Rosie and The Operator drove the one and a half hours in super quick time (speed limit 130km) on the beautifully empty motorway from Zadar to Split. We had a ferry to catch to the island of Hvar, a 1 hour ferry ride off the mainland of Croatia.
We dumped the rental car, literally, there are no nice drop off areas here in an area strapped for space. Up an alley we parked, down the road from Enterprise car rentals. Rosie was left inside to guard the car as people disapprovingly glared at her whilst rolling their bags around the vehicle parked over the footpath. The rental boy did the check in the alley, laughed at all the dings whilst The Operator kept saying he didn’t do them and pointing to the rental contract ‘ding map’ with a hundred crosses on it indicating prior damage. Would have been hard to tell if you did do any damage said Rosie, but The Operator is proud of his perfect international driving record. Touch wood.
The ferry is a huge catamaran and it was loaded with day trippers and people towing suitcases for extended stays like us. The sea is so calm and flat you barely felt like you were on water for just over an hour…(even you could handle this ride Stitch!)
The island of Hvar is small, approx 12km wide by 75km long and well, this is another town framed by water with 180 degrees of awesomeness all around and blue sky overhead. Its claim to fame is boasting at being the Sunniest Island in Croatia! Due to its southern geographical location and and the largest amount of sunshine hours.
Motoring into the port of Hvar, Rosie is always overwhelmed as the harbour becomes bigger and bigger. High on the hill a fortress looks down on the town of orange roofed houses whose white painted fronts gleam in the light. Masts stick up everywhere as pleasure boats dock close to the town. Smaller row boats and wee fishing boats are scattered between them barely bobbing on the waveless sea.
Out on the stone dock we are greeted by Nickolai, he owns the apartment we are going to be renting for the next three days. Nikolai explains how lucky we are to be here at this time of the year, it is abit cooler, (22c no wind and Rosie is roasting) the tourists are less than half than what is normally here (looking around Rosie was dismayed with the amount of people) and because of the extended beautiful weather most of the restaurants and bars are still open and haven’t closed yet for winter, (well that’s a bonus!).
Closed for winter!? Yes, Nikolai is a boat mechanic and also rents out boats. His place of work has shut as of last week for the next 4 months….in a few weeks Nikolai is off to Indonesia where he will stay and do a diving instructors course so he can take people out diving when the summer season starts again in Hvar. Nikolai reckons just over half of the restaurants and shops will be shut on the island by the end of the month.
Lucky Nickolai carried my bag up the steps to our apartment, it was abit of a hike. Rosie was puffing at the top carrying a small day bag… but OMG it was worth it when we walked into the apartment, what a view!
The balcony was one bay away from the main harbour which equated to a two minute walk….and a hundred steps. The view looked out over the Franciscan Monastery and its olive grove, a small swimming bay and moored boats. To the right you looked out into the channel and over other small islands…it was magical, so much to see and watch, there was always something happening out on the water anytime of the day and night.
Small fishing boats would come in and moor in the bay, the fisherman would hop off their boats into their dinghy’s and row to shore. Fishing catches would be processed on the stone walls next to the bay and the local cats would come prowling around.
Around the bays and in the Old Town there are no cars, every family seems to have a boat to be able scoot into town or around the bays, small outboard moters drone across the bay at all hours. Huge ferry boats and large yachts frequently also ply the channel and small boats dodge them and rock in their wakes.
It is a beautiful stroll from the apartment around the bay into the old town, here more than anywhere we have been so far is evidence of ‘the end of the season’. Every second promenade bar or restaurant is closed here already and most of the back street ones are long packed up. Still there is no shortage of establishments to choose from, lucky, because the main square and harbour front are still thronged with tourists.
Rosie and The Operator just keep strolling, following the curve of the bay, with the sea on our left and the cry of gulls overhead. On our right are cafes, bars and people sitting under terrace umbrellas enjoying what everyone is calling the unseasonably fine weather.
The orange of the houses creep up the hill and peep over the tops of the boats in the harbour, the light is harsh and bright the white of the houses look over exposed. The water twinkles incredible blue and the heat of the sun beats down on your head.
So many people are on the water in boats. The huge charter yachts are ferrying families that have rented them to the moorings just offshore, they sit on board, eating, drinking and watching the world. They will stay overnight on the boat and their skippers will turn up tomorrow morning to sail the family to some city further down the line.
Little paths lead off the promenade at regular intervals to little rocky shelves with swimming ladders that extend into the water. Families, couples and solo sunbathers sit on the rocks in the sun before hopping in for a dip.
Walking back the sun is scathingly hot, time to duck into the narrow, cool, shady alleys of the old town to cool down.
Firstly though we pass by the City Lodge which was used as a courthouse by the Venetians and was first mentioned in writings from 1289. This version after a few invasions was rebuilt in the 16th Century. It is being renovated to be part of the Palace Hotel now.
