Island hopping and sunburn
Trip Start
Nov 15, 2005
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55
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Trip End
Aug 15, 2008
Hvar Town, Croatia
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Hvar town is a beautiful place. A small town with a port, it's all constructed out of the same stone; the buildings, pavements and what few roads there were looked as if they had been carved out of a single block. Add to that the setting, on the coast and a short way up some small hills, a fortress overlooking the town with some great views, smaller islands off the coast, some great weather and lots of cafes on the waterside perfect for people watching, and you've got a good place to relax for a couple of days.
Unfortunately, I have a touch of the masochist about me, and didn't relax much. Instead, I decided it would be a good idea to hire a bike and cycle around the island for about 8 hours. In the 35 degree heat. Why I didn't just hire a scooter to explore, I'll never know. The cycle to Stari Grad involved a 9km climb, followed by an exhilerating 11km descent. Not too bad on the way over, but returning in the hottest part of the day wasn't a great idea, and gave me my first sunburn of the trip! Still, the journey was great, and I got to explore lots of little tracks along the way. The island is essentially a long chain of hills, and so many of the hillsides have been terraced with dry stone walls and planted with lavender, which assaults your nostrils at every opportunity. Stari Grad was much like Hvar town, though not quite as attractive and a lot quieter; it was the journey that I enjoyed more than the destination.
Didn't stay for very long, just a couple of days. I was thinking about staying longer, but it was all a bit crowded to properly relax. No space to myself anywhere.
