The Sisters Cycling Team ready to go.
The ferry ride to the island, Hvar, is longer than the ride to Brac so we trundled our luggage to the ferry dock early Monday morning and said goodbye to Split.
Plenty of time on the ferry to take a selfie.
Two hours later we landed in the town of Stari Grad and soon thereafter we mounted our bikes and pedaled up a long, occasionally steep grade over Hvar’s mountainous spine before coasting down a long descent to Hvar Town, a beautiful ancient town with a stunning harbor.
We were never far from a view to the Adriatic (and Island Brac, in this photo) during our ride across Hvar.
A typical picnic lunch during our ride–everything with Andiamo felt special.
We rode past kilometers of lavender fields terraced into the mountains. It wasn’t the season for blooming, and most of the fields were badly burned in a wildfire a few years earlier, permanently damaging the island’s lavender business.
But before reaching our waterfront hotel, Mike and Josko arranged a surprise: a detour up a 12% grade to the Spanjola Fortress overlooking Hvar Town. “This is harder than I thought it would be!” Mike exclaimed as he puffed and pedaled alongside us. In the past, he’d driven the SAG wagon. We threatened to lock him up in the dungeon but we forgot to follow through after viewing Hvar harbor from atop the fortress.
First view of Hvar Town, our day’s destination.
Fortress above Hvar Town. Mike suggested this side trip before descending to the sea and to our hotel.
Mike’s suggestion led to a 12% climb that almost cost him dearly. Here’s the dungeon…
…and his cell…
…but we forgot to follow through after exploring the fortress and viewing the harbor below!
Hvar, like many Dalmatian towns, features a waterfront promenade which we could follow to our hotel entrance.
The day’s end. Once again we felt special as we looked out over the promenade to the harbor from our hotel rooms.
Again, amazing pix. Did anyone have to walk up the 12% grade?
Send more pix and stories. Bring a Dol cake home for us to try! 🙂
Nobody walked! A few whooped puppies at the top 🙂 Thanks for following along and appreciate your encouraging comments. I’ve got so much material and so little time to blog!
I love being on the promenade. Great photos, Jack!