Korcula

    Right now I’m reclining on our deck, watching the afternoon boats sail to and fro from the little peninsula Korcula. Our ship boarded early today, but it worked out perfectly because the old town was very small, and we had all the time we could want on the scooter. It was nice to give our feet a break after the last few days. 

   The view down this coast of this little stretch of Adriatic Sea is maybe the prettiest I’ve ever seen. The little citadel pokes out into a dramatic backdrop of steep green mountains, dotted with ancient little white chapels with red roofs here and there. The old Venetian town was delightfully coastal, medieval, and rustic, with that glorious white/tan stone up every narrow alleyway. The bougainvillea and bright trumpetvine climbing up the street corners really made me feel like I had to take a picture every couple steps. My favorite part was when they opened the bell tower and let Garrett and I up first thing in the morning. We had a sweeping view over town, and the whole tower to ourselves. Those narrow little staircases are so fun. I can see why so many nations have fought over this little piece of ground over the years. 

The dock getting off the Oosterdam ferry to shore

Probably the most stunning view of the Adriatic was here looking out from the town walls around the city. The little cafes around the boardwalk and trees felt a lot like lake Como.

The little entrance to the walled town

The entrance from the outside

Chuch of St. Michael with a little bridge across to what is now a restaurant. It used to be the brotherhood of St. Michael and St. Rocco.

St. Mark's cathedral in Korcula

I could not get over this detail above the door haha. It's Adam and Eve, but oh my so grotesque.

   After the chapel and the tower and a quick walking tour over town (thanks Rick) we rented a little 100cc scooter and took a long coastal drive up and down the side of the island. Racise from up above on the mountain was unbelievably picturesque, and the Vaja and Przice beaches were lovely.

 Rasice really can't be captured in pictures. It was unbelievable.

Garrett and I walked up and down the rocks, collected shells, played in the sea, and stopped by a little grocery store to get a baguette and cheese picnic for the sandy beach in Lumbarda.

Garrett snuck some scandalous shots of me at Przice

Vaja beach was my personal favorite. It was off the beaten path, and seemed more romantic despite the fact that it was a white rock beach rather than sand.

Haha. Got a lot of these pics around on our trip.

We found an ancient looking little rock wall off the shore (right behind my back in this pic) and climbed up on the top, and jumped in the ocean. It felt like heaven.

We also got close up views of the rock walls we noticed from a distance in my Split post. They do look really old, maybe even ancient. The whole land here is covered in rock, so we came to the conclusion that they clear the rocks to plant the olive groves here, and the easiest way to get rid of them is to reuse them to make border fences for the groves. It’s interesting to note that every wall is made with a walkway down the top, like little raised paths around the countryside. I was tempted to walk along some out on the scooter tour, but they do seem very old and I worried that they could collapse under me in their state of ruin. After our time was up we went back to the ship to sit on the balcony and watch the ships come and go from the little port. 

Overall the day was relaxing, romantic, and extremely beautiful.