Korcula, the jewel of the Adriatic

Less than 3 hours by catamaran from Split takes you to the island of Korcula, that's KOR-chew-la. Here we enjoyed a blissful 4-day vacation from our vacation and loved every minute!

Our digs were perfect. All over Slovenia and Croatia the enterprising locals are cashing in on the tourist boom by renting out rooms or small apartments in their homes. Some are humble and basic, others are palatial and luxurious! Some have stars and others, like the one in Bled, most definitely do not! Apartments have kitchens as well as bathrooms, and even sobe usually have a fridge for guests use and most have ensuite bathrooms. The word for room in both Slovenian and Croatian is soba, and the plural sobe, and these blue signs are everywhere!

On Korcula we had an apartment for 5 nights at about $40 a night. The bedroom opened straight out onto the dock.......yes, I know in this view it looks like we would step straight into the water, but there's a little platform to prevent that!

With a view like this...

And a huge kitchen, somewhat sparse (no microwave or cutting board but a huge basket of mandarins!) with sofa and TV, and we could literally hear the waves lapping and watch the boats bobbing and the moon rising from our bed!

We ate breakfasts and dinners outside, but by 6.30 it was too cool and dark, so our evenings were spent at the kitchen table eating, and playing crib! We have eaten more pastries and bread in the last 3 weeks than we normally consume in a year, and we've seen no tofu whatsoever!

Thinking about how our days went on Korcula....... the sun didn't hit the patio until 8.30 so there was really no point getting up any earlier! Breakfast was eaten in my nightie on the patio....

Then a 15 minute walk into town......

To do some shopping at the market, and have a coffee and a chocolate croissant (me) apple strudel (John) and ambling home with a bag of fresh spinach, some tomatoes.... Getting pretty hot by this time, so it's in for another swim and a rinse under the olutdoor shower....... time to sit on a chaise under the umbrella and do some serious reading while join checks the laundry on the standard-issue rack with cute plastic basket of pegs.....

And it occurs to me, I COULD GET USED TO THIS!!

One day we took a bus to a little village called Lumbarda - well, that was the plan at least, but it turned out the buses don't run on Sundays at this time of year despite what it says on the Korcula website! So a canny taxi driver who sits in the cafe across from the bus stop waiting for idiots like us, (and probably wrote the rubbish on the website!) came over and offered us a special deal...........well, OK probably not so special, and drove us all the way beyond Lumbarda to one of the few sandy beaches on the island (or anywhere on this coast!) Here it is...

We spent several hours there and about six other people showed up during that time to keep us entertained, along with the boatload behind John.

We discovered a path along the coast all the way back to Lumbarda...

In my next life I want to live here.....

And swim here every day!

Though we definitely decided to give this place a miss...they probably serve road-kill!

A map in the village showed a hiking trail along the coast, "that looks like fun" we thought, but nobody told us generations of stone cutters had dumped their scraps along the way....

We clambered over several piles, and even saw some trail markers! But finally had to give up and cut across some vineyards to the road! We passed the local lads playing their Sunday game of boules...........VERY serious stuff!

Korcula, is a little piece of paradise! 45km by 8km, with a population of 16,000 in a smattering of towns and villages, it has wonderfully fertile soil and everyone has at least one mandarin orange tree in the garden and tries to hand them off to you! We had figs growing outside our kitchen window and lemons beside the bedroom door. Down the road a bit were pomegranates and we were constantly crunching over olives on the ground. The shops are full of local olive oil, and local wines from the many vineyards on the island. Really, what more can you want? There are two huge supermarkets on the edge of Korcula town and all the tourist areas are spotless! However, we did notice a complete lack of any attempt to recycle, everything goes in the garbage, or beside the road, or in the bushes..........like old tires and building supplies - especially mountains of cut stones! Oh, and CATS everywhere! On one walk we counted 30 in a small area, and every day on our way to the shops we encountered this character.....in the same place, and the same pose, with the same attitude!

The town of Korcula, aka "mini Dubrovnik" is the jewel of the jewel! Yet another belfry to climb, here's proof!

See if you can count the satellite dishes! They outnumber even the churches!

Set on a peninsula, like Rovinj, this little medieval town has a unique fishbone layout: main street up these lovely steps and through the gate is the backbone,

with the ribs to the left going straight to the sea to allow the cool westerlies or Maestral winds to blow away heat and smells, while the streets to the east are curved....

to keep away the "evil" Jugo wind which makes everyone uncomfortable and bad-tempered! The ancient sailors had a lot of weather superstitions, which continue to this day!

How clever is that?

All over town there are Marco Polo shops, five of them, and a Museum with scenes from the life of Korcula's favourite son, yes, he was born here....well, maybe, the history books aren't too sure, but the locals certainly are!

Most beaches on the Adriatic are pebbly and rocky, every second shop sells reef shoes, and the Croatians are keen swimmers. We noticed on many out-of-the-way paths there are steps and handrails built across the rocks to allow people to go for their daily swim!

This was one spot I particularly enjoyed - the colour and clarity of the water here is remarkable!

Our little island holiday is now over! We will definitely come back to this heavenly spot - just a cheap flight from Gatwick to Dubrovnik and a 2 to 3 hour shuttle bus with a short ferry hop could get you here too! Only 4 more destinations! Thanks for all the comments, they really help me to keep going!