Time to Split Split and Hop the Ferry to Hvar Blues: Friday, September 13th!

To have and not to give is often worse than to steal. -Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, writer (13 Sep 1830-1916) 

Up at 6:35 am to start my shouldares while Lady Dar slumbered. She woke up just a few minutes before I was quite finished and started her final packing. I had done most of my packing last night so just after 8:00 am I headed into the kitchen to start my Café Turk and slice up the the two peaches we had picked up in Šibenik the day before. Added one of them to my yogurt and when the java boiled I had my first shot of high octane of the day. Refilled my demitasse and took it into bathroom to sip while I had my shower.  

Sarge was pulling a Dusty and had already muled their bags down to the car so I had to be sharpish, once dressed, eating my breakfast and packing up my toiletries at the same time. 
 
One final sweep of the apartamento before we headed downstairs, thanking Anna for the stay, on the ground floor and then climbing into the car. Sarge knew exactly where he was going, by now, so we found the Quay where the ferry to Stari Grad would berth and pulled to the front of the second row, beside the vehicles already there. The Gang of Three wanted to walk back into town as we had about an hour to wait but I was just as happy to read my book but started chatting to chap in the car next to ours and never had a chance to

read a word. Jerome is from Picardy but had spent the last fifteen years working in Asia, mainly in Shanghai and Hong Kong. He had resigned from his job in some sort of financial enterprise and was taking a two month holiday to travel and decide what he wanted to do next. He said he was tired of Asia and thought that he might buy some land on the beach in Picardy and build a house on it. He flew in from Zagreb the day before and was meeting his girlfriend on Hvar later today. We talked about all sorts of things and as he had travelled extensively in Asia he suggested we visit Burma/Myanmar as he said it was a wonderful country for all sorts of reasons. 

Before we knew it ferry docked and started to unload. Took some time as there was nowhere for all the vehicles to go once they reached the end of the quay, so congested is that part of the city. Saw the gang walking back along the promenade about 10:15 am and shortly after they were at the car we started loading process.
 

Much similar to our BC ferries but a smaller version in this case. Once parked we climbed up three sets of stairs to the top floor and sat in the covered portion of the deck as the sun was baking. I wanted to finish my book so read last few chapters so that I could ditch it! Had never picked up a James Patterson before and never will again, Dear Reader! Sarge passed along NYPD Red and I was inclined to ditch it after first chapter, so little did I like the both the writing and the premise. Since I could almost speed read the work I decided I'd persevere, suffering with every sentence, let alone each page, and am happy to say I was finished before we reached Stari Grad. Even read the first couple of chapters of the "teaser" for next novel, at back of book. With most other authors, I'm curious to see what next work will be but with Patterson I never ever want to think about any of his wooden, two-dimensional, ultra-stereotypical characters again, leaving them in the perpetual Pirandello purgatory of their ill-conceived, almost unimaginable cardboard existence.

After I'd disposed of the book, [I left it on a seat next to me to be taken by anyone who might wish for a masochistic reading experience.], I started chatting with a couple on the other side of me. Californians, Linda and Tom, were from Orange County, and were on a bit of a family history tour as Tom's grandfather had immigrated to the US from Croatia. Not long after we were ready to dock so said goodbye and made our way to car deck. Saw Jerome on stairs and said we'd look for him and his girlfriend on the beach in Hvar. Didn't take long to leave the ferry and then the small terminal so were on the highway to Hvar quite quickly. A rather mountainous island, at least where we drove from Stari Grad to Hvar. 

Sarge, with Garmin's help, had little trouble finding the address of the place where we were staying so once close Flamin' went to meet the landlady. We "muled" our luggage up a few short stairs and found ourselves in quite a comfortable, two-bedroom appartamento. Place didn't have the view which Flamin' expected so she was pretty fussed about booking. She argued and argued with Vesti about misrepresentation on booking site but I thought place was just fine, spitting on views for the most part. In fact, the place was far, far more comfortable and certainly cleaner and extremely well-appointed/furnished compared to place in Split. Furthermore, it is within minutes of the beach and the center of Hvar itself.
 

