'Frane' boat to Hvar

Wednesday 20 july. 9h30. At the moment we are 30 minutes into our boat trip out of Bol, on a moderately windy day. Hvar island is further south into the Adriatic, and to get to the city of Hvar takes two hours. Duncan and I are outside at the bow, he on the main deck and I above on the upper deck. I hope he doesn't feel too sick, but I assume that being outside is better for his sometimes tetchy tummy.

Last night we had a torrential rain that woke us both up, then quickly subsided. We had further thunderstorms this morning, which was actually a welcome change... It's been so dry for weeks. One risk with rains after long droughts is that driving is a little more dangerous and requires caution, as the buildup of oil, melted tires and pollution of the ashphalt can produce a very slick surface when mixed with rain. I was careful getting to Bol this morning, but as it was we only just made it in time.

12 noon.
Now we are in the city of Hvar, and are about to walk around and explore. There are several museums and an old monastery, as well as a big citadel guarding the harbour.

14h. The monastery museum was lovely, with quite a few old paintings from the 17th century, and some icons from the 15th. Duncan was interested in the story of Saint Etienne, and wanted to try out kneeling and praying at one of the side chapels in the nearby church. He seems interested in the whole idea of saints, and knows quite a lot about them.

17h. We had a change in plans; because of the unusually rough sea (seemed fine to me) we had a few sick passengers and so for the return trip took a bus across the island and restricted the trip to more tranquil waters... We are enroute now.

Lunch was good; we are going to be very spoiled to have two meals out today, as we are meeting our friends from Novisad at the Konoba Žiži. As usual Duncan had spaghetti (milanese) and Malcolm the grilled calimari. Maggie and I each has a risotto; her a mixed seafood one and I an octopus one cooked in its own ink. Unusual but very good.