Cycling

Explore the Croatian Islands by Boat & Bike

August 11, 2016 by Julie Shipman

I recently travelled through the Adriatic Sea — along the Dalmatian Coast — to explore the southern islands of Croatia by boat and bike. It’s a photographer’s dream! Croatia has it all: friendly people, beautiful architecture, great food & wine, spectacular scenery with clear blue water, mountains, beaches, vineyards, and …boats, boats, and speedboats from Boat Rental in the Keys! If you are attracted to a seafaring culture, I would highly recommend visiting these islands along with the Greek Island Hopping -Hostelbay 2018 crew, if you do, you will experience their people and customs layered in centuries, or millennia, of significant historical events. Until then, please enjoy the journey with me through my photos!

I began my boat trip in Trogir, a beautiful harbor town just north of Split… with old narrow cobble-stoned streets, quaint shops and outstanding restaurants.

We embarked on our boat (seen above) and sailed off on our journey. Our path took us from Trogir to Solta, Vis, Korcula, Hvar, Brac… and finished in Split.

One must always learn the ropes of safe boating in order to avoid boating accidents. Visit aceboater.com to take up their course on boating and get a boating license.

Throughout history, the inhabitants of these islands have lived off an abundant amount of fish and other seafood. Boats are far more commonly owned than cars! The bright blue color of the water juxtaposed with the white buildings and red roofs are captivating.

Harbor town of Pucisca on Brac, famous for the world's highest quality white marble! It's found in the White House and the Vatican! — Harbor town of Pucisca on Brac, famous for much of the world’s highest quality white marble. It’s found in the White House and the Vatican!

croatia-205 — Heading home… quicker and easier than a car on Brac.

croatia-51 — The beautiful village of Masclinica on the island of Solta.

Town of Komiza on the tiny island of Vis. Vis was a militarized zone for centuries and only opened up to tourists in 1995.

Along the southern coast of the island of Korcula, known also for its old growth forests because Venice did not have access to the island ---controlled by the Republic of Dubrovnik-- to plunder the trees for its boat building industry during the Renaissance. — The water is stunningly blue along the southern coast of the island of Korcula, known also for its old growth forests. Venice did not have access to the island —controlled then by the Republic of Dubrovnik– to plunder the trees for its boat building industry during the Renaissance and after.

Borrow a kayak and explore the hidden coves. Here is Chasing Atlas guide, Pau Sab, doing some R&D on the sea!

Find a table by the sea, or in a quaint village and load your plate with freshly caught fish!

croatia-376 — Nonno, an excellent restaurant along the harbor in Korcula. Incredible views and wonderful food! Try the great octopus salad, a local favorite.

croatia-379 — Nonno Restaurant, Korcula.

Explore the streets of the villages… it’s like walking through time. Korcula is the birthplace of Marco Polo! Who knew?

Marco Polo was born in Korcula but died in Venice, where he is most associated. Visit his house! — Marco Polo was born in Korcula but died in Venice, after many decades of traveling the world. You can visit his house, now an interesting museum.

Sunset ride in Korcula, along the harbor by the old fortress walls.

Beautiful art abounds throughout the islands.

actually it is one of the oldest wine regions in the world. The viticulture in current Croatia existed hundreds of years before the rise of the Roman Empire. — Many people are not aware that fantastic wines come out of Croatia. It is actually one of the oldest wine regions in the world. The viticulture in current Croatia existed hundreds of years before the rise of the Roman Empire. DNA analysis has revealed that the well-known Californian grape Zinfandel, is genetically equivalent to the major grape varietal on the islands, Crljenak Kastelanski, its ancestor!

Peeking at the sea through the buildings on Vis. — Spying the sea through the buildings on Vis.

Gorgeous flowers abound on the islands, here in the streets of the bustling tourist town of Hvar. — Gorgeous flowers are everywhere on the islands, here in the streets of the bustling tourist town of Hvar.

View of Hvar and the neighboring islands from the fortress. Best viewpoint in the islands and well-worth the hike up the hill! Don’t miss it… the prison of the old fortress is creepy and fascinating. I highly recommend a visit.

The locals here are witness to many occupations over the decades, and going further back to their ancestors, over the centuries… they are colorful and kind people.

Three Old Men; one sees this sight often!

A fisherman who came in empty handed today in Vis.

And, yes, there are a few old ladies too. The youth? they go to school mostly in the cities on the mainland, ferrying over daily.

