Where the Hvar we?

Once again the drum of the engines firing up heralded the beginning of the new day. In a short amount of time we were steaming out of port with a view of a beautiful large 3 mast old style crusier running next to us with the golden hills of the island behind them. This was the view out of our 3 large portholes and (possibly memorably) through the large window in the en-suite. There seems to be no hurry to stand up when the view is so enticing. We love our cabin. Feeling very lucky and somewhat spoilt. Even the berth at the end of the day has a view over the harbour instead of on the starboard side where they have to have the blinds closed due to people peering in whilst walking past on the dock.

It took a couple of hours to get to Hvar. The ship docked and threw us off and then went and lurked nearby whilst we did a walking tour of the town. Yet another interesting place with the obligatory fortress, cathedral, harbour and history as written in the architecture. The Venetians had a significant role to play here as did the local fishermen who have been very wealthy in those long forgotten times of conquest. Thus they had more fun and success than other downtrodden masses enjoying a bit of decapitation and heads of the hierarchy on pole waving parades. Where have all the good times gone?

Deciding to do a bit of dividing and conquering ourselves, the blogger went trekking up the hill whilst the non-blogger went shopping with her new BFF's. Dangerous stuff. The heights of the fortress up top were quite precarious whilst the potential impact of a significant fall on the account balance even more so. The fortress was very impressive. No idea of the history because of a general malaise when it comes to reading the pamphlet, however given the location, design and construction it's hard to imagine it ever falling to invading forces. It even had a really cool prison with 6 cells that would've been horrible to be locked in but did have nice views of the town far below. This place apparently turns into a bit of a chaotic and potentially dangerous party spot after hours so much to the annoyance of the ravers im the team we then got back on our boat and steamed away - for another great luncheon feast before a prolonged sesh on the deck (there was much excitement when dolphins were spotted swimming about the front of the craft) as we wound ourselves up for a swim in a secluded spot out of the strong wind but with a bit of sun left in the sky.

The captain then took us to the isolated town of Sibenik. This has a fantastic harbour entrance which is a long canyon between two peninsulas, making the place really easy to defend. As well as creating fabulous photo opportunities many centuries later. This town prides itself on the fact that locals founded it, not any of the typical Greeks, Romans, Ottomans, Venetians, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese...come to think of pretty much everyone has had their turn around these parts. Hopefully the Tourist Age will see a new golden era for all countries and the entire race in general. We can only hope. Doing out bit to help the cause we started of on walking tour of the old town and quietly slipped away halfway through when a decent wine bar was spotted. They did a really good job of letting all four of us taste and decide which bottle to purchase and then consume. By retracing the steps of the walk we found a recommended restaurant in which a very tasty salad of mussels, olives, potato, cherry tomatoes and other bits etc. was a great starter to some wonderful mains. The hilarity continued over yet another great red and an enthusiastic waiter who took as many shots as possible when holding the camera.

Heading off to bed after am appertifs of a local cheery liquor we had to leave the blinds and curtains open as the view across the harbour was simply awesome. It even had white swans cruising around - keeping guard as we sank into a blissful slumber.