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| The Palace (our hotel) |
We have arrived at last!
Arriving in Split, Croatia early on Sunday morning, we exchanged euro for kuna, got our ferry tickets from Split to Hvar, and had a quick brunch overlooking the water. A few hours later, we arrived in Hvar, the absolute most beautiful place in the world. Walking into an information center next to the harbor, we asked where our hotel, The Palace is, and they said we're staring right at it, to the left of the loggia and clock tower of Rector's Palace. We thought they must not have understood us, but in fact, they were right. It was such a beautiful hotel built in Venetian Renaissance style, in the center of town, with the marina in front of us and St. Stephen's Square, the largest piazza in Dalmatia, slightly to the left. It was at the bottom of the hill, protected by the Spanish Fort and once favored by Elisabeth, Empress to Franz Joseph, during the 1800s. From our bedroom window we could see the Spanish Fortress and had orange trees at our fingertips. We spent the next two days trying to figure out how we could manage to stay longer, pushing back our ferry and hotel in Dubrovnik. Skyping my mother from the hotel restaurant area, I told her I could picture my wedding someday on Hvar, with the guests staying at this very hotel.
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| Hvar Town with Spanish Fortress at the top |
We put our suits on and headed out to the beach, stopping for a wonderful lunch at Hotel Adriana on the way, splitting lobster bisque and seafood risotto. Heading to the beach, trying to decide between the numerous areas to lay out and swim, we ended up at Hula Hula, a beach bar with lounge chairs, live music, and many young adults like ourselves. A nice couple who was leaving gave us their chair receipts and in celebration of our arrival, we ordered two mojitos. We had no idea until it was too late that they were $20 mojitos, so luckily the waiter let us just give him all the kuna we had, saying not to worry about the difference. We learned our lesson early on about the tricky prices in Croatia, and how to quickly convert kuna to both dollars and euros. We worried about the sea urchins in the water since signs were everywhere, so we found a pebble beach to swim in at the end of the day. That evening, we tried to eat at this sports pub that was playing the eurocup game, but it was already full so we went to a great seafood restaurant next door overlooking the harbor. After dinner, we headed to a local bar, where we caught the end of the game that was into penalty kicks, so it was a very intense game, and when England lost, the bar quickly cleared out.
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| Stiniva Beach |
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| Carpe Diem Beach |
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| green cave |
The next day we found a company who was offering a private 6 hour boat cruise to wherever we wanted to go. We chose to see the blue cave, and the island of Vis, where we swam in the green cave, Stiniva Beach, and had lunch in the small village of Rukavac. Here we saw a mother and her two sons who spoke English and Croatian father. Ironically, we found out she is from Charlotte, and they live a street over from Carly one month out of the year, and spend the rest of their time in Croatia, where her husband is from. On the way back, we stopped at some of the small islands near Hvar, where our driver, a local Croatian, explained the history of the islands, showing us the beautiful beaches of Palmizana, Mlini, and Carpe Diem. It was the best money we spent for an amazing day on the water that felt like a dream. Hvar is such beautiful delicacy, known as the sunniest and longest island on the Adriatic Sea, and not very touristy, I hope that it always stays so preserved. A funny fact we learned is that if there are more than four hours of rain in a day, hotels give you a reduction on your stay, and if it snows, you get to stay for free!
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| with our boat driver |
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| St. Francis monastery |
Upon returning to our hotel, the concierge informed us that the ferry from Hvar to Dubrovnik only runs on Tuesday and Saturday. Well we had planned on leaving Tuesday, so that sounded great until she told us that it was at 8:40 am. We had planned terribly and saved all the sightseeing for Tuesday of course, as well as the gifts we needed to still get. That evening, we went out to dinner at a restaurant that our favorite shop owner recommended, called 4 Palme, where I got incredibly fresh sea bass that I had been craving since we were on the water. We sat and enjoyed watching the activity around us as enormous yachts lined the harbor. After dinner we explored the south side, passing by the prestigious Carpe Diem bar (where Prince Harry fell in the pool while dancing a few years back), and walking by all the stations of the cross leading up to the St. Francis monastery. We saw the doors of the monastery open, so walked in to have a peak!
