In our defence, our arrival to Hvar was all planned pretty last minute, and when we arrived our focus was on finding a place to stay, and not whether or not we would be going out that night. Unlike many of the locals, this didn't allow us the time for the midday siesta.
Given our holiday had now moved into an unplanned stage, we found that organising transport and logistics can be a little difficult, especially when some people in the service industry don't seem there to help. Perhaps they were not McDonalds employees, where you learn that the cusotmer is ALWAYS right! Eventually we found a helpful lady who explained the ferry times to get to and fro Hvar.
We only had scant information regarding which island/s to go and visit, and like in the Carribean, the concept of a public ferry company that goes to all islands does not exist. Given we didn't have our own yacht handy, we therefore decided we would just do one island, then continue our travels through Croatia. After asking around we were advised that Hvar was the place to go. This advice came from an Australian lady who runs a cafe called 'Tonik', where we had breakfast. At this cafe you can buy Vegemite toast, so she was a trustworthy source.
To get to Hvar it is a 1 hour ferry, which takes you across the Adriatic sea. Upon arrival in Hvar the boat unloads tourists into a buzzing swarm of locals eager to have you stay in their accomodation. At one stage, Cinthia and I were surrounded by a full frontal assault and also out flanked, about 6 people seperately telling us there accomodation was '5 minutes away', and very nice. Whilst never having mastered the art of listening to 6 people at once (I'm still learning listening to one) Cinthia choose a nice old lady who didn't speak much English. The accomodation was a separate room, and literally was behind the main restaurants, so an ideal spot.
Accomodation sorted, we had lunch in the main restaurant area, a very nice old town public square, wedged between the cathedral and the harbour. Then it was time to hit the beach. Images of golden sand should not be visualised here, the Croatian beaches, like most of the Mediteranian, is a mix of rocky and peebly beaches. The offset of this is however the beautiful clear torquise waters, and the fact the water isn't too cold.
After a quick dip, we lounged like lounge lizards, soaking up the sun and enjoying the decadence of rest and relaxation. It stayed warm until well into the evening, so decided to stay and watch the sun go down.
Heading back to the central area, it was apparent that for many tourists, the day was just starting, and they would be up for many hours to come. It should be noted that in half of the buildings a lunchtime shutdown is observed, to allow a siesta and then a return to work for the evening. This allows people to stay awake much later, and therefore it wasn't surprising that at 10 and 11pm there were more people circulating the streets than at midday.
Instead we walked around the streets of Hvar and Cinthia again deployed the camera like an army cadet in a jungle war, shooting anything that moved, and most of what didn't. Admittedly, the cobblestone streets and houses were very nice.
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