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| Our new Brit friends at Nonica Bakery |
I slept like a log last night and didn't feel any rocking or rolling at all. The ship goes quite smoothly.
My alarm went off at 6:30, and I crawled out, showered, and we went to breakfast at 7:15. It was a beautiful breakfast buffet with a huge assortment of cereals (cold and hot), meat/cheese platter, gorgeous fruit. The hot items were wonderful scrambled eggs, bacon, potato cakes, and the most awesome broiled tomato with cheese. The tomato was my favorite thing. The specialty this morning was a make your own omelet. The honeydew melon was the best melon I have had in decades.
After breakfast we had a briefing on the day's activities. Since there was to be no wind in the morning, we tendered in to Hvar in the lifeboats. We were split into two groups and our group was led by a local female guide and Petra, another local guide. We were given whisper headsets which we will keep for the duration of the cruise. The guide speaks into a microphone which comes into our headset up to about 50 feet away.
First we went to the Franciscan Monastery. This was built in 1465 and only two monks still live there. The big draw is a fresco of the Last Supper done in the 17th century. Strangely we were told that no photos could be taken of it, but I found hundreds of photos (and photos of tourists taking photos) of this fresco. There was a lovely 400 year old cyprus tree in the garden.
I wanted to see the baroque rood and stone rood screens in the church, but our guide didn't seem to be heading in that direction, so I asked Petra who was hanging around on the outskirts of our group, and she took me in. I did get some beautiful photos of that interior. No one else went in, so I am keeping quiet about that!
From there we walked to the main square and went into the Arsenal which did not hold ammunition but was a ship repair building. They do have an old theater on the second floor which was built in 1612. It is in major disrepair, but Hvar does not have the funds to finish it.
We then walked around the narrow side streets off the plaza looking at old buildings. A cool plant that grows all over Hvar is capers. We finished off with a walk in St Stephen's Cathedral which has 11 gorgeous altars. We weren't allowed to take photos, but it was great.
Then our official tour was over. Stan and Marilyn joined us to wander through the farmer's market. No wonder our produce is so good on the ship. What we saw was beautiful!!
Stan and Marilyn wanted to go with us to Nonica Bakery (on my list). After asking around, we found it, and Marilyn and I went in. I had a list of things I wanted, and the counter lady was delightful and helped me find a few things. The first were two bags of tiny cookies: Medenjok, a ginger cookie, and Smokvenjok - a fig ginger cookie. I also got some brustuloni Menduli (sugared almonds) in a package. To eat on site, I got forski koloc - a cinnamon cookie - and cviti - a crisp cookie. I also ordered Hvar white coffee. I pronounced it in Croatian, and the counter girl was really tickled. We took it all outside, but the Stan and Marilyn didn't eat much and soon left to go back to the ship.
A lovely British couple from Nottingham came and sat next to us (Stuart and Kathryn). She was looking for a cappuccino and I recommended the white coffee. Stuart got a beer, so Bill ordered one, too, and paid for the Brit's drinks. I shared my cookies and we had a lovely chat. Then it was time to head back to the tender and check out a couple of souvenir stands.
As I was looking at a lavender stand, Stuart came rushing up to me saying I had left my bag of cookies, and he gave them to me! How sweet!!
We got back on ship at 12:45. The buffet lunch was up and running on the Lido Deck (bar and gathering place right over our cabin). Lunch was just as awesome as breakfast - spicy beef salad in a tiny cup (finely diced beef, chilies, olives, lettuce), ricotta balls with a basil cream sauce, Fisherman's Platter (fish, calamari, large fresh capers, caviar), salads (carrots with fennel, red cabbage with raisins, glass noodles with sesame, green salad), pumpkin soup (wonderful!), grill fresh red snapper and steamed greens, pork tenderloin with fresh green beans, lavender panna cotta topped with an apricot ragout, fresh fruit and cheese.
Then it was time to go raise the sails for the afternoon sail. The sail team consists of 18 guys/girls who climb up to release the sails. Then they come down and pull on ropes and lines (5 miles of lines) to haul up the sails in the order dictated by the wind. It was pretty impressive. I got part of it on my GoPro, but then I forgot to start it again when the sails were up.
At 3:30 one of the staff gave a lecture on the Fourth Crusade. Bill went, and I passed. I did play with the GoPro, taking a tour of our deck. At 4, they set out tea - cookies, brownies, half sandwiches, ice cream and toppings. I couldn't eat a thing since I was still stuffed from lunch! We just hung out until 6 when the crew clamored up the rigging to put the sails up. I did get some photos of them way up high.
Then it was a quick shower for the captain's welcome dinner preceded by the cocktail hour at 6:30. There was a wide variety of dress which was interesting. We were given champagne when we arrived at the bar/Lido deck. Little salmon sandwiches and black and red caviar on toast were passed by the crew in their dress uniforms. At 7:15 the captain gave his little welcome speech and introduced his officers. He is Russian as are many of his staff. The seamen (and 2 female seamen) are mostly Filipino.
At 7:30 we went to the elegantly appointed dining room where we consumed another good 4 course dinner. The appetizer was 'Variation of sea water trout with cucumber wasabi and pumpernickel.' This was a couple of tiny slices of trout with an herbed cucumber foam and a smear of wasabi. We were served 2 entrees one after the other. The first was a scallop on a circle of herbed cous cous. The second entree was pink roasted veal tenderloin with smoked mashed potatoes, green asparagus, and a carrot puree. Dessert was an interesting pistachio cake with a pistachio flan. On the side were diced strawberries and a mint sorbet that was more intense than expected but quite good. The wine (red or white) flowed freely. The servers are more than attentive but rather unobtrusive.
We had a single seat left, so the ship's doctor, Thomas (German), was seated in the front, and we got his friend Krstan. Krstan is an architect and was great fun and a good sport with all the questions our table threw at him.
After a long dinner, we went out to see the full moon on the water. It is gorgeous out tonight and still quite smooth.
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