Hvar Town Harbor
beautiful view, tasting wines, easy listening, get together
Joanna and Bob with some old stuff
Bob peaking through the fortThe ferry from Split drops you off right in the center of town. As you exit the ferry, theres a fresh fish restaurant, which lies immediately next to the famed, “Carpe Diem,” billed as the mother of all harbor town bars (more on that later). Hotel Dalmacija (our accommodations for 150 Euro/room/night) was about a five minute walk away. We immediately headed to the rooftop balcony overlooking the Sea for, as the hotel signage says: beautiful view, tasting wines, easy listening, get together. Or, as Bob says, “non sequitur, non sequitur, non sequitur, non sequitur”
Of course, they didn’t have all the wines and there wasn’t any hard alcohol. After a few drinks we head to Konobo Manego, an authentic Croatian family restaurant. It was hard to find because Lonely planet had it in the wrong spot, but after wandering aimlessly, Mer finally found the place. As we walked in, the owner offered us a place outside, that he said would be hot and uncomfortable or a place downstairs…after a long thought, we opted for the place downstairs. As he sat us down he explained that this was his house and he only serves traditional Croatian food, which means no Coca-cola, no pasta. We were excited about having this fantastic Croatian meal…As he explained the menu and our options, we quickly became confused if were supposed to order or he was just going to bring us food. So, we explained that mer was a vegetarian and we needed vegetarian options. I think the owner took this as all the girls were vegetarians. We also ordered some home-made spirits. So, when our food came, we got a nice cheese plate, about 31 plates of vegetarian food and bob and I got a plate that had a couple pieces of proscciutto and something that tasted like a combination between beef jerky and pepperoni. I guess the girls loved the vegetarian dishes (I thought they were somewhere between disgusting and bad). So, after our ham and pepperoni/beef jerky, the owner brings Bob and me our spirits. Wow. It tasted like a combination of Jaeger, rumple mints and everclear. Bob said it felt like an elevator inferno. It definitely woke us up.
Then we head to Carpe Diem….the mother of all beach-side/harbor-town…etc. clubs. I don’t know which was worse: the expensive drinks, the horrible Europeans dancing in their manpri’s, the lack of decent non-fruity drinks, the really Cocktail bartenders (they were actually throwing stuff in the air, but they didn’t catch them) or the fact that everyone there seemed to be taking this whole thing so seriously. Bob and I stayed long enough to finish our initial drink…and a couple cigarettes and went immediately a bar on the square. This bar was perfect. Not too many people around, a table to ourselves, beer. The evening ended with some random Germans drunkenly screaming songs, or rather the first verse of the songs.
The next day in Hvar town we went to some big fortress. It was old and big and there are only a couple of notes: 1. there was a long hike up a big hill and no coffee in sight, 2. I told Meredith and Heather the Ned and Ed joke. I’m surprised that they didn’t mention it in their update, as they said it was the highlight of the trip. Bob and Joanna were there, so this makes it 1,351st time for Bob and the 1,251,336th time for Joanna. It gets better every time.
For dinner, Bob and I wanted real food. I thought we should check out the fresh fish place near our hotel. I liked the idea of them taking a fish out of the harbor, beating it against the ground and throwing it on a grill. Upon sitting down, we realized that experience costs about 70 Euro. So, I went with the, “3rd tier” fresh fish. I don’t know what it means exactly. It was ok.
After dinner we checked out some sort of pianist playing in a Monastery. It sounds cool. I wanted to like it…and I did, just not as much as I wanted to. I’ve never really seen a classical/concert pianist play. I guess, it seemed to be more about the technical ability to play the music and not about the song or what the song is trying to say. And, it was quiet. Only polite applause, which seemed to occur only sometimes after she finished playing a song or part of a song. And, she kept having to turn the pages of the music. Its just me, but shouldn’t you have the song memorized if people are paying to see you play. I think she played an encore that she had memorized. Does she always play an encore? It didn’t seem like crowd applauded more so at the end or requested another song. I don’t think I was the only person there who wanted to like it more…I caught about 10 people sleeping.
Later that night (another late night of drinking), Bob and I found a late night food stand open, that seemed to be hidden from everything. They said that all they had was hamburgers and hot-dogs, but when we asked for fries, they quickly fried up some fresh ones. It was the best fries we ever had
Our final day in Hvar Town was spent doing laundry and mooching off of the 450 Euro/night resort on the side of the harbor. Mer, Heather and Bob bought chairs for the day and we spent the rest of our time swimming in the Sea and sunning.
