After all the walking we did yesterday we had the chance to sleep in this morning. The kids were very excited as the hotel room had their beds in a little alcove – and it felt like they were camping. We went down for breakfast which included a live pianist who played a lot of the pop classics. It was a bit of a weird process to get to the boat for our cruise. Even though we were staying at Split, the cruise couldn’t collect us from the hotel, so we had a car drive us to the airport, where we waited for another car to collect us and take us to the dock.

Check in was quick and easy and before long we were walking around the boat and getting acclimatized. Its a small boat with only 20 other passengers – most of whom are doing a 7 day cruise while we get off after 4 days. Our rooms are on the lower deck with high port holes but Thomas found a way to be able to see the seas.

We cruised for a few hours to the island of Hvar where we will dock for the night. Croatia has almost 80 islands with Hvar being the largest. It was inhabited in the 4th century BC and was part of the Roman empire for a long time. A lot of the buildings, like the town hall, dock and fort show Roman influence in their design and architecture. The Hvar Rebellion was a popular uprising by commoners against the ruling aristocracy which started in 1510. While it was immediately suppressed by the Venetians, it bubbled away and was ultimately successful in 1612. This was when the Public Theater was created which is the 2nd oldest theater in the world still in use. We also stopped by the Benedictine Monastery that is famous for displaying intricate agave lace made by nuns. There are only 5 nuns and 2 apprentices who have the skills and knowledge to create the lace and it is UNESCO Heritage listed

We did some local wine tasting that had been organized by the cruise company. The sparking wine was the most unique of the lot as it had no preservatives and needed to be uncorked under water. The sommelier gave us a detailed description and history of all the wines we tried, however she might have extolled the virtues of drinking a bottle a day more than is real.

Hvar normally has a population of only 2,000, however during the tourist season they get a few hundred boats a day and have to import thousands of service workers from the mainland. It also means that restaurants pop up everywhere which only exists for tourists. We visited one such restaurant for dinner and I tried the Mixed Adriatic Shellfish cooked in traditional buzara style. I got a bib for protection and the meal was absolutely delicious.

After dinner we walked along the foreshore and got some great photos of the town after dark. The Spanjola (Spanish) fortress is a historic military stronghold perched on the hillside roughly 100mts above Hvar Town. It was built under Venetian rule in the 13th century but is called the Spanish fortress as engineers from the Spanish military were brought in to help design and construct the complex. We also walked through some of the narrow alleys which all have an interesting front door which includes a window. This doubled as a counter as all these houses had a shop on the lower floor.