Good Byes and Split

This morning was quiet. We went to have breakfast as usual. As we were finishing, a few of our fellow travellers came in for theirs and so we chatted one last time with them. 

We had agreed last night to take an Uber to the old city with Liann (Edmonton) and Lori (Kelowna) as they were staying nearby for a couple of days. 

By 11:30 we were at our new place. BEAUTIFUL!!  The room was ready so we got all the instructions from the fellow on site. We think this place is going to be perfect

Due to problems with the blogger tonight I can only get the Air BNB photos to load at the end of this posting. $@!!!

At 1 PM we met up with Liann and Lori and had a gelato together. Yummy!

After what I think is probably our last good byes to these ladies from our trip Caro and I started walking down the malecon; looking for,and finding the meet up location for tomorrow’s 12 hour excursion tour. 

Further walking took us along to a beach where Caro got her “fix” by wading in the Adriatic water. 

Upon returning to our place in mid-afternoon we had nice naps. 

Later we went shopping for bread,cheese and wine which we enjoyed about 5 PM. While we were eating, another couple came up to the terrace. Turns out they are from Calgary!

Around 6:30 we went out to the seafront promenade street and then worked our way back through the old city. This palace area is very much like Kotor with tiny streets and restaurants around every turn. The huge difference is that here there seem to be no Muslim ladies wearing hijabs (there were MANY in Kotor)

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Split

We had a 6:30 breakfast in anticipation of our ferry shortly after 7:40.

The passenger ferry turned out to be cancelled however a car ferry made an unscheduled stop to pick up about 100 or so stranded people. We left Hvar port at 8:30 AM. 

The crossing from the island to the mainland was quite rolly at times,and we arrived in Split at 10:15

We were picked up by van taxis ( with one person in our group heading directly to the airport) and off we went to the industrial area of the city. The vans waited for us while we dropped off our bags into storage and then back to the Center and Diocletian Palace

Our local guide met us there and have a great tour of the palace. 

We then walked a short way to a restaurant where we had our last meal together. We gave our CEO (chief excitement officer) another round of applause and at this point most of us gave her our tip money for a job well done. 

While most people headed back to the hotel with Karolina, Caro and I (along with Patty from LA ) continued walking around the downtown and palace areas. 

We found the location of our Air Bnb for tomorrow and a further two nights. Located right in the middle of the palace it is beautifully located. 

We decided to walk back to the hotel. It took 35 minutes but we were chatting the whole time so it went fast.

The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent relaxing and then saying our good byes to many of our fellow GAdventure travellers. Kind of a sad time. 

Hvar again

Upon waking up we went up to hotel reception area for a nice breakfast. Because we had over an hour before our boat tour we walked down to the main town as we weren’t going to have a lot of time afterwards to enjoy this stunningly beautiful place. 

Caro picked up an item or two in the food store and later we went to an ABM to pick up some more Euros. We don’t really need that much cash however on Saturday morning we say good bye to Karolina ( our Polish guide) and the rest of the group and of course it is “tip” time for Karolina. 

The weather today is super windy and upon return to the hotel we were informed that the boat tour was cancelled by the boat Captain ( too rough and dangerous)

Therefore,change of plans! I put out the word on WhatsApp that Caro and I were going to walk up the hill to the fortress. Three people joined us. 

The view was spectacular. It was so windy one of my hearing aids almost came out so I had to take them out and put into my pockets. 

Instead of returning to the hotel right away after we walked down we went back to the downtown and picked up some wine and snacks to enjoy throughout the day. 

After I woke up from a nap in the afternoon we walked down a very rocky unofficial pathway to the beach area. Here we found a beautiful malecon walkway which we followed for about a kilometre. It went around two bays and at the end the little bay was protected from the super strong winds. Caro decided to go for a swim. 

Back at the hotel again ( while enjoying a glass of Rose wine) I got hold of our AirBnb of our upcoming three night stay  to make arrangements to be there earlier than normal check in. 

Supper was at 7:30 PM. It was good , as expected. Because a couple of people are gone by tomorrow night we had our final meal tonight with all of us saying a few words about the trip. There was also a surprise birthday cake for our guide Karolina

Hvar

After a nice sleep we met a few of our fellow travellers for breakfast.  Some of group had decided to go to a beach while others had decided to take the cable car at the old city. 

We initially weren’t planning to do the cable car but we changed our minds. We packed up, stored our luggage in the hotel luggage room and checked out. 

The #4 bus took us to the old city at which point we walked the city walls to the cable car location. 

The view from the top was spectacular. 

We stayed only 20 or so minutes at the top before descending back into the old city to complete most of our souvenir/gifts shopping.

Our next plan was to take #4 bus back to the hotel, followed by a short walk down to the Marina. Well ”that” was the plan, however the bus did not stop at “our” bus stop but instead carried on for a ways. Using Google maps on my cell phone we found our way down to the marina where after a few minutes we ran into Cheryl ( from Peace River). We stopped for fries and a pop (with ketchup being an extra $1.50) before walking back up to the hotel. 

At 2PM we loaded on to a mini-van for a short drive back down to the Marina. We loaded on to the 3PM ferry for 3 1/2 hours  travel time to Hvar. Our first stop was at Pomena on the island of Mijet ( probably a ten minute stop with passengers getting off and on). Our second stop had about 50 getting off and maybe 30 getting on and lasted 7 minutes. It was at the port of Korcula, on the island of Korcula. 

A sign of modern technology. While on the ferry Vanessa FaceTimed us. Cool!

The arrival at Hvar was breathtaking. In fact this small port has stunned us with its incredible beauty. I have never heard of this place however it is apparently considered one of the most beautiful places on the Croatian coast. It really is awesome, truly inspiring. 

After climbing the hill to our hotel ( a van took our luggage) we got our rooms , then met again in the lobby to go together for our supper back down in the town. 

The meal was great as expected and the walk back to our hotel through the ancient cobblestone alleys and walkways was amazing, and the views of the lit up town and marina were breathtaking. Such an unexpected pleasure!!

Day 2

A day of photos!

After breakfast quite a few of us caught the bus to the old city. 

Once inside we went to a GAdventures sponsored charity. We listened to a lady explain the purpose of the charity and what they do ( originally started during the 1991 siege of Dubrovnik helping refuge women). After that we watched a cooking demonstration (how to sugar coat and cook almonds- boy were they tasty!)

The group then continued to the charity craft shop where the shop did good business by all of us. 

We were soon back in the old (walled) city purchasing our 24 hour passes for walking the wall and getting into museums. I thought at first that it was a bit expensive at about $52/each but in the end it was good value. 

After site-seeing within the city for about three hours ( including the nearby Fort) we were both getting hungry so we found a pizza place that wasn’t outrageous in its pricing. 

Refreshed we were soon on the way again wandering around within the walls including having the self proclaimed “best gelato in Dubrovnik”, and generally seeing more streets before deciding to head back. 

The city was its usual “super busy” self today. According to the internet this city averages 15,000 people a day. There certainly were a lot!

We got our bus tickets and soon realized that NO traffic was moving and there was a huge lineup for bus #4. It didn’t take more than a few seconds to decide we better walk back to our hotel. Twenty five minutes later we were back and a crowded #4 that we had seen heading our way shortly after we started walking never did pass us so we made the right decision!

The evening was spent quietly. We watched the service for Kim K. Via YouTube (I believe Nathan set that up, so “Thank You”.

To finish off today’s post a photo of Caro.