We’ve made our way to the coast of Croatia, with a lot of stops in between. At some point, I will write about…
- Staying on Tourist farms in the mountains of Slovenia
- Visiting Zagreb (the capital of Croatia)
- Plitvice Lakes National Park (beautiful, but a bit overrated)
- The coastal town of Zadar, where the waves play music on a big sea organ
It has been a whirlwind and I can’t keep up with the blogging!
Now, we are on the island of Korcula, off the coast of Croatia, and we are in full relaxation vacation mode. This afternoon I took a 3 hour nap. This is the view we saw from our apartment upon arrival:
Yesterday, we took a bus and two ferries to get here. It was a pretty fun day of travel, actually. There were snack breaks and listening to podcasts as we watched the views out the window.
On the way over here, we stopped for the afternoon at the island of Hvar, which seemed a bit upscale, but it was beautiful. People like Beyonce and Tom Cruise have vacationed there! We hiked up to the castle for good views.
We noticed lots of interesting vegetation on Hvar, most notably cactuses! This is a coastal area, but it is nothing like the Caribbean.
The island where we decided to set up shop for a few nights is Korcula, which I discovered is pronounced like “Core-ch’la.” It is the birthplace of Marco Polo. Apparently, the Italians take credit for him because his father was Italian and he died in Venice, but he was born in Croatia, so the Croatians claim him too!
We’ve only seen a small corner of Korcula Island, which is 29 miles long. We aren’t staying in a big town, but just in a little village where there are approximately 4 restaurants and 1 grocery store. And 2 ways to get to the sea! This morning, we explored one swimming area. The coast is rocky, but the water is crystal clear. Here’s one spot where we swam this morning:
After my siesta, we took a long walk into the main “city,” Korcula Town. We followed the coastal road, and there were lots of opportunities to stop for photos.
On the way, we passed so many interesting plants. Grapes, pomegranate, olives, and figs all grow here. Wine and olive oil are especially cheap and delicious here.
We arrived in the old town and wandered around. Inside a walled area of the city there are many shops and cute restaurants.
I saw this little pulley system at a restaurant in a castle. I guess you’ve got to be creative if your work space has such old rickety stairs!
Tomorrow, we’ll do more exploring, and check out the interesting plants and animals here. I have all sorts of questions as I see these new places. Trees that grow on walls?
What are these cute bugs?
Looking forward to more relaxation and observation tomorrow.
Categories: Europe
Innovation on Earth 
Wow, Croatia is so cool! I did not know that Marco Polo was from Croatia!
I’m very interested to hear about Zadar; waves playing music? Wow!
Overall, beautiful plants and views. The place where you swam in on Korcula Island looks very relaxing.
I’m curious though, where did the white staircase lead to?
Anna