that directed us all the way from the highway to the hotel that was our drop-off location. The only hitch to the whole thing was actually parking the car – the hotel was half a block away from the ferry / cruise ship terminal and we had to steer the car through overwhelming crowds (there was a continent-wide music fest ending that day) and side streets so narrow it made downtown Boston look like a freeway. To top things off, our first attempt to park the car resulted in us having to backup the car the wrong-way down a very narrow one-way when the car in front of us was blocked by an ambulance. After looping around the hotel and parking it literally on the sidewalk in front (apparently okay to do in Croatia), we were told it absolutely had to be in the back parking lot. Fortunately, the ambulance had cleared out and after an excruciatingly slow drive waiting for pedestrians to clear the way, we parked the car in an alley-way parking lot owned by the hotel. We instantly decided no more driving (our travel agent wanted to book us a taxi) and walked down to catch the ferry to Hvar, stopping for a beer along the way to de-stress from the last miserable quarter-mile of a drive.

We were finally ready to get on the Katamaran to Hvar - that's Croatian for ferry – it was a nice time to relax and take in the scenery around us. Thank you Tim Stanton for the catamaran to Hvar! The only confusing, yet slightly humorous moment, was that when we docked in Hvar and were de-boarding, we walked out towards the wrong end of the boat; we had followed a large group of people assuming they were heading to the exit, but they were actually heading towards the deck of the boat to smoke a cigarette. Smoking is like drinking water here, everyone seems to think it is a necessity.

After exiting our boat, we were confronted with an army of landlords looking to rent their apartments (probably could score a good deal if we weren’t booked already) but quickly found a few representatives of the hotel that took our bags and escorted us to the shuttle that took us and other guests to the Hotel Amfora. Upon check-in, the staff informed us that on Tuesday and Wednesday, the main pool (the reason we chose this hotel) would be closed for the “VIP Ultra Music Fest” – the after-party of the music fest that we ran into in Split. They also informed us that the event would be attended by approximately 4,500 people and we would need to wear special wrist bands to get back into the hotel. The staff seemed perplexed that we weren’t happy about this (I mean, seriously, who would be if there’s a giant music fest going on in your hotel, closing down one of its best amenities, for two days, and you don’t even get attendance to it?). In exchange, the hotel offered free passes to their exclusive beach club. Considering our options, and learning that the music fest was actually only one day (the second day being to clean up), we opted to stay at the Hotel Amfora, but booked a day-trip out of Hvar to miss the worst of the craziness that would unfold (more details later).

After receiving our keys, we headed to our room at breathed a sigh of relief for the much-needed 4-night stay and relaxation at one location.Thank you Janine Gallois & AJ Sutton, Tim Stanton & Victoria Noland, Barbara, François, & Adrien Gallois, and Leann & Ryan Hays for the Hotel Amfora. For our honeymoon, and to help with the relaxation, the hotel delivered a courtesy bottle of champagne. Pouring ourselves a glass of champagne, we decided to enjoy it on the room’s balcony, shutting the door behind us to keep the room cool. Shutting the door turned out to be a very poor choice, as the doors did not have handles on the outside and automatically locked. Fortunately, we were able to wave down a family out for a walk and ask them to tell the hotel front desk that we were locked in. After a short while, the hotel staff let us back into our room but in the meantime we were glad that we at least walked outside with a glass of champagne to enjoy while we waited.

As we got ready for the evening, we both enjoyed the champagne and took note that the hotel was much more elegant than it was functional. For example, the bathroom had a very modern half-enclosure that looked very impressive, but led to a small pond accumulating on the bathroom floor. The bathtub itself also had a very attractive drain cover, but it also choked the flow and caused the tub to back up with water a few inches deep. Not limited to the shower, the toilet had a small box enclosure built around it, so while much more attractive, it didn’t feel too different from a Forest Service outhouse. The sink also had a wonderful modern feel and a cool u-shape faucet, it’s main function seemed to be to soak the vanity. The outhouse looking toilet was the only bathroom feature that seemed to contain its water, which is good considering its function. Also we found out that irons aren’t typically provided in Croatian hotel rooms – instead there is an ironing room for all guests to use. It literally is a room, with one iron and one ironing board. While fun to point out all the quirks and oddities, in all seriousness, the hotel is very nice and relaxing.

After getting ready, we took the advice of the concierge and headed to the Butchery and Wine (which is owned by the same hotel chain; we later noticed that all hotel staff only recommended a restaurant within the hotel chain), a short walk away along the harbor front. As indicated by the name, the restaurant specialized in red meats and wine. Stacey got a fillet mignon was a demi glaze and James got venison medallions with a barbecue sauce. Both dishes were exceptional and aside from a Croatian preference towards saltier food, were well done. Lacking room for dessert and looking forward to a good night’s rest after a busy first few days, we headed to the hotel for a brief nightcap (before the hotel got crazy with Ultra) and called it a night.



Link to photos:

https://picasaweb.google.com/106540574540801835369/ZadarAndHvarDay5?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCMLJnqiBytrKTQ&feat=directlink

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