Hvar was a magical place. We were there for about two and half days. I did a guided walking tour on the first afternoon while John took a sunset photography tour/class. (The better pictures below of details are likely the result of his camera.) For a day and a half we had been hot as heck and surrounded by the aquamarine gorgeousness of the Adriatic, but unable to actually get in. On our final afternoon we were desperate to get into the water and we made it our mission to do so. It was amazing. Very refreshingly cool and quite salty. Turns out the Adriatic is a very floaty.
It wasn’t until I saw this sign when I got off the tender that I realized that HRVATSKA is Croatian for Croatia.I like to fantasize about what this looked like and how it was used on the day that it was finished. (And who the owners and builders were.)I tried a million times to get a good shot of this spire, but it had an essence that wasn’t easy to capture on film. And we didn’t.The main square in Hvar town.All of these passageways with stairs were so charming.Again back to my architectural fantasy. Did the owner sit down with the mason and say “Not all of my windows should be rectangles. Do you have anything in a Gothicky, pointy, quatrefoil kind of thing?”According to my guide, the brackets with the holes in them were meant to hold dowels from which wet cloth could be hung–not as in to dry laundry, but to cool down the interior during the hot, but windy, summer months.The guide also told us that the attitude of the animal in these carvings revealed whether things at the time were peaceful or not. Something about the book in his paws and his tail, but I don’t remember.What I don’t have a picture of is the other end of the waterfront that had many rocky beaches for swimming. Since we didn’t break any kind of water socks and our feet are not exactly tough, we found a beach club that had loungers and, more importantly, platforms with stairs so one could get into the water without having to walk on point rocks. It was so cool and refreshing. And it had the added benefit of table service so cocktails and french fries happened as well.
We also visited a lavender farm and Stari Grad (Old Town)
Lesson learned: It takes an ungodly amount of lavender to produce lavender oil.A side street in Stari Grad.Midday things were kind of quiet in Stari Grad. Although just to the right of this photo there were some shops and cafes that livened things up.You have no idea how good this felt.
Beautiful! I was in Croatia last summer and know exactly how wonderful it feels to slip into the Adriatic on a hot day. The constant refrain this summer has been “I wish I were back in Croatia” – be prepared to feel that way for a long time!
Oh, lovely – we had a week in Hvar in 2002 and it was unforgettable – we made Croatian friends there and walked all the way up to the top of the island. That and Makarska are two of the best places we’ve been. Did you get to go in the tiny tiny theatre in Stari grad?
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Beautiful! I was in Croatia last summer and know exactly how wonderful it feels to slip into the Adriatic on a hot day. The constant refrain this summer has been “I wish I were back in Croatia” – be prepared to feel that way for a long time!
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Oh, lovely – we had a week in Hvar in 2002 and it was unforgettable – we made Croatian friends there and walked all the way up to the top of the island. That and Makarska are two of the best places we’ve been. Did you get to go in the tiny tiny theatre in Stari grad?
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