Three in a row
Well, I remembered to turn off the sound on my phone today, so there were no rude awakenings at some ungodly hour. When I woke around 6, I took a look outside though, thinking that we must be nearly there, “there” being at anchor off Korcula, Croatia, from where we were going to tender ashore today.
It took a little while before we put our feet on land and counted “89” then - Croatia!
The town of Korcula was looking especially pretty in the sunshine, I thought. My parents came here for quite a few years, enjoying the sunshine and the friendly welcome they always received.
We met our guide Jacita and drove for an hour or so to the other end of the island, to Vela Luka, a pretty harbour which Jacita felt had been spoiled by the development of a new marina.
We parked in the old harbour and with an hour to explore the town, set off along the waterfront. If I say it was quiet at this time of the morning, that wouldn’t be quite true. Sure, there were not many people about, but the noise from a pile-driver across the bay was deafening!
A monument commemorating the liberation in 1945 was the first landmark we came across, though we were distracted by something a little more colourful underfoot.
For we were walking on a rather fine mosaic path. I had to stop and take a photo, didn’t I?
But further along, there it was again. In fact, there was quite a lot of mosaic pavement.
Only later did we learn from Jacita that it had been a project of the youngsters in the town to create the World’s Longest Mosaic Path.
Whilst here, we stopped in a small supermarket for a couple of things. Noting that everything was priced in Euros, we thought it was a good opportunity to change some of our larger notes for small change. But as I came to pay “We don’t take Euros…sorry”. Oh! I swiped my card instead and wondered how? why? Returning to the bus later, everyone had the same experience to share, most having gone to the bank machiens (of which there were plenty) to obtain enough local currency for coffee and whatever other small purchases they’d made. So what’s with the Euro here then? (Coming January 1st, apparently)
Leaving Vela Luka and driving through a few villages, Jacita noted how many empty properties were in such places, Quite a few people emigrated to New Zealand, Australia and America, leaving their homes shuttered for the occasional visit. Not only that but she explained that younger people preferred living by the coast, so many homes in these inland villages remained closed up, unoccupied. Nevertheless, there was a fair bit of building going on here and there.
Our next stop was in Blato, where there was a scheduled time at an Ethnographic Museum. We had no idea what that might be.
Well, it turned out to be a village house owned by a mother and daughter (I think) who had left the house as it would have been in the 19th century. Actually, it felt like a house filled with family memorabilia: the sort we all have here and there.
So the kitchen walls were lined with embroidered tea towels, this one worked by the owner’s daighter as her first project. Each one had a saying about men and women in the kitchen and though I can’t share the translation of this one, you can probably imagine the kind of statement that’s there.
The bedroom looked vaguely like that of my grandparents, though they wouldn’t have had the religious icons and so on. Nevertheless, it all looked quite familiar.
I thought the little pushchair was cute!
I can tell you though, the most difficult photograph to take was this one - without a single person in the shot!!
One last stop on the schedule then, at Smokvice, centre of the vine growing area. We were going to taste some wine.
The family owned vineyard was operated by a young woman and her brother - sorry, I didn’t get their names, but I loved her T shirt, which stated “I can make wine disappear. What’s your superpower?”
We had a taste of white and of rose wine, both of which were good, though I preferred the rose.
Our journey back to Korcula took us through the vineyards where this year’s grapes were ready for harvesting.
And where a bit of graffiti on a wall revealed what some might think of the forthcoming switch to the Euro.
We were soon back in Korcula, wondering if we had the energy to wander around a little or whether we should simply get the tender back to the ship for a spot of (late) lunch.
Yes, once we’d had the idea of lunch, breakfast seemed a long time ago. We just made it into the restaurant as they were taking the menu down from outside. Did they have a table for us? Of course they did!
There really is nothing better than sitting down to lunch at a linen-dressed table with the best of service. Our days of feeling utterly spoiled will not last forever and soon we will be at home - lovely though that is - back in our routine. Definitely a time to make the most of these lovely days on board the Voyager.