And, the countryside… we cycled through it daily. It’s by far the best way to explore the quiet backroads, tiny villages, fields of flowers and multiple vineyards.

Poppies and lavendar everywhere ~ Stunning! — Wild poppies and lavendar everywhere ~ Stunning!

Many small churches such as these dot the landscape.

One of the many hidden bays and beaches... this one on Korcula. — One of the many hidden bays and beaches… this one on Korcula.

Pay attention. While the cars are few and far between, you may see a boar or two! The roads are perfect for cyclists.

A beautiful place to take a rest and hydrate... Water or wine... your choice! — A beautiful place to take a rest and hydrate… Water or wine… your choice!

Just another quiet and beautiful long downhill to the sea... in this case, to the town of Komiza on Vis. (And, yes, you must do the climb to enjoy the ride down!) — Just another quiet and beautiful long downhill to the sea… in this case, to the town of Komiza on Vis. (And, yes, you must do the climb to enjoy the ride down!)

It really is this beautiful. My riding buddy and friend, Jill Murwin, who owns the travel company Chasing Atlas -- who provides these tours! She had to do her R&D! — It really is this beautiful. My riding buddy and friend, Jill Murwin, doing a little R&D checking out the roads and views on Korcula.

Day and night, by boat and by my new Bike Hint bike, it’s an outstanding adventure to explore the islands of Croatia. The experiential travel and adventure company, Chasing Atlas, can organize a customized large group (boat holds 18-22), small group or intimate trip there for you. Contact Jill Murwin @ChasingAtlas to inquire ~ info@chasingatlas.com or www.chasingatlas.com.

Sunset at the Old Church in the harbor of the town of Vis, on the island of Vis.

Back to Girona…

September 20, 2013 by Julie Shipman

The end of the journey. Last day on the bikes and back inland to Girona. Lots of miles in the saddle today although I was able to skip a few by excusing myself to “take photos.” Another truly spectacular day and one of the highlights was the young Atlas Jemison who accompanied me as my assistant. Please note that a few of today’s pics are hers, and I caught her in action shooting today as well.

Here is the start of the day as we leave Calella.

Outstanding ride through the countryside to more medieval villages… riding over cobblestones and doing the local “round-a-bout” through town…

Cats are everywhere in Spain… figured we couldn’t have a social media post without a cat!

Lunch time!

Below: photo credit Atlas Jemison, age 12, capturing the riders coming through the grove of trees. Atlas has a great sense of composition already!

See Atlas below, left bottom corner. A very quick learner with a great eye!

Thanks for a GREAT trip Marty!

Back in Girona… photo credit Atlas Jemison.

The 12 year old artist, Atlas J.

The much older artist below, Julie, photo credit Atlas. Love the way she captured me shooting the riders as we passed them.

THANKS FOR JOINING US! WE HAD SO MUCH FUN. JEMISON TOURS AND COSTA BRAVA ROCKS!

Calella 2!

September 20, 2013 by Julie Shipman

Two nights in one place gave us the opportunity to rest a bit… a few options: a long ride with Marty, a short scenic ride with Jill or a rest day. Since I went on the Jill ride (duh!), I only have photos from that. But, wow. Such an incredibly beautiful place.

The girls (except CONNIE!) went to the botanic gardens, Jardí Botanic de Cap Roig. They are spectacular. The grounds are enormous. The home and gardens were built by a Russian aristocrat for his love, over 100 years ago. Since their affair was somewhat taboo at the time (they each divorced to be together), they escaped to this reclusive estate by the sea. But, they did entertain and throw lavish parties now and then. While the villa looks Spanish in style, his Russian heritage (he was an architect/builder) is evident in several features throughout the property. Upon their death, they left their estate to the city of Calella where they enjoyed so many years together. The money derived from the gardens goes back into tending them for future generations, education for local school children and several music festivals for locals and tourists to enjoy at a great amphitheater overlooking the sea. What a legacy!

This is actually an iron window (with glass) built into the wall for a view!

Local artists are represented among the grounds. Highly unique (mostly modern) sculptures — of all varieties — are scattered throughout. Jill helped us to translate this piece.

Ended our little excursion with lunch by the sea. Grilled vegetables, goat cheese salad and the local favorite, Mojitos!

Back to the beach for an afternoon siesta/fiesta!

Does this local gentleman perhaps think we are a bit of the “obnoxious American”?

Gorgeous night with full moon reflecting on the sea. Off to dinner and then goodnight. Last ride is tomorrow.

