28 August 2017: Korcula to Vela Luka, Croatia

Mileage: Today-30; Total-145

We were both tired from yesterday’s climbs. The route from Korcula to Vela Luka was shorter, with a major climb to 1650 ft. Obviously, coastal rides start a sea level, but the road is seldom a continuous up, then down. Climb, descend, then climb again. 

We rolled into Vela Luka, stopped at a waterfront café for a drink, and then found an excellent apartment, Apartments Vela. I found it on hotels.com, spotted the location, and then rode to the hotel. Same rate, but nice to see the owners get the full rate without the 15% booking deduction. Sometimes you can get a discount; we didn't ask.

The standard seems to be apartments offer varying degrees of cooking facilities; rooms offer bed, bath, and perhaps a coffee maker—whatever the host supplies. Sometimes they work.


We plan to relax, catch up on laundry, and then take the 6:10 am ferry, about 2 hours, to Split. In 2013, Stuart and John found cycling out of Split, a large city, to be complicated and the coast road north lined with industrial facilities. After a few hours in Split, we’ll take the Split – Trogir ferry up the coast about 40 km to bypass the industrial congestion. If the coast road has less traffic than the portion north of Dubrovnik, we will cycle to Zadar and take the ferry to Pula. If not, then we might venture inland to Bosnia.

Korcula Lodging. 350 kuna

Stuart packing up to depart Korcula

Korcula in the morning from our lodging

Departing Korcula

From our first trip into Croatia in 2005, I have been fascinated by the dry stone construction and stone roofing, disappearing building skills. A series of photos follow.

Flintstone Homestead? Stone walls, roof, yard furniture, and fencing.

Stuart ignoring the stone structures.

Mini-stone House. Use?


Investment Opportunity? 

Breakfast of Champions in Pupnat. The restaurant/bar was closed, so we proceeded to the local market and dined with the unemployed men nursing their beers in the park. They refused to allow Stuart to take their photos.

Not as long as yesterday's 8% climb.

War related monument, but we cannot read it. Anyone?
Touching War Memorial Sculpture

Terraced hillside, Seems to be abandoned vineyard.

Vela Luka from our apartmeni balcony. The ferry port is directly above the pine tree, right of center.




Comments

  1. UnknownAugust 28, 2017 at 9:01 PM

    No dog of the day? Or even a feral cat of the day? Also, I miss the pretty blondes that you had on your blog of the Scandinavian tour. I do like the map and terrain profile that you're showing now. Try not to dwell on the fact that, mile-for-mile, you are 12 times more likely to die on a ferry than on an ocean liner.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

29 August 2017: Vela Luka-Split (ferry); Slatine-Trogir-Marina, Croaia

Image
Mileage: Today-15; Total-130  Vela Luka to Split via Ferry  Slatine (Ciovo Island) to Trogir. We took a small ferry from Split to Slatine to avoid the urban traffic of Split, a large city, then cycled the relatively flat, beach-side, two-lane road into Trogir. Nice ferry rides with limited cycling in the hot afternoon hours. Darkness settles much earlier this far south. Apartments Vela is directly across the harbor from the ferry port. We used blinking LED lights to increase our visibility to drivers as we cycled the flat roads around the harbor, about 2 miles, to the ferry port to purchase tickets for the 6:15 am ferry and then back for dinner at an Italian restaurant on the waterfront. Then, a stop at the bakery for a few items to take on the 2-hour ferry to Split. Apartments Vela was our most modern and spacious lodging so far. With two rooms plus bath, each room featured an attached balcony with sea views. Stuart took the bedroom with the double bed; I ...
Read more

31 August 2017: Knin, Croatia to Drvar, Bosnia

Image
Mileage: Today-44; Total-239 As shown in the profile, we started with 10 miles of climbing, about 2000 ft, some more around 30 miles, and a long downhill. More on the downhill road conditions in the photos. We needed jackets for the first time, for about 15 minutes. Eating options were limited since we turned inland to sparsely populated areas with numerous abandoned homes and few town or villages. The effects of the 1995 war are evident. Dog of the Day. Today I saw perhaps 6 different dogs simply hanging out at roadsides. This one was intently gnawing on a large bone and never looked up or paused as we passed. Abandoned Roadside Restaurant. The large, perhaps 8 foot diameter wood wheel above the door was weathered but still there. Note the open structure to the right, a roof with chimney to keep rain off a smoker or grill, and perhaps the small boy assigned to tend the fire for hours. Bullet Holes. A common sight in Bosnia, lingering eviden...
Read more

12 September 2017: Budapest-Amsterdam-Salt Lake City-Bozeman

Image
Mileage: Today-0; Total-612  Route to Budapest International Terminal With everything packed or laid out, I was up and out of the room in 15 minutes. We had minimal rain for 3 weeks, but it was raining this morning in Budapest as I loaded my bags. Leslie, my private car driver, was precisely 2 minutes early, and the drive to the airport was less than 30 minutes. The check-in line extended across the terminal, (everyone is now 2 hours early), but only one couple in the Sky Priority line. Sitting in Delta seats for well over 2-million miles for 30 years counts for something. Absolutely zero issues with every aspect of the return on Delta flights. Random Trip Observations Everybody smokes, young, old, male, female. They smoke pretty much everywhere. At cafes’ outdoor tables, nearly every individual at every table smokes—over drinks, between courses, and after the meal. They smoke as the walk and even as they bike. Getting upwind is often difficult. T...
Read more