Traveling on an Empty Stomachs

The cure for anything is salt water – tears, sweat, or the sea. – Isak Dinesen

VIS, CROATIA

July 24 – 27, 2012

DAY TWO

On our second day we awoke with just enough energy to seek out some sunshine and beach time. There are very few options for relaxing on the beach in and around the town of Vis so we headed out for to find a place where we could rest and recover from day one. The island of Vis is quite small with few towns to really explore so we decided to find the one and only thing to get us around to where the locals go…a scooter. Our favorite method of easy exploration!

Exploring the Beaches

We geared up with a quick breakfast of fruit and water in the room. Packed our suits and towels, borrowed a map from the concierge and then set out to rent a scooter. There’s quite a few places to choose from and all are about the same price so we went with the first one we came to. In hindsight, it would be a good idea to figure out which roads allow motorized vehicles and which don’t – we ignored this little rule and got some dirty looks from the townspeople..but I don’t blame them.

No matter how hard you try, you never look tough on a scooter

We were headed to a beach on our map that was supposed to be great for swimming but we couldn’t find it, as a matter of fact, we sort of got lost. At some point, we found ourselves on a dirt and gravel path going up a mountain that our trusty scooter just could not handle. We turned around and decided to just stop at the first beach we could find and put the map away.

View of the town of Vis. We would have never seen it this way without the scooter.

The Explorers

Unknown beach – our first stop after we gave up with the map

One part fish, one part man…a breed of his own

Stoncica Beach

I’ve been to rocky beaches in the past but still couldn’t tolerate the pain of walking barefoot on the beach. Note to self, if ever visiting a rocky beach in the future – I will invest in some water friendly shoes, no matter how unattractive they are. I mean, who looks attractive hunching over to investigate every rock while yelping the whole time anyway, comfort wins.

We hopped back on the scooter with the intention of seeing more of the island and with the hopes of finding a road that was on our map before dark. Luck was on our side. Somehow, we found a main road and chose the direction leading us to the other side of the island. We were aware that over 20 percent of the arable land was dedicated to vineyards but had no idea that we would see so many of them in a day. Along with the vineyards, we passed up olive groves, fig trees, and more.

This little journey unexpectedly led us to a beach that I recognized on our map, Stoncica. I was in luck – it happened to be the only sandy beach on the island. Following the small signs, we parked our scooter and headed down a mountain path. Even luckier considering it was nearing lunchtime, there happened to be a tavern located directly next to the beach, Konoba Stoncica. We ordered a bottle of wine, stuffed ourselves silly with locally grown food (the tavern happened to be on the end of the owners farm) and then headed to the beach. Both the food and beach are certainly worthy of a trip if you find yourself on the island.

View of Stoncica Beach

Lunch at Konoba Stoncica

Scampi

Seafood spaghetti

Croatian mashed potatoes

Grilled vegetables with olive oil and herbs

The aftermath, a food coma…both of us passing out on the beach

Stoncica Beach

As the evening approached, we headed back to our hotel. The views of the island from the scooter and the search for good food and beaches had us feeling completely relaxed and grateful for life and for each other. Our day didn’t end here, we did clean up and set out for more good food and drinks but I took the night off from photographing and journeling. It’s hard for me not to try to capture every last thing…but there’s nothing more pleasurable than living in the moment, especially with great company.