Today is our last full day of our boat and bike adventure. It has been a huge amount of fun, and although we are looking forward to going on to other places in Europe, we will always remember with great fondness our time here on the Dalmatian coast.
A couple faithful readers have asked about e-bikes. These are sometimes called “pedal assist” bicycles and that is probably the most accurate description. They look pretty much the same as any ordinary bicycle.
However, there is a battery attached to the frame
and a small motor near the pedals. This is controlled by the small handset you see on the right. There are four settings: economy, touring, sport, and turbo. Each provides more assistance when pedaling. The white Garmin is a GPS. I brought that along because I think we will need it in Sweden.
Today we rode on the island of Šolta. It is not a big island at all, only about 20 kilometers end to end. It was not as extraordinarily beautiful as Dugi Otok and some other islands, but we had a pretty ride. We left from the town of Maslinica and rode to the settlement of Gornje Selo on the other side. We stopped for a break in Grohote. Here I noticed a statue dedicated to the World War II anti-Fascist partisans from the area.
I also convinced Reinhold and Petra, two of our fellow passengers from Bavaria, to pose for me here.
Because I speak no German I have come to know them the least of everybody on the cruise. But they do seem very sweet and charming.
Just outside Gornje Selo we stopped at an olive oil tasting factory. I was prepared to be a little annoyed by this, but it turned out to be really interesting. The owner or manager — I was not sure exactly what his role was — gave us a quite informative tour.
He explained, in both English and German, the different reasons for the different grades of olive oil. Then he took us into the processing room where we saw where the olives enter the process and are cleaned,
where they are crushed into a paste, including the pits,
and where centrifugal force separates the oil from the pulp and other ingredients.
Afterwards we were taught how to taste olive oil correctly, and we sampled some of the different varieties produced there. Everybody was wowed by the wild fennel flavored olive oil. In the tasting room, Marin took a picture of us in a Grant Wood kind of pose.
Outside, I remembered that I still needed to get a shot of Rolf and Ida. They are from Switzerland — Basel, I think — and they both speak relatively good English. I like them a lot.
We rode back to the ship, just reversing our previous route. Around 12:30, the ship pulled anchor and started sailing towards Trogir, the port where our tour began and where it ends. But they took about 45 minutes for a swim break. I am not crazy about swimming where I cannot stand up on the ground if I feel like it, so I just took pictures. I shot this one of John entering the water in a perfectly executed dive.
I also caught Heike relaxing on her float
and Laura observing the world using hers.
Marin loves to swim, and I really liked this shot a lot.
In the evening, we had a city tour of Trogir. Our guide was a local woman who was married to a British national. She spoke English reasonable well, although every sentence seemed to begin with “my ladies and gentleman.” I never did a decent picture of her because she wore a hat that shaded her face in the late afternoon light.
She was a nice lady, but not much of a guide. She showed us all the sights of Trogir, but never put them together in a coherent narrative.
Most of the walls of Trogir are gone, but we entered through the remaining gate.
We saw the Prince’s Palace. Apparently Trogir was run on a kind of Venetian model. And I suspect that Venice probably pretty much ran the show here, though it was hard to get any real history out of our guide.
We walked down narrow streets looking at 15th and 16 century houses. I was struck by how all the homes seemed to have potted plants and window boxes. It soften the appearance of stone houses and stone streets.
Our guide took us to the Chapel of Saint Sebastian
which appears to have been turned into a monument for the local boys who died in the Homeland War.
The cathedral is one of the greatest artistic and architectural treasures of the city. A wedding was going on when we arrived. So we just noticed the exterior such as the magnificently carved entryway,
and some of the other architectural details like this gargoyle.
During recent renovation some graffiti was uncovered, but as it was dated to the 16th century they decided not to remove it!
Later on, after we said goodbye to our guide, giving her a tip more out of pity than gratitude, we returned to the cathedral and were able to enter. Outside, before we entered, we listened to a man playing a Balkan bagpipe. It sounds remarkably like the Scottish, even if it sort of looks like he is doing something shocking with a pig.
We were both struck by the enormous, free-hanging rood cross
and a baroque side chapel.
At night, we had our Captain’s Dinner. I somehow was selected to present the passengers’ gifts to the crew and our guides. The food was good as always, and everybody felt a little sad to that our time was over. It has been a very special week together.
