20 May, Lopar to Novalja, 2 ferries

May 20, 2023

https://www.strava.com/activities/9104590985

https://www.strava.com/activities/9106772809

There isn't much to write about Lopar. I arrived about 2000, took a while to check in, I suspect they were caught out and were making a room up. Then it was a shower and bed. I'd eaten on the last ferry using up my cheese and salami with the rolls I bought in the morning.

No photos other than those taken from my balcony and on yesterday's page. The route between Lopar and the ferry didn't have any of the drama and scenery of Cres and Krk. It was a straightforward ride to the ferry at Misnjak and the same down the coast to the second ferry at Trajekt Prizna.

Once I got onto Pag the landscape changed to something much more stark. It reminded me of the central desert area on Bahrain. Very rocky and almost featureless. As I got closer to Novalja it improved and it became much greener. I checked in, showered and headed out to stretch my legs and find an ice cream. Taken from my FB post.

I guess it was bound to happen. I hit rock bottom in the ice cream world!

I'm in a resort town called Novalja on the island of Pag which is actually connected to the mainland with a short bridge. Does that stop it being an island? We still regard Skye as an island so probably not.

The towns and resorts are getting busier as I head south with the main tourist language being German. When I enter anywhere I am greeted in German and until I say I speak English and am Scottish I only get German.

I was wandering along the seafront and passed an ice cream shop (wasn't really a parlour). It was obviously selling mass produced, heavily coloured ice cream so I kept going. Shortly I could see another one in the distance so I committed to buying from there irrespective of what they were selling.

It turns out they were selling, roughly, the same as the other place.

Without repeating what I have eaten previously I struggled to make a choice. Eventually I opted for two flavours and quickly chose the Snickers option (I know, I know, why the heck did I do that?). Then faced with a guy holding a melting Snickers ice cream waiting expectantly for my second choice I, impetuously, chose Banana.

I have absolutely no idea why I chose Banana. The last time I had Banana ice cream was when I was about 5. I was in the back of Dad's Vauxhall Victor estate and we were heading somewhere on the motorway. We had stopped at a service station, as they were in 1968/69, and, somehow, I convinced mum that a chocolate coated, banana ice cream was a good idea. My memory is that Banana ice cream tastes of (synthetic) banana in both directions. Going down and coming back up, all over a Vauxhall Victor estate back seat. I wasn't popular after that.

After 55 years of abstinence I had no idea what to expect from a Banana ice cream.

And I was not disappointed. This tasted nothing at all like banana. It had a sort of pleasant citrus taste. Could have been a sudo lemon ice cream but there is no chance that a banana, synthetic or otherwise, had been anywhere near this stuff. I almost like it until I kept reminding myself it was sold as banana. I even walked back and past the shop thinking he misheard me (languages and accents etc) but nope, the colours matched even if the words and flavour didn't.

Gradually I worked my way down to the Snickers. I like Snickers chocolate bars, they are one of my favourites. I love nuts, nougat and chocolate so the chocolate bar combo is a magic mix.

Not in this ice cream it wasn't. I kept eating and licking and at no point did I ever get a taste close to Snickers. It was simply a very weak vanilla with a squirt of chocolate and a sprinkle of nuts to make it look like Snickers. I cannot really express the extent of both my disappointment and relief that a "Wrong" ice cream was in fact very, very wrong.

Banana, fruit (🤣🤣🤣🤣), 0/10

Snickers, (very fecking) Wrong, 0/10

This post was made with great reverence to Alistair Davison , my only friend who cannot abide the taste of bananas. You could have eaten this one mate👍.

This town is a holiday resort busy with holidaymakers and weekenders. I saw signs of stag groups, girl groups and lots of couples. Many, if not most, are German. The welcoming language as I enter anywhere is still German.

The menus are incredibly meat heavy with a lot of port and beef. Fish is also prevalent but expensive and chicken makes a cursory appearance often in a salad.

It is very pretty although some research showed that most of the beaches are pebbles or stones and, I suspect, man-made. The sun makes the Adriatic sparkle like a huge diamond. The water is so clear.

This was. Wedding party I bumped into. They were having a ball singing songs along with the players. The Bride and Groom are in there somewhere.

Today's ride: 93 km (58 miles)
Total: 3,321 km (2,062 miles)

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