Small Island and Relaxation

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A: As we stepped off of the boat we were greeted by what I now call the piranhas/ the vultures, men and women swarming all over you yelling out about rooms and Kuna amounts. Thankfully they did not attack me, Ryan however, had such a large group of people around him that I could no longer see him. 3 women approached me and I just pointed to where I thought he was and said talk to him. When Ryan found a room for a good price we were ready to leave but one woman, so mad she had not made the sale started yelling out that it would take us 30 minutes to get to our place which was uphill, when we could go with her only 2 minutes. Scared for the hill and 30 minute with Ryan’s pack but happy we were saving money, I prepared myself. The woman was wrong. We got to our room (a 10-15min max walk) and were told to be seated as the man of the hose brought us out juice and wafer cookies. He told use to relax and watch a Croatian soap with him. When he was snoozing off I left and got ready for the beach. Eventually Ryan joined me and we watched the sun set behind the island with boats in the foreground. We ventured to a restaurant called Casa Blanca where I had chicken that finally tasted like chicken back home. We enjoyed it so much that the last night of our stay we returned here again. All of the restaurants and shops are tucked away in the ally ways with the port and houses surrounding it all. When ever you go to the port, massive yachts are docked and everyone stopped and views them with, awe, jealously, and a bit of disgust. I even saw paparazzi. The second day of our stay we sat on the beautiful coastline. I believe we were there for about 6 of 7 hours, swimming, diving off rocks, reading, and taking in the Adriatic Sea. We then concluded our stay with more swimming and a trek up to a tower that views the whole city. It was very strange to see all of the land we cover in just one day. Our room was on one side of the island and the shady beaches on another. Again, Hvar was very different during night. When street lamps light the islands they hold a very different feel. It was fun to watch little children play on the coast and after seeing them I still wonder where the school is. It almost seemed that if you were able to sell shells on the street at night you were free to go out if you wished too! The main walk way filled with children from the age of 8 – 15 reminded me of Parkway Plaza mall during the summer.

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R: After a short ferry ride we arrived in Hvar to haggle once again for a good rate on a room. With people constantly trying to convince us we should stay with them we finally settled on a room for twenty dollars each a night and followed them to the house. It was a fair walk from the ferry, but the guy from the house put the heavy bags on his scooter and drove them up. It was hot there and our room was even hotter, with no wind and being unable to open our windows. We freeze bottles of water in our room and by the time we get to the beach all the ice has melted. We spent our days sleeping in and making our way down to the beach, or rock area to sit on. There is no sand, but the rocks with pine trees for shade proved to enough. The beaches are amazing, crystal clear water makes for a refreshing cool down from the heat. There are a series of small islands that extend from Hvar Town and it is possible to take a boat taxi there for the day (although we didn’t). In the harbor there are a ton of sailboats and along the main boardwalk there are really nice yachts docked. We spent time admiring them and wondering how much extra money you would have to have in order to buy such an extravagant boat. We don’t have a kitchen in our place so we eat out in town every night. Most of the restaurants are pizzerias, but we found one with other kinds of food. The island is awesome, but it can get expensive (depending on what u want to do) and it is very touristy and swarming with people. Sipan, the next stop, is definitely a way to escape this.

Bargaining for a room and then sweating in it