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| In a room of the convent |
We knew that we couldn't leave Hvar without seeing a few of these, so got up early Tuesday morning and at 7 am went out to be productive. Well, nothing opened until 9 or 10. Exploring our next option, there was a ferry from Hvar up to Split, then we would have to take a 5 hour bus ride down to Dubrovnik, completely backtracking. We agreed that we had to do it so that we could get the Agava lace from the convent, see the Spanjola, the Spanish Fortress, and shop the markets for our last minute gifts and a few more pouches of lavender. Hvar's Benedictine convent is the only site for this Aloe-based lace that the nuns spend all of their time making, which UNESCO characterizes as part of Croatia's "intangible cultural heritage" in an obvious attempt at saving lace. Earlier that morning, we followed the sound of nuns singing, and came across the Agava convent, where we spoke with a nun standing out front about acquiring some of their lace. She says one moment, and we assumed she was heading inside to sneak me some lace, so we got our camera ready for this epic moment, but all she was doing was bringing out someone who spoke English. She told us to come back in a few hours when they opened with our knees and shoulders covered up. We later got to go inside and see a few rooms of the convent and sign the guestbook for my mother. Our next stop was Spanjola, the Spanish Fortress, where we climbed many steps up the mountain to get the best view of Hvar, it was breathtaking.
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| on the Spanish Fortress |
Well, of course when we went to get our tickets, hours ahead of time, the ferry was sold out. Our luck was just not good for traveling obviously. We almost cancelled going to Dubrovnik at all, but then found our third and last resort option to get there. We had to take a bus from Hvar to Stari Grad, wait an hour, then take a ferry from Stari Grad up to Split, where we caught the last bus of the day going from Split down to Dubrovnik. We had no time to eat a real meal, so got their version of fast food, which was probably the worst meal I had abroad. The ferry to get to split was moving so painfully slow, I could've swam faster than that, and couldn't even imagine if we had missed the last bus down to Dubrovnik that evening. The bus ride was so incredibly long, and windy, I have never been so carsick and hungry at the same time. We also hid our suitcases under our feet so that we didn't have to pay to put them under. It was quite an experience, and we wasted our whole day traveling, when it should've only been a quick direct ferry. I guess this is one of the downfalls of Croatia not being very touristy.
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| Lady I bought some lace from |
Ciao,
Tarra
We have arrived at last! Arriving in Split, Croatia early on Sunday morning, we exchanged euro for kuna, got our ferry tickets from Split to Hvar, and had a quick brunch overlooking the water. A few hours later, we arrived in Hvar, the absolute most beautiful place in the world. Walking into an information center next to the harbor, we asked where our hotel, The Palace is, and they said we're staring right at it, to the left of the loggia and clock tower of Rector's Palace. We thought they must not have understood us, but in fact, they were right. It was such a beautiful hotel built in Venetian Renaissance style, in the center of town, with the marina in front of us and St. Stephen's Square, the largest piazza in Dalmatia, slightly to the left. It was at the bottom of the hill, protected by the Spanish Fort and once favored by Elisabeth, Empress to Franz Joseph, during the 1800s. From our bedroom window we could see the Spanish Fortress and had orange trees at our fingertips. We spent the next two days trying to figure out how we could manage to stay longer, pushing back our ferry and hotel in Dubrovnik. Skyping my mother from the hotel restaurant area, I told her I could picture my wedding someday on Hvar, with the guests staying at this very hotel.
We put our suits on and headed out to the beach, stopping for a wonderful lunch at Hotel Adriana on the way, splitting lobster bisque and seafood risotto. Heading to the beach, trying to decide between the numerous areas to lay out and swim, we ended up at Hula Hula, a beach bar with lounge chairs, live music, and many young adults like ourselves. A nice couple who was leaving gave us their chair receipts and in celebration of our arrival, we ordered two mojitos. We had no idea until it was too late that they were $20 mojitos, so luckily the waiter let us just give him all the kuna we had, saying not to worry about the difference. We learned our lesson early on about the tricky prices in Croatia, and how to quickly convert kuna to both dollars and euros. We worried about the sea urchins in the water since signs were everywhere, so we found a pebble beach to swim in at the end of the day. That evening, we tried to eat at this sports pub that was playing the eurocup game, but it was already full so we went to a great seafood restaurant next door overlooking the harbor. After dinner, we headed to a local bar, where we caught the end of the game that was into penalty kicks, so it was a very intense game, and when England lost, the bar quickly cleared out. 
Well, of course when we went to get our tickets, hours ahead of time, the ferry was sold out. Our luck was just not good for traveling obviously. We almost cancelled going to Dubrovnik at all, but then found our third and last resort option to get there. We had to take a bus from Hvar to Stari Grad, wait an hour, then take a ferry from Stari Grad up to Split, where we caught the last bus of the day going from Split down to Dubrovnik. We had no time to eat a real meal, so got their version of fast food, which was probably the worst meal I had abroad. The ferry to get to split was moving so painfully slow, I could've swam faster than that, and couldn't even imagine if we had missed the last bus down to Dubrovnik that evening. The bus ride was so incredibly long, and windy, I have never been so carsick and hungry at the same time. We also hid our suitcases under our feet so that we didn't have to pay to put them under. It was quite an experience, and we wasted our whole day traveling, when it should've only been a quick direct ferry. I guess this is one of the downfalls of Croatia not being very touristy. 
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