After the long day we had at Plitvice, we were not not looking forward to the day of travel in order to get to Vis. We very casually got ready in the morning, I tried to frantically upload some photos but ended up getting booted out of the accommodations before I had time to order and label them (they are currently ordered....I'll get around to labelling them; there's only so much time I want to spend on my laptop at the moment).
Into the car and off back to Split where we were to catch a car ferry across to the island Vis. On the way we stopped in at two towns, Šibenik and Primošten. Šibenik was a quiet little town that had more to offer than just its beautiful weather, though we didn't do anything aside from walk around the town for an hour. Aside from its prominent cathedral it has a number of monasteries and museums, though the one thing I would have liked to do seemed to be too difficult to find. Although not strictly speaking in Šibenik, just nearby there is the Sokolarski Centre, where they rehabilitate raptors (as in birds, not veloci-; but that would be cool. What a perilous job! *fades away JD style* *chuckle* Better change the locks on those doors. Ahem). Sadly, we didn't have the energy to find it (all reports say it's hard to find).
So instead we moved on to Primošten, a gorgeous little town just south of Šibenik. Interestingly, the guidebook talked about what a beautiful little medieval town Šibenik was but only mentioned Primošten in passing, when we really clicked with the small town which seemed much more medieval than Šibenik. We wandered around the old town of Primošten for a while (not long enough to be honest, but we had to keep an eye on the parking). We kind of skirted around the city and strolled along the waterfront, enjoying the warmth and the many topless bathers that gather on the pebble beaches. Kind of hard to understand as an Australian, but I guess you make do with what you've got.
After our stroll we jumped back into our car and moved back to Split. After purchasing tickets to the car ferry, we popped back up to the little stall(which I think I forgot to mention last time) where we had some of the best gelati I've ever had. I guess Croatia is pretty damn close to Italy. Jumped onto the ferry and sat on the top deck for a while watching the sun set, and then back inside to read until we arrived at Vis.
A short drive to the other end of the island, as we are staying in Komiža rather than Vis town and we were welcomed by our host Tomislav. Turns out the wonderfully Tomislav speaks fluent Italian, which has made this part of the trip infinitely easier. I always underestimate how much Italian I know until I compare it to my Croatian (about 6 words and 2 phrases). The boys understand pretty much everything Tomislav says but it's pretty much left to me to speak, but that's okay. I wasn't expecting to get to practice my Italian in Croatia, but I'm not complaining!!
Tomislav and his wife have a gorgeous little dog called Duje (pronounced Doo-yay) who is very sweet and loves a good pat, though is shy enough to not be the annoying little dog that you pat out of obligation. He brings out the 'Soo cuuuuuute!' in me.
We shuffled in and I essentially went straight to bed whilst the boys (surprise, surprise) went out for a beer. This morning we gave our passports to Tomislav as he explained the island and its sights and also treated us to some very lovely lemonade - real lemonade, made with lemons and sugar. I've actually never had it before; I always thought it was some crazy American thing, and it was fantastic. I was expecting it to pucker up my cheeks but it wasn't sour at all. Win!
Komiža is a gorgeous, quiet little coastal town that sees enough tourists that most people speak very good English (and most menus have an English side) but at this time of year there are very few tourists here, just mostly locals. The one thing that stands out (well, aside from the beautiful aging European buildings that tower over the winding streets that almost elicits thoughts of labyrinths if it weren't for the beaming sun and the heat it throws out) is the large number of half-stray cats everywhere. I say half-stray because with only a couple of exceptions, none are manky and skinny or make you think 'Hell no I'm not patting you'. We presume they are stray because there are so many of them, but they are certainly fed and they are very friendly - they'll walk up to you for a pat and miaow (particularly the plethora of very, very cute kittens). They are cared for, but not looked after. There is one that hangs around here that originally we thought was very cute and friendly but is now starting to get a little demanding. Makes Pixel look not needy at all. Miaow miaow miaow pat me miaow miaow miaow. I was happy to the first 20 times, but now you need to go away and leave us alone. Please. I miss my kitty!!
So anyway, today has consisted of: walking into town to buy breakfast; eating breakfast; strolling around town; going for a swim; patting cats; updating blogs and FB; and soon to be reading. It's a hard-knock life.
Peace out!
Šibenik and Primošten photos.
P.S. Photos from Vis will come with a later update.
