Hello, Split.

Another ferry ride today.  It’s a little strange to think that for 20 years our life was full of ferry rides. Anguilla to St. Martin.  St. Martin to Anguilla.  Back and forth, forth and back. But since then, until now, nary a boat. 

Anyway, Hvar to Split today. Then a short, luggage-laden walk to our luxury apartment rental. I recognized the building from the pictures and the Google map directions took us there but there wasn’t anything on the building or the door that indicated we were in the correct place.  Except this on the door bell list

I knew we were in apartment “Nancy” on the third floor so it turned out we were in the right place.  And I have to say I am somewhat comforted knowing that the British and Italian Consulates are in the same building.  “Nancy” is huge…paced off I would estimate 800+sq feet with two little balconies overlooking the harbor. And three different air conditioners. 

We set out to explore Split.  We are right next to a Diocletian Palace gate. But what a maze of street and alley ways! It reminds me a bit of Naples (Italy not Naples, Fl) in that way.  But you can usually see the cathedral spire to find your way.  Which we did. We will do the touring tomorrow. But wandered about to see a few sites.

The rotunda

The intricately carved door way in the rotunda

Some random wall I found in my wanderings

And sunset from one of our balconies.  A good day all around.

Split

More later. Ferry to Split. 

Drinks on our balcony overlooking the harbor. 

Today

I posted the chillaxing picture in the moment but so much more happened throughout the day.

Bwahahahaha! I crack me up!

No just kidding. Nearly nothing else.

I did, however, take a stroll to the nearest beach, Bonj Beach, to collect a sand sample for the collection we have from every island we have ever visited.  I gave up on spice jars years ago because the storage space required was just too onerous. So we downsized to test tubes. 

This is Bonj beach. A beach by the true definition of a beach. That being a sloping landform covered with well whatever next to a body of water. But it took me forever to dig down to find teeny enough little pebbles amongst all of the big rocks so that they would fit into my little test tube…

Walking back I stopped to take a picture of the harbor with the Fortico above from a different angle. 25 minutes later I knew the life story of the 60-year-old, yes she told me three times that she was 60 years old, woman who immediately started talking to me on the pier. Seriously, literally before I could even hold my phone up to take a picture Did you know that back in the day she trained for 10 years to qualify to try to climb Mount Everest? That she’s retired? But she used to be a personal trainer, but she’s got a little thick in the middle? And that she wants to needs to get back to swimming or exercising or something to get back in shape? Anyway, I did finally get the shot…a bit of sunburn and the shot.

Tonight when we went back down to St. Stephen’s Square for dinner, the boats were back at it. I may have to start listening to classical music although I’m not sure that my living room will create the same appropriate ambience as a medieval village does. The bright lights on the performance stage however were not on and creating glare tonight so I could get a picture of the hillside with the Fortico above lit up at night. Lovely.

Goodnight, Hvar. 

Last Night: Dance of the Sails

 Back to last night….

During the day they set up a performance platform and a lot of lights and speakers. We heard some sound checks being done during the afternoon, but we didn’t know what was going on. Our apartment is one small medieval village block away from the main square, St Stephen’s Square, but it is surprisingly quiet inside. Apparently stone walls absorb sound.

So when we ventured out for dinner, we were quite surprised to be greeted by the sounds of Tchaikovsky‘s Waltz of the Flowers. And we were even more surprised when we turned the bend and saw a whole bunch of small sailboats moving around in the harbor with spot lights playing off of them. It was absolutely magical. We tried a couple of times to ask people on the street what was happening and why. Actually asked the sound guy what was going on and was this some sort of ballet of boats. He Enthusiastically nodded yes and that was the end of that.

We walked around to try to get different views of the harbor as the boats continued to dance to one classical music piece after another before finally snagging a corner table at one of the Harbourside restaurants so that we could still have a view as the performance went on and on and on. There we managed to get a little more information from another diner, sitting next to us who said that there had actually been a parade earlier of local officials because it was a celebration of their patron Saint Stephen - of Saint Stephen’s Square fame.

As it turns out, a ballet of boats was not far off as the performance is called the Dance of the Sails involving a specific kind of sailboat with something called a Lateen sail. The woman here at the hotel said that some of the boats are local, but most of them come from another town on this island called Vrboska. Some Google, searching, if we believe that, claims that the dance of the sales is supposed to imitate sailboats fighting for the wind. No matter, it was a really lovely, unexpected surprise. (My apologies or you are welcome 😉 for the short videos…I am always afraid they won’t upload, but I think you can get the point....in fact these are YouTube video links cuz I couldn't get them to upload even though they are small) 

Dance of the Sails

And

Dance of the Sails 2

Hope that works ..and ignore this still..I just wanted something to sow on the post..

Finally Our First Just Chillax Day

Hello, Hvar!

 Caught the ferry at 8am.  Michael snagged us window seats on the right/correct side of the boat for the 3.5 hour cruise north. Clear skies, calm seas, absolutely perfect weather. 

The views were lovely.

Especially pulling into the first stop at Korcula. So cute.

Then Hvar.

After a quick lunch, while Michael rested, I ran up to that Fortica above for the view.

When we ventured out for pizza tonight, we found out that there is a festival of sorts happening. What a pleasant surprise.  I will post about that tomorrow after I have the time and energy to research/ get my facts straight.  

For now, here’s a shot of St Stephen’s Square

And our balcony on top of the ancient Porta Maestra.

Nighty night.

Goodbye Dubrovnik

We are off.

Three nights in Dubrovnik, and now we need to move on. We are taking the ferry up along the coast to the island of Hvar. It’s been a lovely stay in a precious little town. But there is always more to see and other places to go.