Croatia Part 2, Brac and Hvar.

The ferry from Split to Bol left at exactly 10:30am, right on schedule, and dropped us off at the Bol Main Port at just after 11:30. The tickets were €25 each and the ride was smooth and comfortable.

Our accommodation was a short walk up the only hill in the small seaside village, and it was absolutely perfect. It was up the street from a grocery store, and just a little bit further from everything else. Once we got ourselves settled, we went back into the village and grabbed a water taxi to a beach called Zlatni Rat, which translates to “Golden Horn”.

We stayed at the beach for a couple hours and took the water taxi back to the marina. On our way back to the apartment we stopped at the grocery store for some supplies.

The next morning we woke up to the sound of thunder and rain, but it passed by around 11, so out we went. We walked along the sea wall in the opposite direction of Zlatni Rat, and came across another beach and a Monestery

Later, we walked toward Zlatni Rat, and the sea wall opened up to a wide promenade with rocky shores on one side, hotels and large homes on the other. The promenade led right to Zlatni Rat where we stayed until just before sunset.

We stayed three nights in Bol and our days were spent walking to one beach or another, making the odd stop for lunch or drink. It was a lovely place, and while it was quiet in town during the day, it became lively in the evenings with all the bars and restaurants along the water filling up.

There were also a lot of cats.

Our next stop would be Hvar Town on the Island of Hvar. We took the ferry from the same spot we arrived days before, and in 30 minutes we were across the water in the town of Jelsa. We got there with some time to kill before the bus took us to Hvar, so we got some lunch, and wandered Jelsa for a bit.

The bus ride was quick, about 40 minutes, and we were even able to get the bus driver to stop a bit early to let us off closer to our place instead of in town, avoiding a hike up a steep hill with our bags.

Hvar was busy with a lot of people, and more English speakers than we had encountered in recent weeks.

While wandering the town, we decided we would rent a car for a few days and explore the island, and we also decided that we would take one of the many offered sailing excursions.

The next morning we picked up our rental car, and drove to the tiny village of Milna and relaxed on the beach. After lunch, we drove to a local winery called Matijevic. We each ordered the five wine tasting, expecting a similar experience to home but once the first wine was poured, I realized that we just ordered five glasses of wine each. The wines were great, and the staff was super friendly and knowledgeable. I wound up getting Carmen to finish my last couple of tastings. We bought a two bottles and headed back.

The next day we drove to Dubovica beach. We had to park on the side of the highway, then hike down the path to the beach below.

There was a small restaurant at Dubovica beach that had fried fish on the menu, cold beer, as well as a very reasonable Aperol Spritz.

The rest of the days were much like that, driving to a beach, having lunch and then having a stroll through town before going to bed.

On one of the days we drove to the oldest town on Hvar called Stari Grad, weirdly, neither of us took any pictures. It had narrow streets, a long harbour as well as a small canal system that was home to many little fish.

Our last full day on Hvar was spent mostly on a sail boat. We met our skipper in the harbour and he took us to the Pakleni Islands, made up of 16 islands and three rocks.

We spent several hours on the boat, with swim stops and a lunch stop. There was wine and snacks, and we had a lot of fun.

Both Bol and Hvar had their charms, however, without renting the car, I don’t know if I would have had as many nice things to say about Hvar. The speed of Bol was way slower, no cruise ships stopped there, the crowds were thin, and the prices were a little lower. Once we ventured away from Hvar town, things got better, less loud, less in your face.

Up next, Dubrovnik!