FrankingWorldTraveller

We left Trstenik and motor sailed to the Miljet National Park on the island of Miljet.
We navigated in and around a series of bays to a harbor that would have to be protected from any weather. By the time we got inside and anchored we could have imagined we were in a lake, completely surrounded by trees and hills and roads.

Along one side of the harbor was the town, Polače with a series of restaurants, bicycle vendors and the main road to the rest of the island. Polače is named after Palace, the Roman palace that sits in ruins on one side of the town, at the entryway to the park.

We took the dinghy in and walked a bit, got maps for hiking the next day through the park and picked a restaurant. We had Mother’s wild boar and lamb chops for dinner, and slept without any noise or movement at another perfect anchorage. Salad Days. I get a week of this every few years and it keeps me coming back, forgetting about the winds, the seas, the fear, the seasickness. I love/hate these salad days.

Next day we hiked over a hill about a mile to the two giant salt-water lakes Veliko and Malo Jezero (Large and Small Lake). The hike over was on dirt roads, fairly well marked and passed through the small town of Govedari. The Lakes stretch for about 4 kilometres and we rented bikes to ride around them. Right in the middle of the Large Lake there is a small island / islet Melita (Sveta Marija) with large building of former Benedictine monastery, erected there in 12th century. Of course, they are not really lakes, they are trapped seawater, so to ride around them is to ride to the far end of the entry channel and backtrack to the other side. We only rode one half and saved the second half for a run the next day.

I could have spent a week here, and in fact, I paid for one. The National Park collects a visitor fee and two days and a week are about the same price so we bought a week. I will miss those few extra days when the snow comes in Tahoe!

Beautiful old town and UNESCO site just a 30 kuna bus rise from UNESCO site Stari Grad, on Hvar island, Croatia.

Noah’s ark part 2.
We awoke in Zadar to torrential rain, so bad I had to cancel my massage (the humanity!) because the taxi could not navigate the flooded streets. So I decided to download my iMovie update (which apparently is a full replacement because it wouldn’t start otherwise) at 1.95Gb and I sit here in a coffee shop waiting for the 2 hours that will take. Zadar is a huge base for charter boats, mostly sailboats. I saw some Sunsail boats here, they must have a base. The bar is full of would-be cruisers waiting to pile 7 or 12 thick onto various 37-44 foot charter boats and reek each other out for a week. Everyone is smoking, wet, smelly and crowded in a small coffee bar and the vibe has more a train ride to the concentration camp feel rather than the yachting- living the dream vibe. Some bluesy American music blares way too loudly for the morning, and holiday sailors drink beer for breakfast.
Last evening we watched as boats came in for the end of their charters, packing full the marina slips, and having their last party aboard their boats. Walking back from dinner we saw most boats had a couple asleep in the cockpit, one snoring so loudly I thought we would have to close our boat to get any sleep and he was 10 or 12 boat slips away.
The table next to me in the cafe is bidding farewell to each other as one full bore changes clothes in a crowded cafe 2 feet from me. Nice underpants, dude, thank God you remembered to wear a pair.

When the rain cleared, we were able to do a little sightseeing and were well rewarded. The town’s main square sits on the ruins of the old Roman Forum, where Romans held shops and food stores, and today Zadarians do.

The city gates bear the lions symbolizing this Venetian past.

We climbed the campanile and saw Amante in the harbor opposite.

One of the coolest things in the whole world is the Sea Organ, a series of pipes run under the seal wall that when hit with waves, make the most eerie, organic but alien moaning sound I have ever heard. I had to go back 3 times to listen to it and I can’t believe it has not been featured in a movie, as the only clue to the location of something. It is magical. I don’t think my video sound quality does it justice, so I will try to find a youtube or something (try this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQ9qX8lcaBQ). People hang out alone the waterfront to hear this giant beast moan.

Beautiful little island with a huge protected bay. No fee. Boaters, swimmers, runners (us and Mauro), bikers, hikers. Sometimes, this is the perfect view:

Almost nothing but calm water.
All the things we love about visiting islands- slower pace, gentle breezes and the Octopus man. We took a long dinghy ride into town the next day for lunch dn a few provisions. Could have hung on anchor here for a week. I even went swimming in the not as cold as I thought water.

