Vis, Croatia August 31 to September 4, 2019
August 31 - We arrived in Vis by ferry around 5:00. The person managing the houset we rented said a taxi would be waiting for us. As we looked around we couldn’t see any taxi, but it was pretty chaotic so we kept looking. Lo and behold, Evan found our taxi. It was a water taxi!! Awesome.
Maria met us at the dock as we pulled up in front of our house. Maria manages the house for the owners, and she and her husband own a restaurant just around the corner from the unit. After getting settled in we decided to eat in, so Evan and Blaine went down to Lambik Bar & Bistro and got a couple of pizzas.
Unfortunately, on this trip we have been passing around some sort of 24 hour bug. It hit Jude the first night Evan and Jess were in Split, Jess the next night, and tonight was Evan and my turn. I thought I was going to die!! Needless to say it was not a good night!!
September 1 - Today was a lost day for me, as I had no energy and just wanted to do nothing but sleep. Fortunately the rest of the crew were able to get out and enjoy the island. Evan and Jess and Jude went swimming right outside our door. There’s a small rocky beach where the locals go to swim. Later in the afternoon Evan and Jess rented a scooter and headed off to a small beach on the other side of the island. They had to climb down a really steep hillside, so it’s no wonder the beach was not very crowded. Jeri was able to get a good walk in to the other side of tthe village. After Evan and Jess left on the scooter Jeri delighted in watching after Jude and Lila and I was able to help by letting the kids crawl all over me as I lay in bed!! Jude said he was climbing over the “mountain” (aka Grandpa).
September 2 - After spending most of yesterday in bed and sleeping the whole night through, I awoke feeling fully recovered. I walked down to the local bakery.. Evan and Jess had gone down there a bit earlier and I met up with them at the bakery. Lila had a rather messy accident in her diaper and they needed to get back to the house pronto. Jude wanted to stay with me so I went to the bakery and got a raspberry croissant and a latte.
Later that morning Jeri and I rented some bicycles to tour the village. I have to say it was a much better option for me as I have been having some back pain. Jeri’s carry bag had broken a strap while we were in Split walking to the ferry, so our first order of business was to find “the leatherman”. We found the shop, but unfortunately he was not open yet, so we headed down to the waterfront to have some breakfast.
After breakfast we decided to try and find the local winery that everyone had told us about. I used Google Maps to navigate and after a couple of wrong turns we did manage to find it. Unfortunately part of the journey was on the road, which was not to Jeri’s liking, so she turned back while I continued on. The winery was not open for tastings until 4PM, but I was able to walk into the cave in the hillside that they operated from. The island of Vis was used as a naval base by the Yugoslav People’s Army for military purposes until 1989. The navy did not reclaim most of the facilities and the winery is located in one of the caves that the military dug.
I biked back down to the town expecting to find Jeri at the cafe where we had breakfast, but alas, no such luck. I figured she may have headed back to the leather shop so I proceeded there. I didn’t find her, but I saw Jess walking into town. She said Evan, Jude and Lila were already in town so I turned around to search for them. I found them at the cafe where Jeri and I had eaten. Not sure how I missed them previously! I was starting to get worried where Jeri might be, and then I remembered her mentioning wanting to explore the church and graveyard on the point of the island. It was a short ride there and I soon found her bike. She was in the graveyard perusing the names on the headstones.
Jeri and I got a table at Bar Riva on the waterfront and watched the boats come and go. I had a bottle of Tomislav, which is a dark beer brewed in Zegreb. It was really good. Jeri had the local white wine. Retired life sure seems to be working for us!!! Evan texted Jeri and asked if we wanted to meet up. We rode our bikes to the restaurant where he and Jude just had lunch. Jeri decided to take Jude back to the house so I could take Evan back to the winery on the bike.
Once we got back to the house, Blaine, Evan and Jude went swimming in front of the house. The water felt so good. We saw a fairly large octopus hiding in the sea wall. Blaine and Jude got into a squirt gun fight!! After about an hour of frolicking in the sea, we came back and showered before heading to dinner at Boccadoro. Once again the food was delicious!! The outside part of the restaurant is located in the ruins of an old building, but it was a beautiful setting, under a large fig tree. We actually had a few figs drop off the tree onto our table while we ate. After dinner Evan and Jess went to the outdoor theater to watch Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
Tuesday September 3 - The day started early as we awoke to some tremendous thunder and lightning around 1:00am. The entire sky lit up and the thunder was deafening. I wondered how the people sleeping in the boats were doing. We fell back asleep and woke up around 8:00. Since it was still raining it was a really laid back morning. Evan and I played some cribbage. Jeri caught whatever was going around, and fortunately she did not get as sick as the rest of us, but she definitely did not have the same Jeri energy. Evan, Jude, Jeri and I walked into town to buy ferry tickets on the 7AM ferry to Dubrovnik in the morning. Jess took Lila to the store, and was able to spend some quiet time with Lila since Jude wasn’t there to antagonize Lila! Evan and I played a few more games of cribbage before we headed out to dinner. All in all, a very quiet and relaxing day.
