Croatia Day 7 - Spanjola, the Fortress of Hvar

Sadly, this was our last morning on the lovely island of Hvar.  We reluctantly packed our bags and checked out of our room, then began driving around looking for ways to prolong our stay.  We ended up at the castle that overlooks Hvar Town.

It's really more of a fortification than a castle.  Back in the 16th century, it saved the lives of nearly all the townspeople when the Turks attacked, and the site has actually housed fortifications as far back as the 1st millennium BC, when it protected an Illyrian settlement.  The current structure was built between 1282 and 1551, but was abandoned during the 19th century. 

Inside the fortification, there's really not much to see.  There's a room with a collection of amphora (big clay pots) that were salvaged from a shipwreck off the coast of Hvar as well as a section of the prison that's open to visitors, but other than that the main draw is the view of town and the ocean.  Oh, and the big cannons were pretty cool too.

By this point, we were about to get rained on, so we hopped back in the car and drove to the other side of the island to catch the ferry back to the mainland. 

Croatia Day 6 - The Big Jump

Today was all about my swimming ability.  Or perhaps my lack of swimming ability.  It's a constant battle between Donovan and I as to whether I can swim or not.  I mean, I'm not going to be winning Olympic races anytime soon, but I haven't drowned yet either.  That should count for something, right?

So far, when I've wanted to get in the water, I slowly go down the ladder or carefully climb off the dock.  For the last 2 days, Donovan has been attempting to convince me to jump off this huge rock.  Umm...scary!  But there's no way I'm going to give him yet another reason to consider me a weakling, so jump I will.

First though, I gotta size it up and make sure I really, really want to do this.

Ehh, what the heck.

I'm alive!

Actually, it wasn't that bad.  And I discovered that once I managed to fight my way back to the surface I could actually stay afloat fairly easily.  The salt water might have helped a little with that. 

Not to be outdone, Donovan went off the rock too.  He dove in though, what a show-off.

But enough of that.  Time to climb out of the water and get back to my number one beach activity.

Croatia Day 5

What's more relaxing than a comfy lounge chair, a gentle breeze, and the sound of waves?  Not much, if you ask me.  Especially when this is the view...

Ahh...vacation is wonderful.

We took a break from the strenuous job of lounging in the sun and swimming in the ocean to have a delicious lunch at the hotel restaurant.

For me, it was chicken in a mushroom sauce with homemade noodles on the side.

For Donovan, Dalmatian Pasticada, a Croatian dish of beef in tomato sauce, with a side of polenta.

Later in the afternoon, we walked into town to check things out.

We also saw one of the worlds largest yachts.  Check out the helicopter!  They're riding in style.

And that wrapped up day 5...stay tuned for day 6!

Croatia Day 4 - Ferry Ride and Beach Life

Today marked the beginning of the part of the trip Donovan and I have been looking forward to the most.  We headed out to Hvar, one of Croatia's most beautiful islands, for several days of beach time.  While Hvar is known for being one of the more popular party beaches in the world, we found a lovely hotel that was more secluded and separated from the chaos of town. 

But first, we had to get there.  While I drove the car in circles around a parking lot because there weren't any open spots, Donovan procured us tickets on the car ferry. 

We then commenced to wait two hours until our ferry boarded.

Thankfully we had an excellent view of Diocletian's Palace to entertain us.

For being built in the fourth century, I'd say it's doing pretty well.  It would have been interesting to go inside and have a look around, but we were in a bit of a time crunch and downtown Split is kind of a mad house.  We tried to get out of there as fast as we could. 

The ferry ride took about two hours, and then we were driving through the rolling hills of Hvar.

Hvar Town is a picturesque port town that, as Donovan describes it, has a very "pirate-ish" feel to it.  Maybe it was the style of the buildings, perhaps it was the castle overlooking town.  Whatever it was, there were times when we felt like we should be on a movie set.  But more on that later...for now we're simply checking into our hotel.

If you ever go to Hvar, this is the place to stay.  It was amazing.

Donovan certainly approved. 

Croatia Day 2 & 3 - Paklenica National Park

After our night in Lovran, we drove to Starigrad Paklenica, a little town right at the entrance to Paklenica National Park.  Since we weren't in any huge rush, it was late afternoon by the time we got there and checked into our hotel.  We spent the rest of the day/evening on the balcony, looking out over the ocean and watching the sunset.

Our second day here was much more exciting, as we ventured into Paklenica National Park to do some hiking.  The park is gorgeous, full of steep mountains and cliffs. 

We hiked about an hour and a half up to a cave and made it just in time to go on a 30-min tour of the inside.  Our guide was Croatian with limited English, so we didn't gather a whole lot of info about the cave, but after hiking in the sun all morning the cool interior of the cave was a nice change.  

After the cave, we made our way back down to the parking lot, where we refueled on granola bars and debated our next move.  We had originally planned on camping in one of the campgrounds around the park, but instead decided to drive on to Split and spend the night there so that we could catch an earlier ferry out to one of the islands the next day.  We only got slightly lost in downtown Split, but eventually we found a hotel room.

grilled steak and peppers

I interrupt the travel segment to share last night's fantastic dinner with you all.  Since we got home in the middle of the night, we didn't do much yesterday aside from sleeping in and some half-hearted unpacking.  After scrounging through the nearly-empty fridge for breakfast and lunch, we knew we needed to get serious about dinner.  So Donovan, in a fit of ambition, dug our little grill out of the basement where it's been sitting since the move and set about planning.  We made a quick trip to the local store to pick up some steaks, peppers, charcoal, and a bottle of wine, then got down to business.

Sometimes the best meals are the simplest ones.  We merely sliced up some peppers, sprinkled seasoning on the steaks, and grilled it all to perfection.  Donovan did all the hard work of starting the grill and making sure nothing got burned beyond recognition.  And, I must say, he did a fantastic job!

A glass of wine completed the meal, which we ate on the couch since the table is covered with random paraphernalia from the trip. 

Even dessert came from the grill - grilled peaches topped with a splash of wine and mascarpone.  Sadly, the camera battery was about to die and the only picture I got is blurry, but you still get the idea.

This was an excellent meal as we transitioned back into everyday life.  And now that I know Donovan has some awesome grilling skills, I'm sure there will be many more dinners like this one in the future. 

Croatia Day 1

Our first day of vacation took us to Lovran, a little seaside town right next to Rijeka.  The drive was only a few hours, so we had plenty of time to enjoy the scenery.  Once we got into Slovenia, we took a two-lane highway that wound through the hills and little villages.

And then we hit the border and crossed into Croatia!

We stayed in a quaint hotel right on the beach, and our room had a private balcony that afforded a great view of the ocean.

We spent the rest of the day on the beach.  Donovan jumped in for a quick swim, but most of the time we just relaxed in the sun. 

Dinner was the highlight of the day though, hands down.  Unfortunately I didn't have a camera with me, so I can't share what the food looked like, but you can take my word for it that it was delicious.  Donovan had a hamburger steak with melted cheese in the middle and I had gnocchi and shrimp in a cream wine sauce.  Soo good!!  We also split a bottle of wine, which took the waiter a good five minutes to open since the cork was being difficult...poor guy. 

Maybe not the most exciting day of the trip, but it definitely got us in vacay-mode.  Coming next....hiking in Paklenica National Park!