Hvar Island, Croatia

​We head out of Split in the morning to catch the ferry to Hvar Island.  We thought the ferry yesterday to Brac was big but this one is huge.  It is the biggest ship I have ever been on. This crossing takes about an hour and a half on calm seas. 


We arrive at Stari Grad and there are two options, a ride that is a bit shorter and more direct or a longer version.  Diane and Al decide to take the shorter and Jim and I go the longer route.  


We quickly pass through Stari Grad old town as we want to get some miles in before the day heats up. 


The first loop heads out into the Stari Grad plains where we see that this island has more flat open space than Brac did and there is considerable agriculture.  


Jelsa is an attractive port city and was near the end of the first loop. 




On the way out of town, Jim provided assistance to a Belgian man who was having chain problems. 



Vrboska was another interesting town and there were many upscale sailboats and yachts in its harbor. 




Then we stopped for lunch in Stari Grad before starting the second loop. 

The second loop was basically about a six miles climb and then a long descent to Hvar city where we were lodging that night. 


The scenery was dramatic. The climb was long and on the steep side.  We were passed by tons of bike tourers all on e-bikes!  

The descent was exhilarating. On the descent side there were fields of lavender among the ancient stoneworks but unfortunately they were not yet in bloom.  


We arrive in Hvar City and take a quick look around before checking into our lodging. 


There was definitely a different feel to this town.  As Diane put it, it is a town of beautiful people.  Apparently, the rich and famous have been coming here forever.  It seemed like a party town if you like that sort of thing.  It was very different from Split where there were signs indicating no bathing suits allowed in the old town. Here we saw a few thong clad women and others scantily clad all over.  There were definitely some boisterous visitors.  

After dinner we retreated to our guest house lodging and enjoyed the view and a sunset from Hvar. 




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