Day 6 09.21.15 Pula-Hvar

Our apartment is great. In the center of town and nicely furnished. Toured Pula all day. It is a really nice city. We even came across poorly marked, but surprisingly well preserved Roman mosaic floor in the center of the city, about 2 levels down from today’s ground level. There probably are lots of Roman remnants underneath the city center that have yet to be uncovered. Pula is very clean and friendly and not expensive. In the afternoon we took the sea plane to Split then another sea plane to the island of Hvar, city Jelsa. The sea plane rides were spectacular. Amazing panoramic view of the islands and coastline. Jelsa is a very picturesque town on a hill slope coming down all the way to the sea. We were met by Bo’s friends for the drive to their favorite village of Ivan Dolac. The drive included a half mile long tunnel only wide enough for one car and not tall enough for buses or large trucks. Electronic sensors only allowed cars in one direction. Supposedly it was built by Yugoslavian soldiers in the 1960s, and before that the only way to get to Ivan Dolac was via donkey/mule paths over the mountains. No wonder tourists were sparse. The village is very picturesque with houses scattered on a mountain slope, vineyards everywhere and maybe two streets. It’s a real “hole in the wall” with no ATM, no wifi (only in one place in the village and only in certain hours), no TV, no credit cards, but an abundance of cheap wine. Almost every house has a sign “domaci vino” (home-made wine), which they’ll pour for you in a liter bottles – and a liter bottle of either red or white will cost between $3 and $4. We rented a nice, modern apartment with a view of the Adriatic sea from a guy who was supposedly Tito’s bodyguard during communist times. He gave us a liter of his domaci vino as a welcome gift.