Korcula, Orebic

Day 11: Korčula

We took an early ferry at 8 a.m. from Korčula to Orebić on the Pelješac peninsula for a day trip. There are many ferries between both towns and they just need about 15 minutes to cross the sea. We hadn´t heard of particular points of interest in Orebić apart from the beaches. But we had seen a church, located high up on the mountain, overlooking the sea and wanted to go there. There weren't many people yet, and we had a lovely passage.

We needed a map of the area when we arrived there and also to find the way to the church way up on the hill, and we got one at the tourist information office. We started our tour with a visit to the small but beautiful Maritime Museum, which showed paintings, miniature models of ships and a lot of old documents and information on the history of Orebić.

We couldn´t wait to swim and decided to go to the beach first before hiking to the church, which was a Franciscan Monastery. When we walked along the shore, there were many places to swim, but Orebić also has a bit of a sandy beach. When we arrived there, it looked nice, but there were already a lot of people, so we went further until there were pebbles instead of sand and a lot fewer people. The water was splendid, like everywhere else in Croatia. 

The heat was burning when we started to go from the beach towards the Franciscan Monastery. After a short stop at another church and buying some bottles of soda we came to a hotel after some time, from where a  road leads up to the Monastery (there´s also a sign). After a short time, there came a diversion with a small, rocky path and we opted for that instead of the road. It was a nice walk through the woods, getting slowly higher until the trail ended and we came out on the road again, just below the Monastery. The view from up there was great - with Korčula, many little islands and the sea. 

The Monastery itself was closed unfortunately (opens at 3:00 p.m. only and we got there around 11:00 a.m.) so we just got a look at it from outside. Then we looked at some curiosities at the cemetery next to it before we went downwards, this time on the road. After having a snack nearby the ferry pier we took one of the small boats back to Korčula, which offer their services in addition to the bigger ferry.

Back in Korčula, we had seen an interesting looking church on our city map. It looked like it has a massive stairway up to the hill. We haven't seen the southern part of Korčula yet, so we gave it a try. There were signs for the "Sveti Antun", and with our map, we came close, but at one crossing, the indication wasn't clear to us which way to go, and we took the road on the right and eventually landed in the middle of nowhere. Apparently, we took the wrong one. Just when we wanted to go back, two people came out of the thicket near the bus stop. I've noticed a small hiking path that seems like not being used for a very long time. The trail was overgrown with bushes and vines, and we were quite sceptical, but we braved it anyway. There was a marking, identifying the path like some hiking trail, leading upwards. Finally, a stonewall and markings were leading to cleared footpath over the wall so we climbed it and voila, there was the church.

The church "Sv. Antun" on the hill was a pleasure to see, especially after all the walking and not knowing if the path leads to it. And after taking some time there, we walked down on the stairway, which is not exactly like "Bom Jesus do Monte in Portugal", but still impressive.

We felt, we had earned another swim, and when we were back in Korčula, we went to a beach nearby the apartment and took another plunge in the crystal and fresh water before going "home" for dinner.

Mljet - Korcula

Day 10 - Mljet - Korčula

After a sumptuous breakfast, the shuttle from the hotel in Pomena brought us to the ferry pier back to Polače, where we wanted to take the ferry at around 11 a.m. to our next destination, the island of Korčula. When we arrived at the pier, the ticket booth was not open. We've read already that you can only buy the ticket 30 minutes before departure and in that little office in Polače only. While there were many people, the Mljet-relaxation apparently didn't just get to us but to other people too. When we got our tickets, and the ferry arrived, there seemed to be no rush to get to the boat, as all people were still standing and sitting somewhere in the shade.  And later we were asked two times politely by people if this is the queue to stand in line - no one has asked us that before or after Mljet. It's a whole new experience after all the running and pushing and angry faces at the Dubrovnik pier.

After the ferry emptied with the new guests arriving in Mljet, we could slowly board the G&V ferry. The trip to Korčula took just less than an hour. We soon arrived in Korčula town (lat. Corcyra Nigra, Korkyra Melaina) on the island of the same name and it was an impressive view with the old town located on a peninsula and the huge mountains opposite, the Pelješac peninsula. From the ferry, we walked to the apartment we had booked, "Apartments Neno", which is just outside the old town. It was a bit difficult to find at first, and we took a wrong turn before we finally found the right alley with stairs leading up to the apartments. We did not really see a sign for the Apartment, but we had the address. It had an okay air-con, small kitchen with a big refrigerator and a beautiful little balcony to the ocean and the old town. The Wi-Fi unfortunately only worked at the stairs to the apartment, and for hot water, we needed to press a switch 30 minutes before a shower. There was no TV (who needs it on vacation anyway?), and the furnishing was very basic. It was very spacious though, and the apartments have an excellent location - in walking distance to the ferry pier and the old town, as well as a nearby rocky beach. The bus station is even closer.

We were in Korčula for a three-night-stay and chose it because we had seen pictures of the beautiful old town, the prospect of having some more beach time and its ferry connections to Mljet and our next destination, Split. We wasted no time to go sightseeing towards the old town. After passing the marina, we came to the tourist information, where we got a map of the whole island and continued to the entrance of the old town and the Veliki Revelin Tower, which is surrounded by tons of booths, selling touristy stuff. We went up there for a small fee, getting a first view above the town. Back down were a church and a sign for the icon museum, which we wanted to visit - unfortunately, it was closed.

The old town is tiny, and we instantly came to the eastern end of the peninsula, finding a mixture of old canons, a beautiful view and a whole avenue occupied by restaurants. We went back in one of the small alleys, going up a bit to reach the square "Trg Sv Marka" with the Cathedral of St. Mark and two museums. The Cathedral was impressive inside, outside renovations were going on. Wanting to see everything, we went to the Museum Riznica where you can see mostly religious stuff, including portraits, sculptures and jewellery. When we finished, we just went to the building on the other side, the Town Museum ("Gradski Muzej"), where you get an impression of the history and culture of Korčula. Both museums were nice indeed and when we went out, the next attraction, the "Marco Polo Tower" was just a few steps away. Of course, we went up there too - for whatever reason no one else did - and while the small exhibition didn´t offer much, the view was great, even better than on the Veliki Revelin Tower. You can see the mountainous Pelješac peninsula and the ocean.

Back down it was just a few steps to the northern end to the peninsula, and when we went along the western coast back south, we came back to the ferry pier, where also some huge yachts are to behold. My friend insisted on buying a ticket already for our ferry to Split. But the booth was open from 7 to 8 p.m. and 5 to 6 a.m. only (for whatever reason). We decided to come back after buying some stuff at a grocery store. We didn't have to as it turned out because you can buy the ticket to Split only one day before departure, not two days before departure. Unfortunately, we got this information only after standing in a long queue for some time behind a French family who apparently only spoke French and painfully took their time. Merde! The waiting didn't even get us a ferry ticket to Orebić, where we wanted to go for a day trip the next day - the saleswoman told us, that you get that ticket directly on board. What we got though was a view of a magnificent sunset.

That sight leads us to stroll along the coast a bit until we saw the peninsula from far away and I did some long exposure photographs of the beautiful landscape and the ocean. Later we went back and cooked at "home" to save some money. So it was tuna out of the can for a change...