Tuesday 15th October

Korcula to Lombarda and Back

It seems to be a holiday of different alarms, with today’s being the boys jackhammering outside to repair the sewer problem which necessitated our upgrade.

Nothing melodic about that so we were  off into town, a whole 150 metres away, for a toastie and coffee, in company with a couple of old ladies who were defying the ‘smoking is bad for your health’ mantra and knocking off 3 cigarettes and a coffee.

Needed two coffees to calm the nerves after hearing those helpful Italians are staging a train strike on Friday when we are due to travel from Bari to Otranto to start the walk. Not many real alternatives other than a taxi- which might mean extending the mortgage. The shorter term issue is no confirmation of our flight to Bari which I booked through a Ryanair endorsed agency and Ryanair have no record of it.

Put that aside and zipped around town again before opting to take a bus to the other side of Korcula and enjoy a rare sandy beach.

It was an interesting trip across with lots of vineyards, most showing the ravages of a severe summer, and a sprinkling of market gardens. 

Got dropped off in the middle of nowhere outside a tiny chapel with only instructions from driver being ‘left for rocks and right for sand’’- how far was anyone’s guess.

It was sand for us and only a 15 minute walk along a country road to a pristine beach about 300 metres long with little waves and refreshing clear water.

There was a dozen or so people and countless boats out along the horizon. A 60 metre wade had you in chest deep water so buoyant you couldn’t sink.

As with any beach in the world there was that one swimmer who demonstrated their swimming skills with 4 strokes  of butterfly.

Enjoyed the swim and a sunbake before heading off to the beachside bar for a drink and some lunch, plus a good dose of people watching. They sure love a head on the beer over here.

Had an appointment with the 230 bus which we nearly missed after taking a wrong turn. All worked out and managed to run into a biker who snapped a photo of us two together.

An unadventurous bus trip was followed by another swim at a pebbly beach close to town, before a quick happy hour cocktail and wander back past the docks where 5 more small cruisers had arrived. Whilst not a throng of people there was enough to change the vibe. We shared the beach with a couple of families and 3 untanned, oversized Liverpool lads.

Booked in for dinner at a grill restaurant before heading up the path to home which now had a huge 50 metre trench dug to ‘find the sewer problem’.

We scoured the web in meantime looking for travel alternatives before heading off unresolved to dinner. No seafood for us it was an old fashioned country pub mixed grill without the mash and peas.

Tried to use my best Hungarian to engage the next table , but my defunct skills and their lack of English meant a smile and shrug of the shoulders as we both left.

Just one task to go – pick a different flavoured gelato. A bit difficult with 30 or so choices, but we managed a couple of concoctions we had never heard of before. It’s a strange thing in Croatia that 90% of staff in gelato shops are Asian. 

Off to bed to toss and turn over the trains planes and automobile.