Hvar, Croatia: Plavac Mali, Lola Bar, Gorgeous Beach, and yachts... so many yachts!

After so much adventure in Split, we headed out on a short ferry ride to Hvar.  It was maybe an hour there but all of us slept pretty much the whole time because it was a super smooth trip!  

We wanted to check out the hype from at least one Croatian island (there are soooo many to pick from!).  Hvar is pretty famous for yachts, serene beaches and their party scene.

When we pulled up to the port, we were met with an incredibly beautiful view.  

Soooo many yachts!

From there we hiked up to our Airbnb. 

En route,  incredible views, but steep incline...

Once we got to our Airbnb... again... insane views.  

Everyone else went to lunch while my boring self took a nap... then I joined them at the restaurant for a quick piece of pizza... then onwards via an Uber to Pokonj Dol beach!

Guys, this place is insane beautiful!  Like, truly one of the most beautiful and relaxing places I've ever been!

Evening time, we strolled the streets...

Then stumbled upon Lola Street Food and Bar for dinner and drinks.

I got probably the absolute BEST fusion curry dish I've ever had in my life!  Because I'm persistently annoying... I got the rest of the group to try it out, more on the results of that here after a bit.

Absolute best curry fusion dish ever from Lola Street Food in Hvar!

Also, because I found a beautiful doorway next  to Lola Bar, I made us take group pictures.

We meandered afterwards around Hvar City central to check out a few bars, kinda pricey!  But an overall relaxing time.

The next day was the start of dreary weather in Croatia.  It was pouring rain overnight and drifted into the daytime.  Dan researched some rainy day weather activities on Hvar and found a winery in Jelsa with a good review.  The next available time for a tour was after lunch, so we took an uber to the town, Jelsa, and sauntered around the small town square to find a spot to hit up lunch.  

One of the most memorable occurrences happened while walking around Jelsa... we stumbled upon a cute little patio that I'm assuming the locals meet up at to drink coffee in the morning.  They seemed to be singing as a group in to a melodic folk or national song?  It was such a beautiful sound, with everyone peaceful and happy.  Of course, this was such a sweet and memorable experience, none of us thought to take a picture or video of it, but instead just soaked in the memory.

How cute is this town square in Jelsa?

We hit up a delicious lunch spot at O'mara.  The lunch was absolutely amazing and some of the best seafood of the trip.  As a bonus it was a great place to people watch.

After lunch we headed up a long and dreary, yet beautiful walk to the winery... 

But once we got to the winery it was all worth it.  Brian and Shelby have never been to a wine tasting before ever, so I honestly think we ruined them from many future tastings as Tomic Winery put on an incredible presentation!  

They talked for a couple minutes about the different soils the wines were grown in... but swiftly took us down to the tasting room and poured us all several glasses of their wines as well as food complimentary to each glass.  Their tasting room was downstairs was gorgeous and set in an underground cave type place.

The gorgeous tasting room at Tomic Winery in Jelsa.

You could tell these owners were incredibly passionate about their product.  They spoke with such pride about their wines and encouraged dialogue on our thoughts about each of them.   Their Plavac Mali was some of the best wine I've ever tasted.  It's a red wine popular there on the Dalmatian coast.  I may or may not have a couple pours of this lol.

On the way back to Hvar Town we stopped by the fort above the town, Tvrdava Fortica.  It provided a serene and beautiful view of the town/harbor below.

The dungeon steps at the fort were so slippery, Dan fell halfway down the steps!

That evening we went back out in Hvar Town... because that curry dish earlier mentioned was so amazing... We all decided to get it again.  I hate re eating the same thing over and over again, but guys, this dish was so damn good, I had to.  Thanks Lola Street food in Hvar!  Such a delicious and innovative dish!

The most insane deja vu moment happened while walking to the bathroom at Lola Bar next door... I saw a mural of a spiral staircase that looked exactly what I'd experienced in Sao Miguel, Azores at the abandoned Hotel Monte Palace...  can you see why I was a bit freaked out here?

Picture of me on the stairwell at the abandoned Hotel Monte Palace in Sao Miguel, Azores.  Such deja vu! 

After having a few drinks at Lola Bar, we headed up to our Airbnb, but got suckered into the Pub Hvar  for some free drinks (thanks Pub Hvar!).  The guys ended up showing us their super cool white boy dance moves haha!  They may or may not have the greatest moves, but at least the music was amazing!

The next morning we woke up for an early ferry out of Hvar to Dubrovnik.  Overall, Hvar was such a gorgeous place to visit.  It's a major destination for some of the richest tourists in the world.  However, as middle class tourists, we felt equally embraced.  This place wasn't easy on the pocketbooks, but never made us feel unwelcome despite that.