The long climb out of Hvar town switched back and forth and up and up through forests, lavender fields and breathtaking views of the Adriatic. -- Hvar island, Croatia
The long climb out of Hvar town switched back and forth and up and up through forests, lavender fields and breathtaking views of the Adriatic. -- Hvar island, Croatia
The long climb out of Hvar town switched back and forth and up and up through forests, lavender fields and breathtaking views of the Adriatic. -- Hvar island, Croatia
The long climb out of Hvar town switched back and forth and up and up through forests, lavender fields and breathtaking views of the Adriatic. -- Hvar island, Croatia
The long climb out of Hvar town switched back and forth and up and up through forests, lavender fields and breathtaking views of the Adriatic. -- Hvar island, Croatia
The long climb out of Hvar town switched back and forth and up and up through forests, lavender fields and breathtaking views of the Adriatic. -- Hvar island, Croatia
The long climb out of Hvar town switched back and forth and up and up through forests, lavender fields and breathtaking views of the Adriatic. -- Hvar island, Croatia
The long climb out of Hvar town switched back and forth and up and up through forests, lavender fields and breathtaking views of the Adriatic. -- Hvar island, Croatia
The long climb out of Hvar town switched back and forth and up and up through forests, lavender fields and breathtaking views of the Adriatic. This trail was built by the French when they controlled the area in the early 1800s -- Hvar island, Croatia
The long climb out of Hvar town switched back and forth and up and up through forests, lavender fields and breathtaking views of the Adriatic. -- Hvar island, Croatia
The long climb out of Hvar town switched back and forth and up and up through forests, lavender fields and breathtaking views of the Adriatic. This little village has only two families living here - most of the buildings are now deserted. -- Hvar island, Croatia
The long climb out of Hvar town switched back and forth and up and up through forests, lavender fields and breathtaking views of the Adriatic. Poppies! -- Hvar island, Croatia
We cycled to this tower seeking an electrical outlet to charge a phone. We met Petar the retired electronics engineer and radiation treatment expert who was indulging in his ham radio hobby from this mountaintop and happily allowed us to charge up. -- Hvar island, Croatia
The long climb out of Hvar town switched back and forth and up and up through forests, lavender fields and breathtaking views of the Adriatic. -- Hvar island, Croatia
The long climb out of Hvar town switched back and forth and up and up through forests, lavender fields and breathtaking views of the Adriatic. -- Hvar island, Croatia
I was not sorry to get going this morning - comfy bed it was not, so I hardly slept all night. We ate up, packed up and carried the bikes down the stairs and meandered our way out of Hvar.
At first we were on quiet back streets but we soon got to the main road out of town and it was fairly busy so I had to keep calling out 'car back' and sometimes pulling off of the road if a big truck was coming or if two vehicles were going to meet right beside us.
The climbing started straight away though it was not overly steep. The sun was shining, the birds were singing and the air smelled fresh and clean. After all of these days on the road, I feel quite strong now so I was able to pedal indefinitely, as long as the road was not on a 10% incline, which it was at one point.
Gradually the traffic started diminish. At the same time we had gained sufficient elevation that we could see down the mountain to the sea and across to other islands. Way down below there were tiny bright white sailboats on the shimmering Adriatic. At one point I could see mounds and mounds of stones which looked interesting. Between these mounds and rows of stones there were large and small spiky bushes that smelled of... yup, lavender! These were the former commercial fields of lavender. Farmed much more in the past, we were told that tourism is so lucrative that many people have quit everything else since they can work for two months then rest and play for the next ten months. That is how good the tourist industry is here.
There were hundreds if not thousands of the scrubby lavender bushes as we climbed and climbed and climbed. Views of surrounding islands were getting spectacular when suddenly MA's phone went dead - it had not charged properly at the guest house yesterday. I said that the camino provides so don''t worry, we'll look for somewhere to re-charge the phone. Sure - on the top of a mountain in the middle of nowhere on Hvar island!
Before long we came to a rise in the hill and saw a tiny village down a long road - it would be a long drop which we would have to re-climb, but we had the time since we could not be in our next room until 2 pm. A car came along from the village so I waved to the guy and asked him if he speaks english: "No, not so good. What can I help you with?" I asked if he thought there might be a cafe or the church to plug in but he said only two families remain in the village and all of the rest of the buildings are deserted, but maybe one family could help. With such bad odds, we decided we'd keep on climbing.
We soon arrived to the top of the mountain pass at 402 m where there was a restaurant and a little stall selling lavender products. Though there were people around the restaurant seemingly preparing it for the upcoming season, they all ignored us so it felt like we were invisible. The oddest thing.
