Hvar Island

KIM: We departed Split early this morning for Hvar Island. The large state-run car ferry, Jadrolinija, seems to work very much like the Washington State Ferries, except we discovered this morning that they only do two runs each week between Hvar and our final destination, Dubrovnik. We were lucky to arrive in Split yesterday so that we could catch the Monday am ferry to Hvar, but the only two that go on to Dubrovnik are Tuesday morning and Saturday morning. Saturday we must catch our flight to London and then home from the airport in Dubrovnik. Today's ferry ride was about two hours and we rode in the salon or main cabin of the ship as we understood that it is not allowed to remain on the car deck during passage. As in all public places in Croatia, the salon was filled with cigarette smoke, so we tried to breathe normally. Ha. We were already exhausted and less than ideally nourished from the long day of travel the day before, and Anastasia (and Shelley to a lesser degree) has been suffering from severe allergies to the various tree and grass pollens in this area, so it wasn't our best day! At least there was coffee and "food" on the ferry! Last night, storm clouds rolled in as we got closer to Split, and by the time we went to bed, the lightning and rain had begun. It rained much of the night and was still windy and rainy when the ferry departed. But as we got closer to Hvar, the clouds parted and the sun came out. Once we reached Hvar-town and found a small apartment in which we could stay, it was actually hot. The apartment is actually two bedrooms in a small house with a private terrace and a separate kitchen off of the terrace in the old town on the hill above the harbor. Looking at the photo above, it's near the top of the hill on the left side. There is a fortress on the opposite hill, across town on the left, and our terrace has a nice view, which I have not photographed yet. The streets are pedestrian-only, so we are getting lots of exercise dragging and hauling our bags up and down the lanes and steps. It's gorgeous, so we don't mind too much! More photos later, and we're headed for the ferry and Dubrovnik tomorrow morning!