Once we'd settled in and unpacked I put on a beaker of java to boil as I wanted another jolt. The others left to have a swim and explore town. Once I've had a couple of cups of Café Turk I'll follow them down to the beach. Cannot imagine that place is so big that I won't be able to find them, either on the beach or in some bar, swilling beer and/or Aperol!

As it turned out, I decided to complete my shouldares before following Gang of Three into town and by the time I was through, they had returned so I showered and changed and then settled down to having a few drinks with them before we headed into town. Flamin', yet again, had made reservations at a restaurant, Bonaca, for 8:30 pm, so we strolled around the harbour until it was time to present ourselves. Very pleasant promenade, busy with pesky tourists, unlike ourselves, of course, Dear Reader! Castle looked wonderful, illuminated, high above us, keeping watch over the town. Took a few of the narrow side-streets, lined with high-end shops and outdoor restaurants, to get a feel for the town. Air was wonderful and on the quieter alleyways filled with the high-pitched mating call belted out by the male cicadas. [While I knew that cicadas usually sing during the heat of the day I did not realize that in addition to attracting a mate, the loud noise actually repels birds. The cicada's song is painful to birds' ears and interferes with their communication, making it difficult for the birds to hunt in groups. Male cicadas in the same brood will stick together when calling in order to increase the total volume of noise. This reduces the chances of bird predation for the whole brood.]

At any rate, we arrived at the restaurant a few minutes before our booking but were seated right away. Our friendly waiter, Ivan, ["Johnny" was his nickname he informed us almost immediately.], brought the goils a most palatable sweet wine aperitif while the lads were poured shot glasses of a very strong grappa-like local product. Had quite a peppery finish and both Sarge and I wanted more! I finally had the lamb I'd been waiting for and was most pleased with the cut and the flavour. Flamin' had a shark steak as she'd not eaten this flesh before. I was torn between it and lamb as I've always enjoyed the former whenever I've had it in California. Local red, 2014 Pharos Reserva, 14.5%, was a very nice drop indeed, made from the best locations on Hvar, of hand selected varietal, Plavac Mali. According to their website Brothers Plančić Winery is located on the sunniest island in Croatia. The winery was established in 1919. And since then it is run by family Plančić and they are using indigenous cultivars characteristic for the island. 

When we asked Ivan about doing some wine-tasting he suggested Duboković Winery, in Jelsa, about 35 minutes away, where one tastes in the cellars of the owner/winemaker Ivo Duboković. Flamin' has already booked a tasting for Sunday, which includes eight wines, three olive oils and platters of charcuterie and cheese, for 150 kn/$30 CDN, per person. Thanking Ivanko and paying our fairly hefty bill, we made our way back to the appartmento where everyone was ready to hit the hay. I read for a bit but wasn't long before I turned out my bedside lamp, bidding Lady Dar goodnight as she was still engrossed with Jack Reacher and his latest escapades!

Hello Fartologists, We have a special treat for this Monday. Franz Bieber's son, Matthias is a biologist and a birding expert. He is in town and has offered to educate us at the banding station at Vaseaux Lake, to observe the catching, inspection and release of migratory birds. Matthias will give a short introduction in regard to the scientific research and purpose of the banding.

Franz will then subsequently lead the hike to McIntyre Bluff ... it is his 50th hike with the old farts!! So ..... YEEH ... we have something to celebrate! As usual, we will gather at the new parking lot location opposite the Save-On-Foods of the Cherry Lane Mall at 9:00AM (see attached picture of the location). All the lazy
Summerlanders have to get together at the IGA parking at 8:40AM and carpool to Penticton. Note again, the 9:00AM start! After our hike, we will reflect, relax and socialize in a venue of your choice!See Ya'll There! Aarturos