Across the road from the closed restaurant was a hill with a winding road leading to a series of peak-top antennas for mobile and other services. I suggested we make the effort to follow the rough rocky road to the towers in case there was an electrical outlet on the outside of the building. After struggling about 300m on a boulder-filled road we arrived to the towers to find a small car with its trunk open, the building open and I could hear a voice. I called out a few times and around came a smiling fellow in his sixties who said he was Petar, how could he help. We explained how we were trying to capture images of the area but that the phone had died, so could we plug in to re-charge the phone for a bit. "Of course," he said. Then he chatted away telling us how he had driven across Canada, all over the US and all over the world, in fact, for his work. He was an electronics engineer and has a master's in radiation treatment. Though he now lives in Zagreb, he still has the family property in nearby Brusje where he loves to spend time. He is up here because his hobby is ham radio and he has access to the building for the equipment and his antennas. I asked him if the war in the 90s affected the islands but he said not directly, though the line was 30 km away and they could hear the bombs from the island. Ask and ye shall receive.
Now over the top of the mountain we started to descend. Again to stay safe we braked a lot to stay slow - just in case something catastrophic happened we would be somewhat safer. As we braked, MA's bike was making some bad sounds as if her brake pads were finished - when I checked I realized it was situation critical - I would need a bike shop asap to find some new brake pads for at least the front of the Tern bike. I shouted back that I would stop at the next cafe and the next bike shop. And what do you know, about thirty seconds later we rolled past a bike shop at the edge of our destination town. We pulled right in where I bought the only rim brake pad set they had. At least the worst ones could be replaced. The owner of the shop was very pleasant and brought me to the back of his shop to show me his beautiful Cannondale road bike with electronic shifters. He mentioned that just a week ago he was in a race in the Austrian Alps with that bike where it was -4 C and the chain was getting so icy it was stating to skip. A pleasant stop at a very helpful shop. Then on we rolled. Ask and ye shall receive.
Down to water's edge we went and then were close to the old part of Stari Grad where we noticed a few cafes and one in particular seemed nice with quite a few cyclists stopped there. In fact, there were cyclists everywhere so we wondered if the two small river-cruiser style cruise ships were bike and barge trips. We enjoyed the limestone buildings in the square beside a fortified villa from the 1500s then made our way another 150m to Residence Bella. This was another of the odd no-clerk lodgings, this time with only contact via the booking app. Of course, they hadn't yet sent the code for the room though we were able to open the main door. We finally got through to them and got the room code, then carried our bikes and bags up two sets of stairs. Not the greatest of rooms, but clean and sufficient. Looking out the window is a view of old limestone buildings from hundreds of years ago, and over to the right the water and some of the boats are visible. Then, in the fridge was a nice plate of meat and cheese and cherry tomatoes, and on the counter was a loaf of nice grainy bread. This made for a tasty lunch.
Now unburdened, we headed up the street and around the corner to the Tommy supermarket for breakfast food, snacks and juice for the road tomorrow. The food was dropped in the room so we went exploring the winding streets of the old town.
I have to say that Stari Grad is amazing. I liked Hvar but it feels a bit too artificial. This place feels more laid-back, more local and much quieter. I love this place. Petar had said the same thing in our chat as well.
In walking around the streets we walked past an interesting looking restaurant, Jurin Podrum. The owner said how he and his wife use only local ingredients to create their dishes and if we were interested, a specialty they make is wild boar cooked in sweet wine and rosemary, and served with homemade gnocchi, was being prepared tonight. It sounded interesting and the restaurant was really rustic and attractive with lots of stone and wood and many interesting old artefacts on the walls.
The walk continued for a bit more but we headed back to sit on the outer terrace of this building and sort through our photos. Eventually we headed back to the restaurant for dinner where we did order the boar - and it was absolutely fabulous. Melt in your mouth delicious and the gnocchi were perfect. The owner Neno was attentive and was obviously pleased when we told him that the meal was amazing. Heading back to the apartment, it was also nice that the meal was just enough food so I didn't feel uncomfortably full or still hungry. The portion was perfect. Ask and ye shall receive.
Today's ride: 28 km (17 miles) Total: 289 km (179 miles)
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Scott FenwickI am enjoying following along your route on the southern islands of Croatia. Your route from Hvar to Stari Grad is of particular interest as we completed a similar route in a reverse direction over a March break about ten years ago. It was before Cycleblaze and even the wide spread use of google maps. I picked a route marked as a cycle route from Dol (just outside Stari Grad) to Hvar. We were pretty new at the cycle tour game and began our ride up and over a mountain on Hvar on a very rough remote road. We saw no one. We reached the top and found the road down the other side so steep and loose with gravel it was unrideable and we were still many many kilometres from the coast. Then out of nowhere, a truck pulled up from behind. Feeling a bit desperate I waved the driver down. With very little English the couple put our loaded bikes in the back of the truck along with me and Pat rode in the front. We were dropped off at the first sign of pavement and had a great ride into Hvar. I recall this fondly as a pivotal moment in developing my cycle tour routing skills. Today I note that “google car” has still not travelled on that road – so neither will we! Reply to this comment 6 months ago
Brent IrvineTo Scott FenwickWe saw some paths that were, indeed, so rocky they were unrideable. Fortunately the road was great riding. I can't imagine that climb you did without help! Reply to this comment 6 months ago
