Hvar, Croatia

Our ship from the dock in Hvar town
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We caught a tender for Hvar city a little after 10 a.m. this morning. The first thing that greeted us was the lovely scent of lavender. Hvar is known for it's lavendar fields and there are many lavender sellers by the port. I picked up some lavender oil to bring home.

We met for our walking tour of Hvar at 10:45. It was noted as we passed a map of Hvar Island, that it is one of the ten most beautiful islands in the world. Some of the other islands on the list were Bora Bora, Capri, Naxos-Greece, Hawaii & Ponza. The thing I enjoyed the most was the Franciscan Monastery where we viewed the Last Supper painting by either Matteo Ingoli or Matteo Patanze, they are not sure which one. I feel it is a more real life painting than the one by Da Vinci.

... "fair winds and smooth sailing"

Lavender for sale in Hvar
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After our tour we went for a special lunch at a restaurant in which the chef, Chef Ivo, is a friend of Grace Fielder. She spent some time on this island a while back and had helped out the family where she stayed by helping with the lavender harvest. The restaurant was called Zlatna Skolika- Slow Food. The food was good and very local but there was a lot of food and most couldn't finish.

Next we boarded a bus for the other side of the island and a visit to Stari Grad. On the way we passed many olive trees, vineyards, and blooming lavender fields. Only seven decided to go on this trip and we wandered through this cute little old town area. We visited with a cute couple from Sweden with two small children. The baby beamed whenever we said gelato, which we had on our way back to the bus. I tried the kiwi gelato for the first time-- incredible!

The "Last Supper" painting in the Franciscan Monastery in Hvar
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We returned to our ship a little after four and it set sail at five. This was the day for our "Photo Opportunity" of the ship under full sail so both of us hopped one of the two tenders to get pictures -- we are hoping a few of them are good.

This sailing experience is one that I will never forget. This ship is awesome!!!

When we returned, our five o'clock snack was set out and Misha and Katya were playing and singing as they do each evening.

Tonight was the Captain's Dinner. We dressed up (sort of :-) and had a wonderful dinner. We ate with the Taylor's and the Bou's tonight. I ordered scallops appetizer, Caesar salad,  orange sorbet (as a palate cleanser), and some beautiful and tasty lobster. Everyone at our table ordered the lobster (how could we not?). We were also all served Baked Alaska for dessert and then the waiters poured champagne for everyone as the captain gave a little speech and then toasted all of us-- something about "fair winds and smooth sailing".

Some detail from the "Last Supper"
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Tomorrow: Losinj and our last full day on the Royal Clipper. I'm beginning to feel sad already.....

So many people have asked to get copies of Gary's pictures that we suggested to Marty, one of our two amazing tour leaders, that we have a list of everyone's emails so that we could exchange pictures after the cruise. She passed the clipboard at dinner tonight....

It is going to be difficult to leave all of our new friends but the most difficult will be saying goodbye to this gorgeous ship!