Before we knew it we were leaving Bosnia and Herzegovina and our whirlwind tour of Mostar behind. Although originally wanting to go mainly to see the bridge, our brief visit made me realize how very interesting the country was and is definitely I place I want to visit again to explore further.I cannot however say that that I wasn't wildly excited to be heading back into Croatia, my favourite country in the world. We headed for the town of Orebic with the sun setting behind us, giving us glorious views of the surrounding landscape.
We stayed in a lovely little Airbnb for the night and left the next morning for the island of Korcula which I had high hopes for after our brilliant time on Hvar Island. If you were to ask me which island I preferred I honestly don't think I could answer; both were perfectly brilliant.
After the quick ferry after, we drove to Korcula town and parked on a hillside at the back as parking was not only rather limited but also would leave the car sitting in the blistering heat. Finding a lovely shaded spot, we began the trek over the crest of the hill and down to the town, affording us breathtaking views.
We were back to the land of paradise with utterly clear water. I wish we could have stayed forever!
The town itself was very pretty and enjoyable to walk along the little cobbled streets and take in the numerous Marco Polo memorabilia (there's a tenuous connection that perhaps the famous explorer was born here so of course this claim to fame is is milked for all it's worth, with many souvenir shops)
Worn out by the heat we soon went in search of a beach, finding this one which was surprisingly busy (by which I mean maybe two or three families) considering how out of the way it was and the scramble down the cliff side to get there. It was lovely, the water clear and inviting and the rocks warm beneath us. The only downside was the British tourist passive aggressively trying to convince his family to apply sunblock, and the Mosquitoes that attacked us! Mosquitoes at the beach! What new evil is this!?
We retired for the night in the gorgeous little harbor town of Zavalatica where we were not only staying in a lovely apartment but we also had a gas stove (which means toasted marshmallows of course!) and a little terrace to eat dinner on and admire the sun setting over the water. This was another of those 'is this really real!?' moments for me.
One of the standout things about Korcula (apart from the breathtaking scenery, gorgeous beaches, cheap accommodation and cute towns) was the delicious food we tried on this little island. Korcula is definitely a place I would recommend having a car (or a bike and some fit legs) for because so many places are out of the way, including in the cutest little villages and the best restaurant ever. In a tiny village with nothing but this gorgeous clock-tower to see, there was a tucked away restaurant called Konoba Mate (which I couldn't help but pronounce in an overly Australian accent whenever I saw it) where I tried undoubtedly the best goat cheese and sage butter ravioli of my life. This was the first time that Yannick had ever liked goat cheese, just to give you an idea of how unimaginably stand-out this dish was.
We did in fact return the next day as we liked the restaurant so much, this time trying goat which was interesting, but nothing special to me. I actually enjoyed the potatoes it was cooked with more, however it is always good to try new things! We also spent the next morning lazing at Zavalatica taking in the sunshine and admiring the water that looked too good to be real.
Our last night of note was in the town of Lumbarda (where every street is named Lumbarda, I swear someone is out to get us with street name directions!) it was another cute little harbour town where our accommodation for the night had another beautiful view across the water. It was here that the hospitality of the Croatians struck me again, as we had asked the owner if he knew where we could buy Korculan olive oil as we had heard it was a specialty of the island. He regretfully had told us that as the last seasons crop had been bad, we had little chance of finding any in the supermarkets. However after a pleasant walk the next morning, we returned to find a little handwritten note and three bottles of olive oil from their own olive grove as they wanted us to have the opportunity to try it! I was extremely touched by their generosity, especially knowing how little of it they must have due to the bad crop. It's official, Croatian people are just the nicest people in the world.
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