Paradise Found in Jelsa, Hvar

From our accommodation in Hvar town, we took a 45-minute to the villa we rented in Jesla on the North coast of the island. That was as much of the island as Pete, the kids, and I ended up seeing as once we arrived at the Villa, I did not want to leave it! Nana and Pops were more adventurous, visiting a local winery one afternoon and renting bikes another to bike to Stai Gard and back. 

This was the best rental accommodation we have had on all of our euro travels. It would have been that much better if we'd had all 4 nights that we had booked, but c'est la vie!

We had the top floor of the pink house on the harbor. 

Our bedroom balcony overlooked the private pool, outdoor kitchen, terrace, harbor, town, and mountains. So dreamy. 

Our terrace sat above a cocktail bar next to two restaurants. For lunch or dinner, we would go downstairs and order food, which the waiters would bring up to our terrace on their plates.

Lots of pool time.

Jelsa town was really quaint and felt very local. A bit off the beaten tourist path. 

Exploring the town and grocery shopping for our BBQ on the first night

Waking up to this view... 

We did feel like we should see some of our surroundings so one day we walked a few minutes out of town to swim/float in the Adriatic. 

Dinner (Italian influences with a lot of seafood) was served!

I'm not sure of the significance of this donkey statue in town... 

We asked a passerby to take a photo of all of us in the JELSA sign. He cut J and Maeve off! 

Does it get any more civilized than this? 

My family doubted my ability to drink the bottle of gin I bought in Split. Ye of little faith! I had been dreaming of G&Ts by the pool from the moment I booked the trip!

We dragged the kids out of the villa to visit another area beach. They were not thrilled until they saw this amazing floating ninja warrior course. This was the first of three that we saw and did on this trip! 

Relaxing floating for those of us who do not identify as ninja warriors!

Nana and Pops spoke so highly of their bike trip that we borrowed their bikes that evening and went to the neighboring village of Vrboska.

Nana and Pops had dinner with the kids while we were bike riding so we had a nice dinner for two on our return. They wanted us to go out to eat in the town, but I didn't want to give up this view!

And then it was time to say goodbye to this magical place. The villa sleeps 7 and I would love to return one day. Who's in?! 

Unplanned Night in Hvar Town

From Split, we took a ferry to Hvar town on the island of Hvar where we had an unplanned night. Long story short, the villa we had booked for the next 4 nights on a different part of the island had been double booked our first night and the only solution from the manager was to put us up in alternate (subpar) accommodation. We did want to see Hvar town at some point while we were there, but didn't want to spend the night there. The whole debacle caused a lot of stress before the trip and then, unfortunately, also while we were in Hvar town as the manager was demanding full payment and would not budge. 

So we arrived by ferry, huffed it with our luggage up the very steep town to the apartment, and tried to make the most of our unexpected detour. 

At least there was a shared pool

Reading time with Nana

We walked into town after dinner for gelato and enjoyed the sunset over the beautiful old town. 

Memories of this night were not great, but the family photos were on point! 

Father's Day at Krka National Park

Our first travel snafu of the trip occurred on Father's Day when we showed up bright and early for our organized day tour to Krka National Park, only the learn that they messed up the reservation and only had us down for 2 people and not 6. There was no room left on their tour bus so as a consolation, they helped us book with another company that still had space that day. Unfortunately, that company's departure time wasn't for over an hour. 

With unexpected time on our hands, we split up and took the kids to a nearby playground by the main city beach. We'd read about the men who play a local version of handball in the shallow waters of the beach and it was really cool to see in person. They take it very seriously! 

Fueled with pastries, we headed off for the hour-long drive the National Park.

We were led along the wooden boardwalks, catching glimpses of fish, noisy bull frogs, dragonflies, and waterfalls. 

The main attraction

We then all boarded a boat that took us downriver to the town of Skradin where we had some time to relax on the pebbly shore of the river. That was some cold water, but Pete braved it for the kids. On Father's day no less- what a guy! 

Back in Split after some bus naps, we walked back to the city beach for a quick wade before our dinner reservations down the road at DVOR, a spot recommended in the NYT review. 

It was a really special meal, celebrating two terrific dads, in a beautiful shaded courtyard overlooking the sea. I had the ceviche of my dreams and they catered so well to the kids. 

After bedtime, we popped downtown to catch the end of the UEFA Nation's League Final between Croatia and Spain. It would have been a super celebratory occasion, but sadly, Croatia lost.