A very rare trip abroad for us at this time (first in about 7 years) as we’d just had 2 kids, the recession was in full bloom and business wasn’t great but it was also a very rare family wedding and get together! I could only afford it because I’d just sold my house in Dublin and even though I got shag all for it and needed to buy another house in Leitrim with the funds, I very boldly grabbed a couple of grand out of the kitty and booked the 5 day trip. We deserved it! We, perhaps stupidly, flew into Dubrovnik which is the total opposite end of Croatia to Hvar island so we had to get a shared minibus all the way up the Dalmation coast. A hot, sweaty trip that took about 6 hours and crossed the slightly scary Bosnian border checkpoint. It was scenic at first then the scenery got very repetitive! We got an hour long catamaran boat from Split to the western side of Hvar island then, arriving fairly late in the evening so a fairly epic trip just to get there but that’s forgotten pretty quick as you settle in and have your first dip in the Adriatic sea!
Our main beach area was Bonji Beach, about 10 mins walk from Hvar harbour and our hotel was about a 20 min walk down through the trees, houses and hotels. Not too much fun going back up though! Most of the beaches are rocky/pebbly which is not ideal but I knew this before we went so brought swim shoes and I had lots of requests to borrow! Our little hotel didn’t have a pool but we had a sneaky dip in the fab pools of the Amfora Hotel close by. The weather was lovely mid September, hot enough still but not too bad and it wasn’t crazy busy around town either.
Hvar is an expensive place and I wasn’t surprised to see that Prince Harry and Beyonce were there at about the same time. Harry partying away in a local nightclub and Beyonce visiting on her super yacht with car bay! It’s a bit like a little Monaco or Cannes. What struck me most about Hvar and Croatia in general is that it’s very heavily Italian influenced which is probably not surprising given Italy is only across the water but I couldn’t really tell you what Croatia culture or food is really like having visited!
Keen to avoid another 6 hour road trip back to Dubrovnik to catch our flight home, four of us decided to get a ferry back down the coast instead. Mistake number two! It was a pretty old boat with absolutely zero comfort and took even longer, about 8 hours I think. It was incredibly hot on board which we never expected considering we were at sea and there was little or no cover from the sun. In the end we tried to sleep through it on benches. It made one stop at Korčula but we couldn’t get off.
All in all it was a lovely little holiday and much needed. The wedding was fab, my one and only foreign wedding, and it was great to catch up with extended family and in a totally different setting where we could all let our hair down. I’m not sure how some of us survived the wedding night antics though which included drunken skinny dipping during which the main man had to be rescued from the water by another cousin and a different cousin nearly dived onto a rock! Happy memories made though.
A quick mention for Dubrovnik too as we stayed there for one night before flying home. A class old, fortified city that I wish I’d stayed a bit longer in. The little guesthouse was class too (possibly this one – https://bbvilladubrovnikgarden.cro-hr.com/en/) with lovely gardens and pagodas with hanging fruit. The owner was a little odd at first but ended up being kind enough to drive us to the airport on leaving! We had an incredible BBQ meal that night too in a restaurant in town up on their terrace, some of the best BBQ meats I’ve ever had. I still dream about it. We then strolled around town and ended up watching the football in a local bar with some old Croatian lads!
