Our first destination was Split, the ancient city within a city of the palace of the retired emperor, Diocletian. The guy knew how to pick a place to party. As we arrived, the moon broke through night clouds and glinted off marble older than democracy. We wheeled our R2D2 suitcase through winding passageways until by sheer trial and error we happened upon our hotel. Got settled, set out to explore. Picture fields of city ruins, like Greece or Italy, we've all seen them, but until you go to Split, you never get to drink and play on 'em. Each house, cafe and store, are built on the ancient stones of the city. Our first night of the Honeymoon, we sat, drinking our Croatian brews, in the ruins of an ancient temple under the stars.
Early the next morning, we caught an 1.5 hour catamaran to the island of Hvar (pronounced hwarrr!), where we would spend the next three days. After skipping along the Adriatic, we arrived - Port of Hvar. It was on the shuttle ride to the Podstine Hotel, where we first came in contact with some chatty Americans. At the hotel, Jon asked how much the other Americans would tip the driver - they replied, "oh, you speak English?" We checked in post haste and bolted down to the beach. Directly in front of the hotel, there was a shallows of crystal clear Adriatic goodness. Beginning at three feet and quickly dropping to twenty-thirty, the visibility remained the same - absolutely stunning with a clarity revealing all manner of fish, mollusks, crustaceans indigenous to this paradise North. Somehow, our towels ended up next to those dang noisy Americans, who turned out to be Holly and Josh and great companions for the duration of our trip.
Not one for small talk, Jon dove off rocks and explored the seawall while Cat, ever the ambassador (this attribute helps to offset the pirate nature of the former), conversed ashore. Plans were made to go out to Hvar town for dinner that night. The four of us hiked the relaxing twenty minutes to town along the sea. The lights of the town would seem to blink from the swaying of boat masts moored.
Holly led us to a guide-book recommended restaurant that rocked. Dalmatian seafood kicks ass! After a rare downpour, we made our way back to the hotel to get some rest before a day of adventure ahead.
That's right - it's scooterin' time! We rented two scooters and took off on a tour of the island to discover the wonders of Hvar. We were given a map at the front desk of our hotel, however we were all thinking, what in the world do we need a map for? It's an island - how could we possibly get lost? So you would think. We took off after a somewhat rocky start, and made our way across the island to the town of Stari Grad.
We scootered through beautiful fields of lavender and saw spectacular views of the island coast
After making a stop in Stari Grad for lunch, we scooted across the island again to some of the best beaches on Hvar. We took the road that we thought was the designated road on our map,a road indeed by 5th century standards. Once again - how do you get lost on an island? This was off-road scootering at its best dubbed, "the valley of death," and allowed for us to see some of the rustic beauty of Hvar.
Once we arrived to the water, we enjoyed sunbathing on the perfectly pebbly beach. As there are mostly pebble and rocky beaches in Croatia, we all purchased aqua socks to wear. And what do eight aqua socks equal? An octasocktapus!
The beach and crystal clear water were absolutely beautiful and scootering is the only way to see them, unless you're talkin' boat.
After meandering our way back to the town of Hvar, we stopped at the Spanish fortress (that was actually built by Venetians) and had a breathtaking view of Hvar town below.
A long hard day of scooterin' sure does take its toll on one, and a beer at the hotel waterfront was the perfect relaxation tactic.
We met up with Holly and Josh for dinner at our hotel and were impressed with the fabulous service, meal and Croatian wine, Grasevina.
ARRRGGH! We come across a fine ship and set sail for the archipelago of Hvar. After a quick lesson on how to evade boat cops, we cast off and motored our S.S. Minnow along sun-bleached jagged coasts, across light-strewn shallows of Adriatic splendor and an island of old naked people.
Exploration began with a slalom-like course bringing us to a narrow spit where water was mere feet on either side.
We discovered crustaceans and named a hermit crab "Jimmie."We moored in a hidden cove betrayed only by yacht masts visible by afar and had lunch of cheese and ham.
Back in the minnow we spied a solitary rock island that demanded conquest. Chet Johansenn (Jon) dove from the moving boat and scaled the jagged surface to run across. This was our own private island. Free to roam, explore and cannon-ball off of as long as we wished.
We came, we honeymooned, we conquered.
The 284 HV - finest ship in the fleet.
After a Grasevina toast and partial circumnavigation of the islands, tragedy struck - the rum was gone. On a heroic mission of mercy, we docked in sea urchin bay and Jon ran up to secure beer from the locals. The mission was a success, but came at the cost of a score of urchin stingers lodged in his feet. We also saw a guy in a neon green Borat thong and had to ask ourselves if he'd even seen the movie. Very niiiice!After a birthday dinner for Cat at the Podstine, we crashed to get up for the early ferry.
The ferry took us from Hvar to Duubrovnik. The picture is of the island of Korcula where we moored briefly.
As Holly and Josh were also traveling to Dubrovnik the same day, we were able to endure the six-hour journey together on the tourist-packed boat.
Dubrovnik was bustling. After a short cab ride to Hotel President, we hit the beach. Having boated, scootered, swam, the next way to explore would be in the air. The picture shows Jon parasailing above our hotel in the distance.
We had an awesome room with a run-way style balcony.
That night, we met up with Holly and Josh downtown, old town Dubrovnik. The summer music festival was rockin', traditional Croatian music reverberated off the marble walls of the city.
We searched out the myriad and labyrinthine passageways of the old walled city.
After a few drinks, Holly turned into Donlonatella Versace calling everyone "stupid peaches." Elton John showed up and she threw a drink at him. (Any SNL fans out there?)The brilliant idea to rent a car and drive to Montenegro manifested when Holly and Josh showed up in a sporty red V 1.5 Euro car. The border was surprisingly close (under an hour) and surprisingly packed (the Rolling Stones were in town).
Quick facts about Montenegro: the world’s newest nation, declared its independence on June 3, 2006. It is about the size of Connecticut, with a population of 650,000. The country got its name (literally, “black mountain”) from the dark, mountain forests that cover the land. Some 60 percent of the country is more than 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) high, with the tallest peak reaching to 2,522 meters (8,274 feet). It boasts 117 beaches along the Adriatic coast, mountain ski resorts, the medieval city of Kotor, and other cultural sites. The new country uses the euro as its currency and plans to join the European Union.
... and we rocked it!
These pictures are across from Kotor Bay, where we would hang out and bask.
The most incredibly scenic restaurant ever was located on the narrow track of land between an 800 meter mountain ridge and the waters of the Adriatic. Stari Milni (the old mill) had its own fish ponds and waiters wore traditional garb.
For our final night in Croatia, we dicovered a bar named "no nude, no topless," but we went anyway. This bar was located on the rocks outside the Dubrovnik sea wall directly over top the water.
After parting ways with Hosh and Jolly, we caught a Beatles cover band and danced until the last bus leaving from old town.
Our final day was spent walking the 2 km wall around the city. This would be the only historical learning done on the entire trip.
Stay classy, Croatia.
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