Calella

September 19, 2013 by Julie Shipman

Today we rode North along the coast to Calella. (“We” may be a bit of a stretch as my rear end was mostly sitting on a large comfy Renault van seat… when it wasn’t in that seat, I was leaning my entire body out of the car window with the seat belt wrapped around my feet. It felt something like being strapped onto a sailboat that was up on its edge to balance against the wind — hiking. FUN!)

Keith..

Marty, with a smile!

Katherine and boys…

Cliff

Penny and Stanna leading the men up the hill!

The scenery was PERFECTION. Costa Brava was listed as one of National Geographic’s top ten places to visit in 2012. No doubt!

Riding along the boardwalk and stopping for coffee. Don’t think it gets much better.

Brigitte…

Bo and Katherine

Cliff and Marty

AAHHHHH, puppy alert. SSOO cute. Stylin’ collar. And, he even spoke Spanish! His owner said, “Aqui!” and he went running. How cool is that???

Connie and Marty posing for a travel ad. I think it’s going on the cover of Outside Magazine.

Scott being Scott and Marty worrying if he took out enough insurance for this group…

A really cute guy flirted with me on the boardwalk!! XO

Back on the bike to an ancient medieval castle built in the 12th Century. It is now adorned with a few places to stay, eat and shop. Extremely interesting and well-preserved. I am immensely impressed by the beautiful masonry. The roman heritage is evident in many of the flooring designs.

If you need a basket for your bike, you can get one here! Handmade no less… 69 Euros.

Here comes the crew! Marty followed by Keith, Pav and Bo.

Below you can see the ruts in the road made by carriage wheels over the centuries.

Connie (a fitness instructor and nutritionist) took this opportunity to get a healthy “refueling” for the last part of the ride. Yum!

Our tireless leaders/staff express their pure joy at being given the chance to take care of us on our journey! Below is Jill J. with assistant Kelly.

…and, JP!

We arrive at our Hotel in Calella… time for a nap, swim, and drink!

Rick enjoys the view and the wildlife!

Heading out for dinner. Connie is READY! After Fanta and Doritos, I think the Orange Dye went to her head a bit…

Yes, it’s me. After this crew, I decided I needed a double.

Our handsome men at sunset. Bo, Cliff, Scott, Keith, Pav, Paul, and JP.

The dinner crew! I was actually IN the ocean to take this shot!

Goodnight Callela!

Costa Brava!

September 17, 2013 by Julie Shipman

Time to move on!

Loaded our luggage on the van this morning and got on our bikes.

Through lots of sunflower fields (now they are sunflower SEED fields…) and corn… and orchards, especially pear. We also saw many cattle and sheep farms (ranches?).

We stopped for a morning café con leche in Llagostera.

After our coffee break, we climbed 9 km to the crest of the hills to gaze down upon the Mediterranean Sea. Happy to say I made it up the entire climb although the SAG wagon was supposed to come get me so I could shoot photos. Apparently Marty thought it was necessary for Julie to finish a climb by herself. I came in DEAD last; in fact I am sure I was at least 10 minutes behind the group in front of me and maybe 30 behind the leaders. I let them have a nice break at the top! I actually thought they had all gone on and so I stopped several times to take photos. Whoops!

Ok, now for the downhill. I LOVE downhill. SO much fun. AMAZING. The highlight of the riding so far for me. Going so fast I got bugs in my teeth!! 🙂

We reached the bottom of the hill at the Costa Brava… now we head south to Tossa de Mar.

We see the end of the ride! Tossa de Mar on the Costa Brava is a beautiful costal town with a sandy beach.

Our Hotel! Gran Hotel Reymar… and a gorgeous room!

BEACH time! The leader boys above are enjoying several beers……. I LOVED my mojito!

And, then nighttime. Beautiful full moon. This town is an ancient fortified city built originally by the Iberians, then the Moors inhabited it and in the 1400s built a protective wall against the Saracens who were invading as pirates, kidnapping fishermen and looking for ransoms. There are also old Roman villas where the lucky few wealthy soldiers could retire with acreage and build a homestead…

Well, we just walked along the beachfront and had a midnight pizza. Time to rest for tomorrow’s ride, north along the Costa Brava…

Ride to Osor

September 16, 2013 by Julie Shipman

Today we rode to Osor, a very small ancient town in the hills outside of Girona, with only one place to eat; our restaurant was the home of the local Boar Hunting Club. We did have a random assortment of “meat” for lunch. Did not occur to me until this minute that perhaps it was boar?