Stari Grad - Hvar, 20th and 21st August 2015

Stari Grad is just gorgeous. The town is clustered around a harbour and is a mix of old, fisherman style cottages and grander, more colonial looking buildings, all in the same, appealing, pale, white limestone. We arrived yesterday evening as the sun was setting, casting a golden glow over everything.

The ladies at the bright and enticing fruit and veg market were selling hard, getting people to taste their wares, kids were springing into the air on the giant harbourside trampoline, and people were enjoying a sunset aperitif in one of the little bars or on their boats. Swifts were darting about in the evening sky, doing their bit to protect us from the insects by having a mid-air feast. Everything was so picturesque, with the yellow sky of the sunset rippling in the darkening water of the harbour.

Later we sat on a veranda of a bar, me with a peppermint tea, Erik with a cocktail, looking out through curved stone arches at the passers by. There was a smell of barbecuing fish, sounds of cocktail shakers and the gentle buzz of people enjoying a warm night by the water. Walking back later on, we noticed that the local kids were getting in on the action, one lad was busking with a guitar, a few others had little miniature stalls set up selling glazed shells and another pair of girls were playing the flute, imitating the adults at the real market stalls, selling local honey, lavender and olive oil, further on. It was like Bugsy Malone on holiday.

The town itself dates from 384BC, the same year Aristotle was born, when Greek settlers arrived. You can see why the place has appealed for so long - the practical elements of the protected deep water channel leading to the harbour and the prime agricultural land of Stari Grad Plain, being magnified by the good climate and natural beauty of the setting. Yet it remains small, with a population of less than 3000, perhaps due to there being so many other lovely places nearby. Sitting out on the balcony this morning, the air was fresh with the scent of pine - you could almost smell the oxygen. The cicadas were already playing their tune, muting the distant sound of farm machinery.

Having left cameras behind last night, we spent an hour taking photos in Stari Grad: 

I love the contrast of the blue shutters on the pale stone. 

Pretty little streets, just wide enough for a donkey or a scooter.

They are pretty good at their puns here. We also saw 'John Lemon' on bottles of cordial.

Enormous watermelons.

Possibly the best bit of parking I've ever seen.

Then took the scenic route to Hvar town. Unlike me, Erik positively relishes the challenge of a route full of hairpin bends. As a passenger, the views were exhilarating, across the hills back to Stari Grad, with Brac and the mainland beyond and over to the Pakleni Islands off the coast of Hvar.

Brac in the background with Stari Grad on the right.

The mainland in the distance, then Brac, then Stari Grad.

Looking across to the Pakleni Islands, with some dry stone walls on the left.

Looking back towards Stari Grad, you can just see the road snaking through the hills.

The hills are terraced with dry stone walls in such an abundance that in places there was more wall than hill. Erik described one hill in particular as 'an ants nest of wall'. The walls are needed here to protect the soil from erosion and to protect the plants from the summer winds that keep the climate so pleasant, but must be backbreaking to build and maintain.

Arriving in Hvar town, we found our apartment quite easily despite the fact that there are very few road signs. We're a ten minute walk from the centre, next to a small, pretty, bustling harbour with clear, turquoise water and 50m from the nearest beach.

The view from the balcony: