25th June

We stayed the night in the harbour of Hvar, before we sailed early in the morning for Stari Grad.

Old town is the meaning of Stari Grad it was named in the 13th century. From 400 bc to 13th century was the capital. It is often referred to as Little Venice.
We were met by the guide at the port and driven to the city of Stari Grad where we did a 1 hour walking tour. The population is around 2000 people and it is in the north end of the island of Hvar.
St Nichols is the patron saint of sailors so that is why the church is named after him.
We did an hour walking tour through the streets with the temperature starting at 32 and it slowly climbed. We got to the water front which was lovely and had 10 mins free time before we walked back to the bus.
Pictures of Stari Grad

We then drove to the next town Vrboska. It was an old fishing town built along a canal with pretty bridges crossing it. We walked through the town for an hour saw the waterfront and the church. It was very quiet during the day and extremely hot.

We then got on the bus and drove to Jelsa.
As the temperature had now hit 38 I decided not to do the 1 hour walking tour of Jelsa. Instead I went and got some way from the supermarket and sat in the bus and drank a litre to try and cool down as it was so hot. This is also the town where we were docked for the night.

In 400 bc Greeks arrived and fought for the land as it was the most fertile soil of all the islands. They divided the land into 75 even plots and it has remained like that for the farming families.

So when everyone returned to the coach we drove to Hora (one of the original plots of land) that is now a winery and olive oil producer.
We were dropped off and we walked the 5 mins into the winery where we sat outside under a patio area and ate a traditional peaka lunch.

We started with bread and 3 different types of olive oil and a tasting plate to share consisting of sardines, salami, 2 types of cheeses and olives. The whole meal was paired with different wines. For the main meal they bought out a dish that had been slow cooked in a big pan for 4 hours it was veal, lamb, potatoes, carrots, zucchini and egg plant along with onion and garlic. They bought me my own one without the onion and garlic and it was really nice. They also bought me beetroot juice which I couldn’t have but everyone else on the table said it was super refreshing.
They then bought watermelon to finish the meal.

After 1hr45 we walked out and were driven back to the town of Jelsa as the boat had moved and was now docked there.
After being dropped off at the edge of town we walked in and it was now 40 and so hot and sweaty we had a group photo in front of the ship either the sign of the towns name.

We all went on board and changed to our bathers and walked the 10 mins to the beach. It was a rocky beach but the water was sensational and we swam and floated on the water for about 2 hours before we made our way back to the boat to change for dinner.

The town was so small we ate in the main restaurant which was just across the courtyard from the boat. 9 of us ate dinner outside and it was lovely. I then went back to the boat and to bed.