Sept 18, 2014

“I’d like to be under the sea…”

Not today, not for my octopus. This morning I heard Mauro on deck talking to someone, and I assumed it was some Croatian with a boat demanding a few hundred koner for anchoring near his home. It was not. It was an older man in a fishing boat, wearing a Speedo (and he wasn’t even Italian, and he was rockin’ it). Not anything like what I believe Hemmingway had in mind for his Old Man and The Sea character. Mauro asked the big question, “Do you want to buy octopus?”
This was a difficult question, one I had avoided by steering clear of fish markets, not thinking about much when I ordered octopus salad- current consumption rate is about 1 OS per 3 on shore meals, I love the stuff- like how cute they are underwater, and how Rudy named every one we saw stuck to a dock, usually Squiggly. They key point being, I love the stuff, and did want to learn how to make it, hoping no part of it involved killing a cute little squiggly eight legged thing that turns blue pink purple and fluoresces underwater while artfully propelling itself through the sea with octopus tentacle clamping maneuvers that can best be described by “octopus propelling itself through water.”
Stop stalling. I said yes if he would clean it and tell me how to cook it. He took out his handy pocket knife, and with the octopus trying to crawl away with 4 or 5 legs, and wrapping around his arm with the remainder, slit open its head, and due to whatever fell out proclaimed it a woman octopus, and spilled her cranial contents into the sea. That’s how you clean it. That’s all. He also cut her in half to make her easier to handle. I was howling, of course, “It’s still alive!?!? I’m sorry Mrs. Octopus!” We would all eat very little or no meat if we had to slaughter every animal we ate. I realize it’s a fish and I have a pretty easy time killing and eating fish, over, say lambs, but it did have 8 squiggly legs and all!

Anyway, here is the short version of the kitchen. I followed his directions and cooked it 2 hours and it was too much. You Tube has better instructions, but none of them yelled at you over the hum of an outboard engine, from a man in a Speedo in a quiet Croatian cove. It turned out pretty good, for overcooked, just an ounce of ouzo to wash it down. Yum!

Smile Mrs. Octopus

Visited Sept 14, 2014
Home of the 6th largest Roman coliseum in the world. We have seen 4: Rome, Tunisia, Arles, France and Pula, Croatia.

Pula is also home of this temple built in honor of Augustus Caesar.

We had our last evening with our dear friends, the Finches, who left from here to FINALLY go to the Dolomite, and fulfill a many years’ dream.

After they left, we did a little of the seldom seen “living the dream” activities, like wash clothes and schlep groceries a mile on foot through the non-picturesque parts of town. WE could have spent more time, but stayed only 2 days. Nice town.

We made it to Croatia, finally, on Sept 11 2014.

It was rainy and icky, but we checked in and had a walk around the town.

It is old, or course, and has the obligatory church at the top of a hill, and the interesting story about the saint after whom it is named. I will add that later when I look it up again, but the fun thing is that they were shooting a movie and we got to peek at actors we didn’t know, but who seemed to think their privacy was worth shielding.

On another unrelated vector, I snapped a photo of what I thought to be the shortest shorts I have ever seen. Don’t know the resolution that gets uploaded to the blog, but on my computer, on extreme zoom, one can see body parts.

Visited Sept 10, 2014.
Anchored here near sundown and went to shore.

We saw at least 5 ladies swimming in the harbor. Seriously, in the middle of the harbor, no swimming area. We were wearing coats. Their pretty heads popped up looked around, then submerged and did not reappear. It was the strangest thing.

I dismissed it the first time, thinking I must have looked away. Then I didn’t look away. Then I showed Neal and Gary and we all looked. We concluded they were mermaids. Then we saw the statue of a mermaid and decided we must have been right.

Birthday 9/9/2014

Two years running, I was blessed to spend my special day with our dear friends Gary and Perri Finch on Amante in the Med, although we are no longer in the Med, but the Adriatic, but the same fun factor applies. Last year we went fro Stromboli to Capri and didn’t sleep for 3 days. This year was much more civilized. Breakfast aboard Amante in Trieste. Drove to the perhaps most amazing caves in the world at Postonja in Slovenia. Lunch in Ljubljana, Slovenia, then dinner under a full SUPERMOON back in Trieste, Italy. Life is so very good.

Postonja Caves, Slovenia

Ljubljana

Back in Trieste

Captain Mauro appeared for a photobomb!