Vis...is it!
Visit Vis.
Vis is paradise island.
Croatia is a land of islands (1,185 of them actually) and after a week on Otok (island) Ciovo we headed by ferry boat from Split to the small island of Vis which is strategically located in the middle of the Adriatic Sea. Until the early 1990s Vis was a military zone and not open to tourists. However, it was civilised for many centuries before the wars of the twentieth century halted and decimated its growth and prosperity.
The villages of Vis, Kut, and Komiza have been preserved by time. Ancient stone buildings, stone walkways, vineyards and beaches appear untouched, and it is only the luxury yachts moored along the seafront, and the ferry boat making its two and a half hour journey carrying tourists, cars and locals each day from Split that delivers us back to reality.
E joined us during her summer break and we stayed in an lovely apartment in the oldest part of Viz, the village of Kut. A newly-renovated apartment owned by a Vis family who now live in Split though they spend every summer on the island. We drove all over Vis discovering and swimming at it's coves and caves, and marvelling at the views from hill top villages. It was another idyllic week of swimming in crystal-clear, deep, aquamarine water. Every day was hot and sunny with cloudless blue skies.
Agrotourism is developing as the people of the hills - the 'pojori' - open their homes and kitchens to cook traditional meals - viska spiza - for tourists. We had a memorable night with Darko who cooked meat and fish in the traditional way under the 'peka'.
I loved this description by one of the pojori advertising his kitchen called Agrotourism kod Magica:
"My nono was a seagoing, wine-growing smart one. Pre-dawn was his time. Magic was his little donkey, but also an extremely smart one. He carried that nono of mine to the sandy vineyards of the eastern side of our island before the sun. Nono would have a pizolot (nap) until he arrived at Stoncica. Magic would graze while Nono worked in the vineyard, all through the morning until high noon. They would tardily ride back home to town. Nono would be sublimed by the smell of grilled sardines and Magic would get his carob treat. One would get a bucket of water, the other a couple of glasses of wine and both would be satisfied. Their persistent effort and suffering is visible today. When I was a boy I used to hang around Magic hugging him and feeding him with carob pods and there was nothing better than to sit next to Nono and listen to his stories."
We chose to stay on Vis because of one small photograph. On the ferry boat travelling between Corfu and Venice in early July we picked up a Greek travel magazine. In it an article was accompanied by a photo of an idyllic turquoise cove. We asked the Greek barman to translate the article for us, and from that we decided that we had to discover Vis for ourselves!
The locals say that no one visits Vis just once. We like to think that's true.
Visit Vis.
Vis is paradise island.
Croatia is a land of islands (1,185 of them actually) and after a week on Otok (island) Ciovo we headed by ferry boat from Split to the small island of Vis which is strategically located in the middle of the Adriatic Sea. Until the early 1990s Vis was a military zone and not open to tourists. However, it was civilised for many centuries before the wars of the twentieth century halted and decimated its growth and prosperity.
The villages of Vis, Kut, and Komiza have been preserved by time. Ancient stone buildings, stone walkways, vineyards and beaches appear untouched, and it is only the luxury yachts moored along the seafront, and the ferry boat making its two and a half hour journey carrying tourists, cars and locals each day from Split that delivers us back to reality.
E joined us during her summer break and we stayed in an lovely apartment in the oldest part of Viz, the village of Kut. A newly-renovated apartment owned by a Vis family who now live in Split though they spend every summer on the island. We drove all over Vis discovering and swimming at it's coves and caves, and marvelling at the views from hill top villages. It was another idyllic week of swimming in crystal-clear, deep, aquamarine water. Every day was hot and sunny with cloudless blue skies.
Agrotourism is developing as the people of the hills - the 'pojori' - open their homes and kitchens to cook traditional meals - viska spiza - for tourists. We had a memorable night with Darko who cooked meat and fish in the traditional way under the 'peka'.
I loved this description by one of the pojori advertising his kitchen called Agrotourism kod Magica:
"My nono was a seagoing, wine-growing smart one. Pre-dawn was his time. Magic was his little donkey, but also an extremely smart one. He carried that nono of mine to the sandy vineyards of the eastern side of our island before the sun. Nono would have a pizolot (nap) until he arrived at Stoncica. Magic would graze while Nono worked in the vineyard, all through the morning until high noon. They would tardily ride back home to town. Nono would be sublimed by the smell of grilled sardines and Magic would get his carob treat. One would get a bucket of water, the other a couple of glasses of wine and both would be satisfied. Their persistent effort and suffering is visible today. When I was a boy I used to hang around Magic hugging him and feeding him with carob pods and there was nothing better than to sit next to Nono and listen to his stories."
We chose to stay on Vis because of one small photograph. On the ferry boat travelling between Corfu and Venice in early July we picked up a Greek travel magazine. In it an article was accompanied by a photo of an idyllic turquoise cove. We asked the Greek barman to translate the article for us, and from that we decided that we had to discover Vis for ourselves!
The locals say that no one visits Vis just once. We like to think that's true.
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| Way out in the Adriatic Sea, half way between the Croatian coast and Italy lies the island of Vis. This is the church on a peninsula beside Vis town and harbour. |
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| E joined us for nearly three weeks during her summer break. Here we celebrate her arrival on Vis in one of the lovely restaurants. Many are housed in ancient stone buildings, roofs long along lost to history, so that the 'rooms' of the restaurant are open to the night sky. Lit only by candles the stones and the atmosphere is divine. |
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| waterfront at Vis town |
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| In the foreground is the village of Kut where we stayed for a week and at the top of the photo is Vis town (wth the daily Jadrolina ferry boat in port). Both towns are connected by a walkway along the watefront. Day or night, it is a magnificent 20 minute walk. |
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| E in one of our favourite Vis cafes, San Giorgio |
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| Komiza, Viz |
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| Entrance to the Blue Cave. We took a boat from Komiza to the Blue Cave on the nearby island of Bisevo. We had to duck our heads so our little boat could enter into the cave..... |
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| .....and when we did...... |
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| ....the Blue Cave brilliance appeared before us. |
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| E - happiness in Vis |
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| Marshal Tito's cave high in the Vis mountains. It was from here that Tito ran his resistance operation and it was also from Vis that Tito set off in 1944 for talks with Churchill and Stalin. |
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| Look what we found in a beach cafe in Vis.......lamingtons! And the rocks behind we collected from the sea bed. Amazing, speckled Vis rocks. |
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| Viz vineyards and the beautiful 13th century St Nikola church |
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| This is Darko's home. At night he opens his grape-covered terrace and cooks the fish he has caught, and meat and vegetables from his farm. We had a night to remember with Darko. Darko speaks a little English, but he obviously loves what he does, and loves meeting the tourists that come to his home. It was our pleasure to see how these people of the Vis hills and fields live, and how agrotourism enables them to continue their traditional lifestyle. Darko also likes to dance! |
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| Another day, another cave! This is Green Cave, a short boat ride away on the island of Ravnik. There is a small hole in the 'roof' of the cave and the sunbeam that bursts through the hole creates a spotlight making the cave and water shimmer green and silver. |
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