Today is day #48, Friday June 9 of our 66-day around-the-world adventure. We are on Korcula, Croatia, an island just a few km's off the mainland of Croatia. Got here Tuesday afternoon on the ferry from Dubrovnik and will leave tomorrow heading to the Croatian capital, Zagreb.
In our previous post, we designated Dubrovnik as Utopia...but that was before we got to this island. There are hundreds of islands off the coast; some uninhabited and some like Korcula with the city only having 5000+ residents and absolutely stunning scenery. The closest we've seen to this would be some of the Caribbean islands but frankly, the clarity of the water is unsurpassed and the quaint, authentic old buildings make this place very special. This island...and all the islands...are ancient. History goes back a thousand years. The buildings are rock limestone from the surrounding mountains.
Old town Korcula harbor; this is where the ferry drops you off.
Sunset on Korcula
We are renting a beautiful villa..."The Villa Jade" (from VRBO) which is an easy one km walk to town center and overlooks the sea.
Views from our villa:
The first day we toured the old town..."Korcula Town" which is a mini-version of Dubrovnik's old town but MUCH quainter, less crowded and less hot, but still perfect weather.
Old town:
Old town from a distance:
Homemade macaroni with various choices of cheese, meat or seafood added is the specialty here so we had a very memorable lunch in town overlooking the sea. We attempted to rent a couple of bikes but quickly found that this is not the terrain for bikers like us (we should have known when they gave us mountain bikes). After Bill's basket fell off the back (with cans of beer just purchased at the market) and Andrea discovered her kickstand was missing...we got a refund on the bikes. For plan B, we came back to the villa and swam in the icy but spectacular sea right below our villa. That night we had what was probably the best meal yet...a fried seafood platter for two at a hole-in-the-wall place in old town. Can't adequately describe it but here it is:
Yes, we ate the whole thing!
On Thursday we rented a convertible VW Golf, bought an island map and set off to explore the island from end to end. It's about 50km long and 5 km wide. There's five or six towns about the size of Korcula scattered around as well as dozens of small communities. This was a most fascinating drive and we stopped at four "beaches" around the island and snorkeled\swam. We've run out of adjectives to describe the beauty of this place. Packed a lunch and found the perfect spot overlooking the sea...towards Italy...to eat our ham\cheese sandwiches! Dinner in Old Town, dropped the car and in bed by ten.
On our way to a white pebble beach that was great for snorkeling, we came across this old abandoned car.
View for our picnic lunch:
Ancient church we found as we topped the mountain range. We were on an old road to the other side of the island.
The other end of the island, Vela Luka, beautiful also, but more industrial and does not have the old town charm of Korcula.
On our last day as this blog is being composed, we are just hanging at the villa and spending the day swimming and enjoying the mega-yachts cruising by out front. We've decided to take advantage of the kitchen here and cook a Croation\Italian meal for our last night in Korcula. We picked some rosemary and a fresh lemon from the tree beside our villa to marinate the fresh prawns purchased from the market this morning. Did we mention the beauty?
Dinner ALA Thomason...delicious!
Early morning tomorrow and full travel day as we ferry four hours to Split, Croatia and then catch a six-hour train to Zagreb.
In our previous post, we designated Dubrovnik as Utopia...but that was before we got to this island. There are hundreds of islands off the coast; some uninhabited and some like Korcula with the city only having 5000+ residents and absolutely stunning scenery. The closest we've seen to this would be some of the Caribbean islands but frankly, the clarity of the water is unsurpassed and the quaint, authentic old buildings make this place very special. This island...and all the islands...are ancient. History goes back a thousand years. The buildings are rock limestone from the surrounding mountains.
Old town Korcula harbor; this is where the ferry drops you off.
Sunset on Korcula
Korcula's most popular claim to history is that it is where Marco Polo lived around 1260 and later left for his seventeen year voyage to Europe and Asia. He later wrote about his travels to the strange, faraway places and at the time the readers were fascinated as if he'd been to Mars. Supposedly, his book inspired Christopher Columbus.
This just begs you to say "MARCO" "POLO" Bill is standing in front of the house.
We are renting a beautiful villa..."The Villa Jade" (from VRBO) which is an easy one km walk to town center and overlooks the sea.
Views from our villa:
 |
| Sitting on the beach sea wall |
The first day we toured the old town..."Korcula Town" which is a mini-version of Dubrovnik's old town but MUCH quainter, less crowded and less hot, but still perfect weather.
Old town:
 |
| The promenade where a lot of the restaurants were located in old town |
View while eating lunch on the promenade:
 |
| Lit a candle in memory of all loved ones we have lost. |
 |
| Climbing the steps to the bell tower. |
Homemade macaroni with various choices of cheese, meat or seafood added is the specialty here so we had a very memorable lunch in town overlooking the sea. We attempted to rent a couple of bikes but quickly found that this is not the terrain for bikers like us (we should have known when they gave us mountain bikes). After Bill's basket fell off the back (with cans of beer just purchased at the market) and Andrea discovered her kickstand was missing...we got a refund on the bikes. For plan B, we came back to the villa and swam in the icy but spectacular sea right below our villa. That night we had what was probably the best meal yet...a fried seafood platter for two at a hole-in-the-wall place in old town. Can't adequately describe it but here it is:
Yes, we ate the whole thing!
On Thursday we rented a convertible VW Golf, bought an island map and set off to explore the island from end to end. It's about 50km long and 5 km wide. There's five or six towns about the size of Korcula scattered around as well as dozens of small communities. This was a most fascinating drive and we stopped at four "beaches" around the island and snorkeled\swam. We've run out of adjectives to describe the beauty of this place. Packed a lunch and found the perfect spot overlooking the sea...towards Italy...to eat our ham\cheese sandwiches! Dinner in Old Town, dropped the car and in bed by ten.
One of the cute towns along the way, streets were tree lined
Some of the roads were very narrow and wound thru shrub brush. We also passed many vineyards. They are know for a white grape here, Posip, which makes a great white wine.
Enjoying the local wine on our villa veranda.
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| Pebble beach, great for snorkeling. |
Ancient church we found as we topped the mountain range. We were on an old road to the other side of the island.
The other end of the island, Vela Luka, beautiful also, but more industrial and does not have the old town charm of Korcula.
On our last day as this blog is being composed, we are just hanging at the villa and spending the day swimming and enjoying the mega-yachts cruising by out front. We've decided to take advantage of the kitchen here and cook a Croation\Italian meal for our last night in Korcula. We picked some rosemary and a fresh lemon from the tree beside our villa to marinate the fresh prawns purchased from the market this morning. Did we mention the beauty?
Dinner ALA Thomason...delicious!
Early morning tomorrow and full travel day as we ferry four hours to Split, Croatia and then catch a six-hour train to Zagreb.
