day eight - hvar, croatia

We sailed to the lovely island of Hvar overnight.  After anchoring offshore, we took the tender to the pier in the morning, and again met our guide, Maria, on the island where she was born.  Maria had been with us in Sibenik and Split (where she lives now), and then she took the ferry to Hvar to stay with family overnight before meeting us at the pier.  A lovely woman, Maria is obviously a favorite of the Tauck Tour Directors.

As we walked along the pier to the central square,

we learned that Hvar residents work mostly in the fishing and tourism  industries.  It is also a big draw for the rich and famous as a vacation spot, and even Prince Harry was on Hvar this past summer.  The island's natural beauty, good beaches and mild climate consistently place it on the Conde Nast Traveler magazine's list of top 10 islands.  We were entranced right from the beginning.

At the far end of the square is the Cathedral of Saint Stephan (Katedrala Sv. Sjepana), which has a trefoil pediment and a 17th-century bell tower standing to one side:

After a walk up and down the streets of the small town (where I spotted an interesting looking jewelry shop), we walked through the market on the way to our bus.  Maria, seen kneeling here, explained which local herbs were the best, and told us that lavender, which was introduced in the 1930's, used to be the island's main crop, until a large wildfire a few years ago diminished the annual harvest:

Our bus ride took us to the Spanjola Fortress, a 16th century fort, which for centuries protected the city from  invaders. The views from  the fortress were breathtaking:



and we looked down into the harbour with L'Austral anchored to the rigiht:

Then we departed for the old town of Stari Grad, originally called Pharos and founded by the Syracusans in the 4th century.  This was Maria's hometown, and when one of our fellow travelers told her his daughter-in-law's family was originally from Stari Grad, he learned that Maria's grandmother's maiden name was the same as the daughter-in-law's family name; she and Maria were probably distant cousins.  How small is this world?

We visited the Dominican Monastery, founded in 1482, which had been rebuilt and fortified after destruction by the Turks:

Walking further into town, we saw this lovely gated entrance to an old house:



and determined that the heavenly aromas wafting from this store meant it was not a chiropractic office:

We looked up the old streets, with their shiny, worn cobblestones:



and had some Hvar gelato (good, but that first taste in Venice still takes first place) and then got our picture snapped at the harbour:



Next, we were back on the bus, riding up into the hills of wine country.  The climate and soil of Croatia makes it prime territory for growing grapes and some of their vintages are known throughout the world.  However, you need to taste them in Croatia, because they are not exported at this point.

We were taken to the Konoba Vrisnik (Vrisnik Tavern), located in the very small town of Vrisnik.  This was the tasting area of the winery and the owner of the winery was there to greet us.  Those who tasted said the wines were excellent.  I was more about the gorgeous surroundings:

Throughout this trip, I took pictures of windows.  Each was so different from the next, and each made its own statement.  That's a subject for another blog post (with images of the windows), but here's one of my favorites, from this konoba:

We returned to Hvar and said goodbye to Maria, a really excellent guide who loved to call us "my dearest ladies and gentlemen."  But I wasn't finished with Hvar yet.  I needed to find that jewelry store.  We walked up one side street and found a jewelry shop, but it wasn't the right one.  Then I remembered better where I had seen it and on the second try, we found it.  I must have tried on 10 different necklaces - the clerk was quite the saleswoman and kept putting them on me and changing them out. I finally decided on this one, made in Hvar of fired ceramic sea creatures.  I'll always remember finding it on a special island in the Adriatic and will enjoy wearing it on our favorite island in Florida: