Some photos from Croatia
Thursday, August 5th, 2010Hi everyone!
Here are a few more pics!
A few days ago we were in Bol, on the island of Brač. It’s a great little seaside town to hang out in, and the beach there is superb! We slept on it for 2 nights, which was wonderful. Aint nothing like falling asleep to the sounds of waves, and watching the meteor shower! Here’s the view from our campsite at sunset
- Beach at Sunset
Hamsa ridin' waves at Bol
We’ve spent the last 4 days in Korčula, on the island of the same name. It’s a gorgeous island, with many sweet villages, nice beaches, and a few hiking trails, too. Korčula is wonderful, simply beautiful. We stayed in a soba in the Old Town, and went swimming in the local swimming hole. There’s good snorkeling here, too.
We found a restaurant called Konoba Mareta, which actually had a few vegetarian dishes – a rarity here in Croatia! And we were really lucky because a singing group called Mareta came there for lunch, and they sang the afternoon away at their outdoor table. They sing Balkan harmonious songs, almost like chants – hauntingly beautiful.
Yesterday we rented a sea kayak, and paddled out to some of the nearby tiny islands, which I enjoyed immensly. At one point we were surrounded by sailboats, and had to paddle like hell to get out of their way! Then we found a nice quiet channel in shallow water, between two islands only 200 meters apart, and just floated there in sparkling clear water, soaking up the warm sun. Twas perfect.
Here are some photos of Korčula
Looking west from the Old Town area
The view from Marco Polo's house
This is the Old Town section of Korčula. Note the town walls
A typical street in Korčula's Old Town, just after sunrise
You see those pretty limestone and marble street stones? Well, they are deadly! Yup, innocent, unsuspecting tourists go ambling along these streets in their flip-flops and WHAM! Your feet slip out from under you and down you go. Not that it happened to me…
We went to see a dance called the Moreska, its been performed by the locals for over 400 years. It celebrates the victory of the good guys over the bad guys. Apparently, it was originally inspired by the final expulsion of the Moors from Spain. It was cool to see a tradition that’s been passed down from father to son for many generations. They really get into their performance, and when the swords were clashing, there were literally sparks flying!
Beginning of the Mareska, the good guys are in red
Besides slipping on smooth stones, I crashed head-on into one other local norm. Let this be a warning to any of you who come to Croatia. The menu may say ˝fresh-squeezed lemonade˝ and the waitress may say, “oh, yes, its fresh lemonade” but what they call lemonade and what we call lemonade are two very different things!
I'm so lucky Hamsa had the camera out!
It took more than a spoonful of sugar to fix that!
Can you imagine it – a tall glass of fresh-squeezed lemon juice for breakfast? Yowzers!
We’re heading out to Mljet in a few minutes. It’s an island that is partially a national park, so we get to go hiking and camp out! There is a lake on the island, which is unusual, and there are islands in the middle of the lake. Islands on an island! I think we’ll have to go check that out. And then on to Dubrovnik, then the Bay of Kotor, then… ?
We gotta go hop on our ferry now – it’s a 1 hour ride through paradise! Love and hugs to you all!
Laura