Of course, they didn’t have all the wines and there wasn’t any hard alcohol. After a few drinks we head to Konobo Manego, an authentic Croatian family restaurant. It was hard to find because Lonely planet had it in the wrong spot, but after wandering aimlessly, Mer finally found the place. As we walked in, the owner offered us a place outside, that he said would be hot and uncomfortable or a place downstairs…after a long thought, we opted for the place downstairs. As he sat us down he explained that this was his house and he only serves traditional Croatian food, which means no Coca-cola, no pasta. We were excited about having this fantastic Croatian meal…As he explained the menu and our options, we quickly became confused if were supposed to order or he was just going to bring us food. So, we explained that mer was a vegetarian and we needed vegetarian options. I think the owner took this as all the girls were vegetarians. We also ordered some home-made spirits. So, when our food came, we got a nice cheese plate, about 31 plates of vegetarian food and bob and I got a plate that had a couple pieces of proscciutto and something that tasted like a combination between beef jerky and pepperoni. I guess the girls loved the vegetarian dishes (I thought they were somewhere between disgusting and bad). So, after our ham and pepperoni/beef jerky, the owner brings Bob and me our spirits. Wow. It tasted like a combination of Jaeger, rumple mints and everclear. Bob said it felt like an elevator inferno. It definitely woke us up.
Then we head to Carpe Diem….the mother of all beach-side/harbor-town…etc. clubs. I don’t know which was worse: the expensive drinks, the horrible Europeans dancing in their manpri’s, the lack of decent non-fruity drinks, the really Cocktail bartenders (they were actually throwing stuff in the air, but they didn’t catch them) or the fact that everyone there seemed to be taking this whole thing so seriously. Bob and I stayed long enough to finish our initial drink…and a couple cigarettes and went immediately a bar on the square. This bar was perfect. Not too many people around, a table to ourselves, beer. The evening ended with some random Germans drunkenly screaming songs, or rather the first verse of the songs.
The next day in Hvar town we went to some big fortress. It was old and big and there are only a couple of notes: 1. there was a long hike up a big hill and no coffee in sight, 2. I told Meredith and Heather the Ned and Ed joke. I’m surprised that they didn’t mention it in their update, as they said it was the highlight of the trip. Bob and Joanna were there, so this makes it 1,351st time for Bob and the 1,251,336th time for Joanna. It gets better every time.
For dinner, Bob and I wanted real food. I thought we should check out the fresh fish place near our hotel. I liked the idea of them taking a fish out of the harbor, beating it against the ground and throwing it on a grill. Upon sitting down, we realized that experience costs about 70 Euro. So, I went with the, “3rd tier” fresh fish. I don’t know what it means exactly. It was ok.
After dinner we checked out some sort of pianist playing in a Monastery. It sounds cool. I wanted to like it…and I did, just not as much as I wanted to. I’ve never really seen a classical/concert pianist play. I guess, it seemed to be more about the technical ability to play the music and not about the song or what the song is trying to say. And, it was quiet. Only polite applause, which seemed to occur only sometimes after she finished playing a song or part of a song. And, she kept having to turn the pages of the music. Its just me, but shouldn’t you have the song memorized if people are paying to see you play. I think she played an encore that she had memorized. Does she always play an encore? It didn’t seem like crowd applauded more so at the end or requested another song. I don’t think I was the only person there who wanted to like it more…I caught about 10 people sleeping.
Later that night (another late night of drinking), Bob and I found a late night food stand open, that seemed to be hidden from everything. They said that all they had was hamburgers and hot-dogs, but when we asked for fries, they quickly fried up some fresh ones. It was the best fries we ever had
Our final day in Hvar Town was spent doing laundry and mooching off of the 450 Euro/night resort on the side of the harbor. Mer, Heather and Bob bought chairs for the day and we spent the rest of our time swimming in the Sea and sunning.
2 comments:
(Think Banyon from Seinfeld):
"Ned and Ed - it's gold, John! Gold!"
I think I can say that as someone who was there when you heard it the first time (if I'm not mistaken, from Sarah "Wheaties" McCaw at Camp Wyoming circa 1988). Good times.
Yes. I should thank her. I think almost everyone has been on any sort of trip with me has heard that joke.
and, i was awaiting your response.
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