Hvar, 21st - 22nd August

Hvar is bigger and more bustling that Stari Grad, but no less beautiful. White houses with red rooves line the hillside on which the town nestles, merging into the older limestone buildings plus a number of churches with pretty, ornate towers as you get closer to the water. There is a main harbour lined with bars and restaurants where the big boats moor, a charter yacht arrived last night that can be booked for a mere £411,334 per week, it was almost obscene, then there are a few smaller harbours either side.

We're staying next to a harbour on the eastern side of the town, a ten minute walk from the main square along the promenade that lines the rocky coast. Our harbour is busy with lots of small craft coming and going including water taxis to the islands nearby.

When we arrived yesterday, we headed out for a swim. The beaches here are mainly pebbly and lots of people tend to just perch on the rocks that allow easy-ish access to the sea, which is what we ended up doing. The water is mesmerising, such hypnotic shades of blue, turquoise and azure. Even in the harbours it is clear and bright.

I tentatively got in via the convenient steps, but Erik just scrambled in over the rocks, stepping on a sea urchin in the process, giving us an hour of strangely satisfying entertainment with the tweezers and a pin afterwards.

He then went in for a rest and I moved to the beach. It was small and crowded and I was amused by the contrast of a line of lads sitting on the jetty drinking and eyeing the girls and the two boys next to me having a lively discussion global politics and religion. 

In the evening we walked around to the main part of town and had a cocktail overlooking the boats before wandering about 50m to the square for dinner. As with Split and Stari Grad, behind the main drag are lots of small streets with curious boutiques and nice bars, cushions laid out on the old stone steps for customers. Hvar is known as a bit of a party town, but earlier in the evening is a mixed crowd - all ages and nationalities out enjoying the scenery and people watching. We were heading home as the twenty-somethings were heading out to party through the night.

Late on there was a thunderstorm going on somewhere in the distance - lightening was lighting up the sky but we heard no thunder for a few hours. There were a few layers of cloud lower down, but the sky above us was clear and stary, so when the lightening flashed it looked as though someone was turning on a light in the sky, glimpsed through a window frame of cloud, it was spectacular. The storm hit us in the early hours, loud claps of thunder and lashings of rain causing us to close our balcony door. But by morning, the sky was a perfect, clear blue.

After breakfast, we walked back to town to peruse the shops and decided we'd head up to the castle perched high on the hillside to take in the awesome views of Hvar and the Pekleni Islands, the remaining large boat in the harbour suddenly looking miniature. 

After a refreshing G&T, we walked back to our part of town to hit the beach. There was a strong breeze today disguising the heat of the sun and blowing up some swell, making it very comfortable to sit out. 

Tomorrow we leave Hvar via a ferry from the far end of the island, taking us back to the mainland and on to Trsteno, just north of Dubrovnik, but first, one more evening of cocktails awaits.