It's interesting, having been in the same town for a few days, to witness the cycle of the tourists' comings and goings - especially the backpackers. Every morning and afternoon the Jadrolinja ferry arrives to pick up a group of veterans, ready to move on to their next destination after having successfully conquered Hvar. They are replaced by a fresh crop of backpackers, who after disembarking from the ferry, wander down the promenade with their packs (sometimes two - one on the back and one on the front) taking in the sights and trying to orient themselves with this new unfamiliar place. A short while later you will see them being led through the narrow midieval back streets of the old town by the local with whom they've arranged accommodation. By that evening (or afternoon depending on whether they arrived on the morning or afternoon ferry) you will encounter them again, this time sans packs, rested, and freshly showered, on the promenade as they scan the menus at the local restaurants and bars or in the internet cafes writing to their friends and family to announce their successful arrival in a new town. By the next day they are walking through the town with a purpose, like they own the place. They've found their niche - the beach they will walk to in order to sun themselves, their "regular" dining spot, and the place where they will unwind with a few beers in the evening. A day or two more of this and then they, as we, will be off to the next spot to start the cycle anew.The Jadrolinja Ferry arriving at the port in Hvar Town
This is our third day in Hvar, after acclimating ourselves to the town on the first day, we spent most of day two ambling around the islets just off Hvar Town in a rented 5hp motor boat (I use the word ambling intentionally, becuase with a 5hp motot that's pretty much all you can do). The trip was fairly unremarkable, but very relaxing. We would motor for a while, find a nice cover or rocky beach and either drop anchor or tie off to one of the rocks - a harrowing manuever which we exectued extremely poorly at first (to the amusement of the "real" boaters who observed us I'm sure), but after a few tries and refinement of our technique we became quite proficient at it. The only really interesting sight (other than scores of nude sunbathers) we encountered during our tour was a small barren islands with a population of exactly 3... sheep. The sheep, with huge horns and thick, matted coats ran back and forth across the island, stopped for a while to graze on the sparse vegetation and ran some more.Some pictures from our boat trip.
After we returned our boat we went back to the room to make dinner. We decided to take advantage of the kitchen in our room after realizing that our meals were becoming increasingly extravagant (read expensive) - as an indication: the previous night I had a steak, stuffed with prosciutto, in turn stuffed with cheese, and topped with shrimp in a garlic cream sauce - not exactly roughing it. We made a simple meal of spaghetti with red sauce, and a litre of the local wine we'd purchased that morning at the open air market.That evening, we were determined to experience some of the Hvar night life we had heard so much about. We had gone to bed pretty early the night before after an early morning, but we could hear revelers on the promenade until almost 4 in the morning. After dinner we decided to take a nap so we'd be ready to hit the town that night. Our nap lasted a little longer than we anticipated. We woke up around midnight. We were, however, determined to make it out (and by the sound coming from down below, the town was in full swing) so we got up, showered and headed down the steps to the promenade. It turns out that the raucous commotion we could hear from our room was mostly attributed to one huge night club conveniently situation directly below our room. The rest of the town was pretty tame (at least it was at 1:00 am). Joey and I aren't really into the whole nightclub scene, so we decided to check out the rest of the bars. The first place we stopped at was empty but for about 15 people, but the were making up for it with their voices. There 5 completely blitzed Croatian guys in side belting out the lyrics to a song which based on the accompanying music and the gusto whith which they sang, is their eqivalent to "Friends In Low Places". The next bar we moved to actually turned off their lights when we sat down. The third bar was a little more lively. Packed with a mixture of locals, a few backpackers, and the occupants of the yachts and sailboats docked in the harbor. We stayed for a couple drinks and headed back to the room around 2:30. All in all, I was rather unimpressed - but we'll see what tonight has to offer.
A few pictures of the Hvar night
Today, we hiked up to the fortress (complete with dungeons and everything) which guards Hvar Town from a hill behind the city. The story is pretty interesting. The original structure on the site was put their by the Illyrians in the 5th century BC. It was rebuilt by the Venetians in the 13th century, and modified by the Austrians in the 19th century. It saved the towns inhabitants in the 1400's when the city below was attacked and burned by the turks. And, after all that, it was almost destroyed in the 17th century when lightening struck the powder cache in the armory.
Joey on the steps from the harbor to the fortress
Joey in the dungeon
Since our hike this morning, we've pretty much just been taking it easy, had a few beers, played a few games of chess and watched the people go by - that's how us "veterans" do it.
