Hvar in Croatia is our port of call today. We understand from literature we have been given, that Hvar is the new St Tropez, and is becoming the home of the rich and famous. It certainly is a very pretty and modern port, but does not yet have the facility to takes a ship as large as ours. So as we are waking up and greeting the morning from our balcony, our ship's tenders are being gradually lowered into the sea and our ship is at anchor off the coast.
We again visited dear old Marco's for breakfast. Poached Eggs Royale are again the breakfast order for us both, after which we got our things together and made our way to the tenders to be transported to Hvar. A very smooth 10 minute journey and we are walking along the harbour side. We make enquiries at the local Tourist Information Office but learn that there are no sightseeing trips for us to take. We get the impression that Hvar is new to making the most of the great influx of tourists that a cruise ship brings.
High, in fact very high, above the city we spot The Fortress, and never ones to shirk a challenge, we begin to make our way up the hundreds of steps, followed by a never ending zigzag path and we finally arrive at the Fortress. We get out our euros and credit card for the entrance money, only to be told that they only take Croatian Kuna, the local currency! The Firman Charm comes into action again, pleading that we have walked all this way up and the man behind the desk says "oh just go in".
We wander around and visit the museum and go down into the prison dungeons, which are very creepy, but it is the views from this vantage point which are outstanding and make that long hike up worthwhile. From on high, we can see that all the buildings are built of sand coloured stone and all have red roofs. The walk down is much easier followed by a leisurely stroll around the coastal path, admiring the many magnificent and very expensive privately owned yachts, perhaps this is the new St Tropez. The wind began to pick up a bit so we decided to jump on a tender and go back to the ship. Oh, yes, another trip to Marco's for what can only be described as an outstanding lunch. A lay down and can you believe it - time for an afternoon tea!
Shortly after 5pm the anchor is lifted and we are off again, heading out into the Adriatic Sea towards our next port of call.
G&T time was soon upon us followed by dinner. After some extremely interesting courses it was time for dessert - we just had to try "salt and vinegar" ice cream. That was a bit different! Next was cheese and biscuits - sticky toffee cheese. Yes you read both of them correctly. We are certainly going off piste as far as food is concerned. A good bottle of Pinot and our thoughts begin to drift to our next very romantic port of call. A visit to see a magician rounded off the day.