We then enter the main town square, it too is pumping, full of people enjoying the sunshine. The square is a huge open space and claims to be the largest in Dalmatia. Originally it was a deep bay which was filled with rocks over the centuries until it, well, was filled up. It was a solid space by the 16th century and used to be a lot wider than what it is today. A shortage of space in the city led to houses also being built along the edges. The communal well in the center dates from 1529….hmmmm….Rosie has asked that question too. How can there be a well there if underneath used to be sea…?
Down the end of the square is St Stephens Cathedral, there has always been a church here since the 13th century, the church you see today was started in the 1600s and finished a couple of hundred years later. The light is so reflective off the light coloured stone of the buildings and the marble pavers of the square it hurts your eyes at mid day….the heat reflecting off the stones in the full sun is also incredible. The fortress looms over everything in this town and just glows on the hilltop.
The building which is the Arsenal stands on the corner of the town square. In 1292 this was a shipyard for the gallies and over time it was rebuilt and burned down, rebuilt and fell in earthquakes, rebuilt and was bombed and rebuilt finally in the 1600s of which we see the building which still stands today.
In 1612 an upper galley was added to the building from which a theater was founded in the same year. This was the first public theater in Europe. Rosie never got a ground shot of The Arsenal, its so big…well here it is in all its glory, now you too can appreciate how big it was. Long, old, beige brick building with a dark brown roof, right on the harbour front in the middle of the picture.
Just like all of the other old towns in Croatia the streets are super narrow and the only flat areas are around the harbour, work your way back in the town..and you are starting to climb the hill, then there are always plenty of stairs!
Doorways lead straight into the alley and they only way you can tell between houses and shops is that the shops have their wares hanging from the door frames as an invitation to come inside.
The City Fortress sits on the highest point overlooking the town and harbour of Hvar. Rosie and The Operator hike up the steep stairs that lead to the fort.
We arrive at the top of the town and the rest of the way up is a long switchback path that zig zags through a rocky park planted with cactus, spiny bushes and scraggly pines.
Along the path are tiny bars that are just a fridge and a stool, they are still covered in tarpaulins and are not open yet. You can tell where the people stop and rest though…all these little stacks of pebbles are by the drink stall.
The high stone defense walls stretch from the fort right down to the harbour riding the lumpy terrain like a snake down the hill. It is an impressive structure and great to see it so intact.
The Fortress was built in 1278 whilst under Venetian rule to defend the city from invaders from the sea and behind from the land. It grew over time and the funds for building it mainly came from the selling of salt. A picture below of the fortress high on the hill looking over the town.
In 1551 a new fortress was built and twenty years later it saved the villagers who gathered there for safety from a Turkish invasion. Instead, nice and safe above the town, they watched their town ransacked, looted and destroyed by the Turks.
The view from the fortress down over the town and harbour is just amazing. Imagine standing up here as a villager on that day and watching the town below where you live burn…that would certainly have been something.
The fort has had its share of bad luck over time as well…lightening hit the gunpowder store in 1579 causing a massive explosion that took down a whole wall which fell onto the village below.
The fortress building itself was a grand military complex. It consisted of four circular bastions, a tower, walls with battlements, gunpowder rooms, a chapel, a dungeon, living quarters for the garrison and a large water supply tank. Walking around it is super impressive.
No hang ups on Health and Safety here….if you want to jump, go ahead. If you cant look after your children…they probably will fall over the edge. Common sense is given the benefit of the doubt here, instead of being totally eliminated by a nanny state.
In the 19th century, Hvar lost its strategic importance under Austrian rule and the fort was abandoned.
Leaving our apartment if we turn right we are heading into the town square and all the hustle and bustle of the town center. If we turn left we are walking round into a beautiful residential bay that leads to the 15th Century Franciscan Monastery and the Church of St Mary we can see from our terrace.
This bay has a few bars and cafes along its harbour where locals normally gather and the prices are 20% cheaper than the town square and Rosie feels the vibe here is heaps better and more relaxed. There is also a small, pebbly beach swimming area in the bay where in the summer the bar from the local restaurant extends to this wee beach…now you are talking.
Small boats are moored just off the bay and the rope is to stop boats from encroaching into the swimming zone. This is where The Operator comes for his afternoon dip, while Rosie watches from the terrace….there he is, in the water, (pic below) as taken on max zoom.
Here is our apartment looking back across the bay. Ours is the house in the back, in the middle of the picture. Our flat is under the right hand pointy eave on the top floor. All the better to see the world from.
In the evening we normally buy in supply’s from a small supermarket in the main square and enjoy the dusk hustle and bustle of our bay. Over the last three days we have got to learn the routines of the fisherman and boaties and look out for their homecoming in the evenings. As the sun sets in a fiery red ball it is just magic watching the light of the day fade away.
Even at night time with the moon overhead, the lit path of the promenade and reflection on the water is amazing. We sit long into the night making the most of the balmy temperatures.
What a magic place to be, we are enjoying every minute of being on this Island. Our locations here in Croatia are just getting better and better and we are certainly adapting to the laid back easy going lifestyle pretty well we think.
Tomorrow we are hiring a scooter and exploring the rest of Hvar Island. Rosie loves days cruising about on the scooter, so looking forward to sharing it with you.
