Trains, Planes, Buses and Outrageous Glamour

Don’t let the backpacks fool you. We are really striving for the utmost glamor in our second month of traveling. To get to Hvar from Ljubljana, we grabbed a very early train to Zagreb, took a tram to the main bus station, took a bus to the airport, flew an hour to Split on a Croatia Airlines propeller plane, then hopped on a ferry for the 45-minute ride to Hvar. As I write this, we’re on a 5-hour bus ride to Dubrovnik, and the AC, when the driver turns it on, periodically drips on me. I initially tried to fix it by stuffing the leaking area with a napkin, but that eventually fell down as a soaking glob of pulp. Then I put my McGyver thinking cap on and used a plastic knife to wedge the stained window curtain into a ceiling panel, thus absorbing the drops before they reach my scalp. GLAMOUR.

Hvar is known more for its nightlife than for its beaches, which are really rocky. Our first time out to the beach, I happily roasted away, reading on a pile of pebbles and an ant colony after watching Carter tip toe around jagged rocks and a mess of sea urchins. We were able to find a nicer spot our next time out.

We ate/binged really well in Hvar. Thankfully we’re doing a lot of walking…to gelato stands. We basically subsided on a steady diet of grilled seafood and gelato (pistachio, cookies, strawberry, hazelnut, strachiasomething – we’ll finish off the rest of the flavors in Dubrovnik).

No visit to Hvar would be complete without a night at the famous Euro-fave club, Carpe Diem. We met a couple of Swedish sisters, and bar hopped with them before getting our dance and mojitos on at Carpe Diem.

Here are a few pics I took as our plane approached Split. I think it’s interesting how the iPhone captured the propeller. It looks like a series of photos instead of a blur.

Update: We’re about 100 km from Dubrovnik, and I’m starting to feel like Cate Blanchet’s character in Babel. Well, before she gets shot. But hey, you never know, we’re about to pass through Bosnia. At the last stop, I paid 3 kuna to pee in a hole. Not a bidet. A hole. But we have beer now! And some pretty great views of the Dalmatian coast.

There are some interesting moaning noises coming from the back. Sounds like someone is rehearsing for Leo DeCaprio’s role in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. A few more gelatos and I could probably play the mother!