This morning we dragged ourselves out of bed to check out the ships complementary breakfast. We were still at port when we arrived at breakfast. Breakfast on the boat was from 8-9 am. A lot of our ship mates were still sleeping from the night before. But we were able to see the small port of Milna waking up as our boat pulled out of the harbour towards the next stop.
Breakfast was the traditional European breakfast of meats and cheeses. They also had eggs every day. There also was yogurt and cereal. So lots of options.
Afterwards I headed to the front of the boat to claim a deck chair and see where we were heading. We had about a three hour sail before we hit a small cove on an island across from hvar. We mainly just relaxed and enjoyed the view. The waves were a little big but the blue skies and bright sun made up for it.
At the cove we had a swim break before lunch. At this time everyone woke up and jumped into the water. We met the swimmers from the other boats which was great. Everyone had a pool float which made for a very tropical vibe. But one thing we were not expecting was the beach that we were by had a very old couple who were definitely nude sunbathing. Kinda gross. No one needs to see those wrinkles.
After an hour swim it was time to get back on the boat and dressed for lunch and then heading into town. Lunch was again fabulous. We had salad, a rice dish and chicken dish. Again I wish I knew the names so I could tell you. Then we waited. Since Hvar harbour is fairly small, they limit the amount of boats that can dock there at one time. We were going to water taxi into Hvar, and then our boat would meet us in the harbour later. This water taxi ride was one of the bumpiest rides of my life. I definitely thought we were going to be thrown overboard. I was mentally preparing to swim and regretting that I had chosen to bring my cell phone.
We made it to shore and got a quick tour of the town, then proceeded to take a 20 minuet hike up the hill to reach Hvar fort. This hike was mostly up stairs. It was cool to cut through the town and glimpse at shops that I wanted to see for myself later. Once we past the town, the landscape was dominated by cactus like plants. They trail continued to wind up the hill towards the fort. This was not an easy walk in the heat. We passed by multiple tour groups on their way down. They all looked happy to be going down hill not up hill.
At the top of the hill you have a close up view of the fort and a great view of the harbour. To be fair the view is the same, if you were to only go half way up the hill, so maybe do that if you are not going to check out the fort. We did not actually go in the fort. We would have to buy a ticket if we did. We all took some group shot and checked out the breeze and got ready to head back down again.
On our way down, our only thoughts were of finding a cafe and getting an iced coffee. It was so hot out, we just wanted to cool down. Halfway down we found a cafe and got ourselves some drinks. We counted the alley cats and watched the crowds going up and down the steps to the fort. It was a quiet alley that we were in, and we were the cafes only customers.
Refreshed and ready to go, we headed off to the beach clubs. The beach clubs are about a twenty minuet walk from town to the left of the city if you are facing the fort. You basically leave old town and follow the shoreline. You pass the fancy beach clubs first, where you can go to water parks or rent floats. Then you get to the beach clubs who’s only purpose is to serve drinks to crazy crowds. We went to these ones. And it was ridiculously hard to find a seat, so most people were standing. The waves were breaking over the water break so some people were being splashed continuously. The weather had turned from beautiful to cold and windy, so it was making the whole thing less fun. We went to the chill area and took four beach loungers with the idea that if they booted us off we would move otherwise we would enjoy the view. No one booted us off, so I guess they were first come first served.
After we finished our drinks we decided we would rather head back to town before the storm started. It was getting darker and darker. We made it all the way to the fancy resort before the clouds opened up. So we dove for cover in a restaurant. The restaurant closed pretty much as soon as we arrived, but they let us hide from the rain under their shelter. So we watched the thunder and lightening as the day slipped by.
Once the rain slowed we continued back to town. It was freezing cold and it was getting closer to dinner time, so we started looking for a place to eat. In this town, I guess most people make reservations, since we saw a lot of reserved signs on tables and were told that a lot of restaurants were full. I guess the real problem was that since there was chance of rain, no one wanted to eat outside. So most restaurants were at 1/2 capacity. We found a small hole in the wall restaurant that we were worried about since it was empty. But the staff were amazing. They cooked us our meals quickly so we could meet up with the group, they made delicious food. Their prices were reasonable. Over all it was awesome!
So we paid quickly and headed down to the harbour to meet up with our group at 6 and go on our boat. Only we found once we got to the square where we were to meet our group, no one was there. So confused, we walked towards the harbour to see if we could find our boat. Instead we found our tour guide, who said due to the storm, we could not get our boat into the harbour.
So we went instead to this bar for happy hour and got Hvar’s signature espresso martini. The martini was delicious. And the bar was warm, a little smoky, but warm. We were the only ones really in the bar, other then locals. Since we weren’t sure the plan for our boat, we left too soon to check out the situation in the harbour. Our boat was still not in yet. we found a market stall that smelled of lavender and huddled under it hopping to see our boat. Around 8:30 boats were finally moving into the harbour. Which was good since we were freezing and ready to get some dry clothes on.
Getting on the boat was.. an adventure. We felt bad for the crew, the boat was rocking at ridiculous angles, and it had apparently been worse through out the day. I could not take the rocking so we jumped on – quickly changed – then headed back to the main land to find a new warm dry place to hang out. The bar strip in Hvar is a lot smaller then I thought it would be – for having the reputation of the party island. We ended up going to the bar next to our coffee bar, and drank out the thunderstorm plaguing our boat.
