Pebble Beaches ROCK (haha)

Day 3 of my European Journey (8/22/11)

Supetar's coast as seen from the ferry

We woke up at 6:30 am and packed our bags to catch the 7:30 ferry to Supetar of Brac Island (pronounced Brach) with Paul and Gareth. they cracked up over our piles of bags. Again, I looked and felt like a pack mule, but I didn't want to make them carry anything even though they had only what they needed for the day at the beach! We ended up having to jog to the ferry but we made it. The breeze felt great again as it was already fairly warm at 7:45 am and we got great views of Split and the mountains (straight cliffs) behind the city.

As we approached Supetar we saw a cool domed building, a water polo court in the ocean, and some water slides! After only 45 minutes we were on solid ground again. Julia and I went to our hostel (earlier than the check in time) to see if we could leave our millions of bags there while the boys went to find some breakfast food. The woman at the hostel accepted our bags and said she'd put them in our room and hide our key for us since we weren't going to return until past the check-in time ended.

Unfortunately we missed the 9:15 bus to the other side of the island, so we had to wait until 10:25 bus. We decided to explore the domed building we saw that was on the other side of the beach bay in Supetar. We found out that it was in the local cemetery. It was interesting to wander through the graves and see which had been visited as recently as earlier that day (assumed from the presence of fresh flowers and lit hurricane candles), and which were obviously neglected (covered by pine needles and adorned with silk flowers with spiderwebs between the petals). The domed building seemed to be a tomb of some sort. It was white marble with relief carvings of weeping women and young angels The copper doors depicted scenes of young life, birth, and motherly love. With all that, we concluded it was a tomb for a child or multiple children.

Brochure picture of Zlatni Rat Beach

We went back around the bay to catch the bus and picked up some pastries for the road. WOW! This little stick of puff pastry had a savory cheese inside of it and sesame seeds on top. It must have come out of the oven a few minutes earlier because it fell apart in my mouth. This island kept getting better and better in my mind. Julia seems to be able to sleep in any mode of transportation because as soon as we started moving in the bus she was passed out! She also slept on the plane overseas and the train in amsterdam, I was so jealous after having only one semi-decent night of sleep thus far! I took pictures of the island out of the bus window instead. Forty minutes later we were walking the coast of the town of Bol towards Zlatni Rat Beach (the one in the poster). We conquered a hill and saw that the 643 meter peninsula really was as beautiful as the brochures depicted!

A beach made of almond and walnut and fingerling potato sized white pebbles! I'd never seen such a thing before. The rocks were warm, but not too hot to walk on. The pine forest that jutted out about halfway down the peninsula provided shade to the people that desired to hide from the sun. A children's author was reading stories to a group of kids on the soft needle bed. We walked out as far as we could and found a small area to put our things, but I realized that I forgot my towel at the hostel! Unfortunate, but not devistating since there was no sand to stick to me when I layed down to dry off!! I never though I'd think pebbles were so marvelous, but they are. We could lay in the shallow, clear water without getting sand in our suits, hair, ears, or under our nails. Laying in the shallows allowed us to be warmed by the sun and cooled by the water at the same time, it was absolutely delightful.

Paul and Brac Island viewed from Zlatni Rat Beach in Bol

That's about how our whole day went. We were in and out of the water all day while talking to the UK boys about the differences between UK English and American English. Apparently a fanny pack is called a bum bag! Haha, your fanny is the opposite side of your bum... Trousers, knickers, rucksacks, and more were some of the differences, along with many others that I cannot recall. Paul, 29, was just on vacation and we found out that we'd be in Makarska and Dubrovnik on two overlapping nights. Gareth, 22, was enjoying his last day with us and would be leaving for Whales from Split the next day. He's a Welsh teacher at a high school. He spoke a little Welsh to us and that was interesting.

We caught the 4:30 bus back to Supetar so the boys could catch the last ferry back to Split. Since we had time before they left we enjoyed an ice cream by the harbor. the ice cream man must have a lot of time on his hands because he was throwing the scoops out of the cones and catching them in other cones and the scooper! it was funny and weird, but also impressive! Then he put an extra cone under mine and when he handed it pulled the cone with scoops on top out of the empty one. I just didn't know how to react! Then he finally (after more than a minute long show) gave me my snickers "gelato." Afterwards, we said goodbye to our friends and headed back to our hostel to relax and shower before dinner.

We went to a harbor restaurant and watched the tourists stroll by. Supetar was nice and quiet with a lot less tourists than Split. The food was way better too! I had veal medallions with potato croquets and fries, Julia had chicken and a small salad that we shared. We had had too much sun and went to sleep early back at our room. The bed was SO itchy! There weren't sheets, so Julia used her sleeping bag and I used the bed cover while we blasted the air conditioning. It hadn't been less than 95 degrees during the day since we got to Croatia!

More bus and ferry rides planned for the next morning to get us back to the mainland and to the city of Makarska.