Beautiful Vis

When we arrived on Vis, the first thing we did was rent bicycles to explore the paths along the harbor. The next day we rented a Beverly Piaggia with 125-cc and enough horsepower to take us up the very steep roads over the top of the island to the fishing village of Komiza, a winery on top of the island, several swimming beaches so clear and blue I felt renewed not just refreshed, Tito's hide out during WWII as part of the resistance, and a submarine parking space carved into the hill. It's only been in the past decade that Croatians, never mind tourists, have been able to visit Vis. As a former military base, the island was off limits to non-military personnel. Of all the islands (and this is a hard call) Vis was my favorite.

Komiza
Octopus, grapes being delivered to the winery right on the waterfront from vineyards high on the hill, a wine supply store, fishermen imbiding after the fish market closed, one of many bronze wall installations around the small little village, and the best white wine we tasted in all of Croatia, reminding us of the really fresh tasting Vina Verde we drank in Lisbon.

































Our hotel on the waterfront, view from our room, looking down on the fishing boats from our room, the sailboats that line up each night along the riva right outside our window.

Korcula

Taking the car ferry from Vis we headed back to Split, walked across the dock and got on the catamaran to Korcula. Korcula is more populated and has a lot more vegetation than any other island we'd been to. It's old town sits on a penninsula and is quite pristine and has an interesting museum. We stayed in the attic bedroom of a sobe on the waterfront. Wonderful breezes all night long.









We had such fun on our motorscooter on Vis that we rented one again and tooled around Korcula. It gave us the opportunity to explore the island, swim on beaches away from the old town, explore a winery, and eat in a family-run restaurant. Here the owner is roasted a baby pig on the dock in front of the restaurant.

Making the most of the last few days in Croatia

Sibenik
Up the coast from Split, we stayed in Sibenik, a coastal town that is also the gateway to Kornati National Park and its 100s (?) of deserted islands. Besides those islands are others, one which caught my fancy, a preserve for donkeys. Donkeys with an island to themselves. Sibenik is also the gateway to inland parks with beautiful limestone water features like Krka National Park which was why we were in Sibenik. We stayed at a beautiful apartment which had a very unpromising entry but once we opened the apartment door we were pleasantly surprised. The apartment is owned by a jewelry maker who showed me her work. Love seeing others work as it always inspires me and mine.

Touring in Croatia

Traveling inland we head to nearby Krka National Park to take a boat to the beautiful falls. All of this water stems from a natural spring. The town of departure is Skradin. Interestingly there are two churches in this small town, both were bombed by Serbians in the early 1990s Balkan war. The Croatian Roman Catholic church has been lovingly restored. The Serbian Orthodox church remains as it was when bombed -- a gaping hole in its roof and debris lying on the floor.



















































































































































Split is the main transportation hub. We began our VBT tour here and ended it here. It is a city that reveals itself slowly. On approach it is ungainly and ugly compared to Dubrovnik. But each time we came back to the city (three times) we were surprised. First we discovered our favorite restaurant -- Fife (shown below) -- which sits on the Marina at the start of the Marjan penninsula. Then there is the Marjan penninsula with its stately homes, scenic park, swimmming beaches (Tom took off his clothes and promptly jumped in -- pictures not shown) and Mestrovic museum. Of course, there is Diocletian's palace which sits in the middle of the city and is both amazing as it is not a museum but a both populated with homes and shops and a popular hang out for locals. We stayed at the Villa Ana (www.villaana-split.hr) and agreed this was the absolutely best place to end our journey.