Croatia and Dalmatian cruise

 We left Hvar at 7:30am, and had breakfast underway. Today was slightly cooler as there was more breeze. Not many towns, and the slopes look steep and arid. We had another swim stop about 11:00am, then enjoyed the hot tub. (Sasha the tour director says the water temperature is 19C, but I don't believe it!) Another lovely lunch, homemade tomato soup, pork, potatoes and pea vol-au-vont, and chocolate-banana cake. At this rate we're not going to need dinner! We arrive in Korcula about 3pm. A very charming fortified town, although most of the walls, and half of the towers have gone. Korcula is know as the birthplace of Marco Polo, and was ruled by the Venetians for many years. (they also had the Greeks, the Italians, Napoleon, the Austro-Hungarians....) We had a wonderful, funny guide for our walking tour today, then had lots of free time to explore the town. The streets on one side are curved so the prevailing winter winds can't blow through, on the other side the streets a...

Buffet breakfast underway to the small town of Bol. We cruise along among the small islands with many small boats and the occasional cruise ship. It reminds us a little of the Gulf Islands! These islands are quite dry, but you can see many small vineyards and a few olive trees. We land at Bol, a charming small town very popular with tourists because of "Zlatni Rat" or Golden Cape beach near by. It's a lovely 2 km walk on a path under the pine trees. The beach is a spectacular curved spit of white stone with blue/green water. Apparently in summertime it is very crowded. Not so today. I went for a short swim, the water a little cool yet but very buoyant. Back to the Captain Bota, and we have a huge lunch of shrimp pasta, fried fish, salad and pana cotta while underway. We stopped in a lovely spot for a swim off the boat. Later in the afternoon we head into the town of Hvar. A very busy port, many boats are rafted up and anchored out. We have a guided walking tour, apparen...