With another Tylenol 3, Ken was able to sleep well, his arm propped up with a pillow for the night. We woke again to a beautiful sunny morning overlooking the Hvar marina.   This day would be a bit different, as there was no biking until later in the afternoon.  The morning was spent on the boat heading for Korcula (pronounced Korchula), which was a beautiful but rocking 3 hour ride.    Thank goodness for Dramamine and ginger!   Some of our biking comrades had enjoyed a late night with the locals (or early morning depending on how you look at it) and they were definitely feeling the after effects on the boat.   Most of the group, including myself was camped out on the top of the boat where the rock/roll seemed to be a bit less.

After two hours, we anchored in a small inlet where we could swim and have a picnic of fun food that Katja had picked up in Hvar the night before.    Caroline, Jim, Joan, 2 Steves, Andrew and Holly all either jumped from the top or eased into the amazingly blue water. They all reported that it was very refreshing, but I was already chilly so trusted them on that report.

The picnic of local cheeses, salads, meats and fresh strawberries/cherries was perfect, while bobbing on a very calm sea.   Then it was on to xxxxxx, which was a 20 minute boat ride.   We docked right next to our hotel, where Anjay and Tyler had our bikes ready to roll.   After a short route rap, we all hopped on our bikes and headed into the hills of Korcula Island.   Ken, decided to ride shotgun in the van with Katja and experience the ride with a prime view from the passenger's seat.

I was on the road with several of our riders and did some significant hills and taking one boost up a 3k steep hill.   The hills both up and down are quite different from our Tuscany trip last year and now those hills seem really easy.   Like yesterday, the views were so beautiful.    I was so disappointed that Ken couldn’t be with me on the bike, as I loved this experience.

Once we got down the long winding hill, we had 7.5k of rollers along another teal blue coastline. Did I say how cool this was?   Our last climb into the little village for the van pickup was a killer, but I did it.   It is very satisfying riding up a steep hill and coming into the end point.  

All but a few shuttled back to the hotel, where showers were a necessity.   Ken and I walked around the little town and then caught our van for dinner up in the hills of Korcula.   Anjay had said it was "out in the middle of no where" and he wasn’t wrong.    We pulled up to a villa made in all stones layered perfectly (a method called dry stacking).   We were all offered their home-made grappa, which I swear could grow hair on my chest. I took one sip and watered the flowers…they were either going to die immediately or grow inches just as quickly.

Then, as like most of our other meals, we were seated on a beautiful veranda, underneath an olive tree and twinkle lights (that flickered at times due to generator issues).  The food was served family style with the normal anchovies (which we both decided we really like) and octopus salad.  Between courses, a chorus of local men serenaded us capella style, of love or sad Croatian songs.   The men were very emotional and serious, so you could tell how much they enjoyed performing. This type of singing was the local way and is similar to Irish Sessions.

We were able to see where our food was cooked over hot coals in a very primitive kitchen, and we enjoyed the grilled chicken, veal and tuna all from local farms or the sea. Then it was back on the bus to head back to the hotel for the evening.   No one was remotely thinking of staying out late tonight!