19 September 2014

Love Croatia...

I have never met a person who didn't like their vacation in my beautiful country, or heard 'Oh I so wanna go there!', 'That's my next vacation destination!' and so on when I say where I'm from :)
And it makes me happy when people ask me for suggestions, tips, when they want to listen about it, hear stories or learn interesting stuff about Croatia :)
So this is another one, about an amazing week on a boat, sailing around southern islands of Adriatic coast... One week layover in Croatia :)

The vacation started when we came to Primosten, where our boat was parked in marina Kremik. 6 of us and our lovely skipper Jure started our little adventure :) Out of everything else the most adventurous thing for all of us was the size of the boat, actually cabins/rooms and sleeping in the same ones :)
When you're a couple of not so tiny/small/skinny people you definitely come back with tons of bruises. Kicking your head, knees, elbows, toes became so normal that when I came back home I kinda missed it (nooot!) :) How small it was is easy to explain - when I stepped in the room my ass was left outside on the deck :p Get the picture? :))

We spent the night in Primosten where we woke up with one of the most beautiful sight that week. Sunset was amazing, but waking up surrounded with all the shades of blue you can imagine was even more breath taking. Whether it was the sea or the sky, and you are somewhere in the middle staring at it and feeling peaceful... Breathing in that fresh air and soaking in sun rays, charging your mental batteries in a split of a second... Breathe in breathe out... I'm here. we're finally here. First vacation with my best friend, first vacation with Him, first time on a sailing boat, first day of this, soon to be, one of the greatest week so far!



What is interesting about this place is its beach Mala Raduča which is voted one of the 10 most beautiful beaches in Croatia. Primosten is famous for its huge and beautiful vineyards, and what I didn't know is that a picture of those vineyards is hung in the UN center in New York. They are also under consideration to become a UNESCO World Heritage site :) Never enough of those!

Plan for the week was that there's no plan at all. So we planned every day according to Jure's recommendations, weather forecasts, wind, and our wishes :)
First destination - island of Vis...
Weather was amazing for almost the whole week, and that day even the wind was excellent for sailing, so we did. All the way, and it was a long wavy way so when we finally arrived we couldn't wait to get off and go for dinner, step on a solid ground :)


Island Vis is the farthest inhabited island off the Croatian mainland, with the two bigger cities - Vis on the east part of the island and Komiza on the west.  Stopping on the way from Vis to Komiza, swimming in the small bays, seeing The Green cave called like that cause of the emerald color of the cave when the sun pierce through a small whole on the top of the cave. We weren't that lucky to see its full beauty cause the sun went behind the clouds :( Something much better was the Stiniva cove. With its tremendous scenery and clean water it is one of the most phenomenal beaches I've ever seen... Although it's pretty hard for me to be objective, this place really is something... Best time for visiting is in the morning when there are not so many people so you can enjoy the quietness. The easiest way to reach this small beach is by boat.




Reaching Komiza was just perfectly romantic, in the sunset, getting ready for a night out :) That's the reason why we don't have a single pic of the city from far away :)
It was the best part of the week cause we celebrated my best friend's birthday there. Little Miss Twiggy  blew another set of candles :) In a restaurant on the top of the hill, just next to a small airfield used in the World War II (since it was, at one point, the site of the general headquarters of Marshal Josip Broz Tito, and later on one of the main naval bases of Yugoslavia). Roki's is a small family restaurant with amazing food, drinks, and exterior... We had a guitar, birthday cake, candles, presents, and soon enough everyone in the restaurant, locals and tourists, joined us in singing and drinking :)) A night to remember...






We had delicious dinner, octopus under 'peka'... to understand what it means and how it's being prepared watch this video ;)


Where we went the next morning left us all speechless... Small island of Bisevo is hiding one of the breathtaking beauty of nature... The Blue Cave. It has been accessible since 1884, and the approach to the cave is only possible by boat.
18 meters long, 6 meters deep, and 6 meters high... Again, the best time to visit is between 10 am and 1 pm when sunbeams that penetrate through the submarine opening in Blue Cave are reflected from the white bottom floor, coloring the cave sapphire blue and objects in the water shiny silver.





Day 4 - via Hvar, another beautiful island, and one of the best (and most expensive) party places in the country, I think :) Wind in our (messy) hair, sun tanning, drifting slowly, guitar playing, humming some old songs, drinking home made vine, eating... How would you call it? Enjoying sounds like an understatement so I'll teach you a word I like to use - gušt (goosht) is a Croatia word that simply means pleasure :)) Nicer word to express how much I enjoy doing something :)

So, Hvar... A must visit port for every boat that sails through this part of Croatian coast. Rich in history and culture, night life as well we visited it for a day... One short day, as every single day felt like




Don't know which words to choose, can't decide which pics to post so I'm just letting photos tell you the last part of the story :) Being home again reminded me how much I love it and miss it when I'm not there, thinking about it makes it hard to write about it in the way I feel cause being homesick is the worst feeling when you are so far away... It was so hard for me this time to leave, I think the hardest so far, specially cause I was there with Him for the first time and it all felt just perfect  ♥ Can we stay a little longer, and not go back to work again so soon, on different parts of the world? And vacation was over just like that :(

On the brighter side - the word of the week was - bombastic! :))) Thanks to Jure, so that's how it was, the word I was looking for :D
We spent one amazing (khm, bombastic) week and I can't wait for the next vacation! Counting down weeks :)






...till the next time... :)