CAS260B Pearls of the Adriatic Sea
Everyone arrived a day early and that was so smart as everyone stayed awake during our Welcome Briefing and the motorcycle handover. We had dinner and learned many new things about each member of our riding group. A few fun facts during our introductions were shared and brought the group closer. Some of our riders could not wait to get on the bikes as many wanted to learn everything about their bikes, as soon as possible. The guys quickly tried out all the buttons and adjusted the bikes for their needs, whereas the ladies stood back and watched everything unfold. Tomorrow we are going to ride to the beautiful Island of Hvar.
We left the city of Split in the morning and traveled along the coast to Omis where we took a left along the Cetina River. We marveled at the beautiful gorge with the same name and had a nice coffee stop at the same time. At the ferry port Drevenik we took the 30 minute ferry to the beautiful island of Hvar. Once on Hvar, we only had the choice of one road across the entire island to reach our lovely beachfront hotel. We arrived a bit ahead of schedule so we could take advantage of the beach and the lovely amenities at the hotel.
Today’s route started beautifully. We saw no cars on the road from Hvar to Drevenik, the ferry port. We enjoyed a sunny morning with nice curves when we climbed over Hvar’s elevated landscape. Once back on the mainland, we rode just past Ploce for lunch. Then we stopped over in the walled city of Ston where we admired the great defensive walls of Mali Ston and Ston while having a leisurely walk in the planned-out city. As we left Ston and entered the tunnels we saw the weather change and quickly put our rain gear on. Then we kept going along the coast in the rain until we reached Dubrovnik. After a quick gas stop we arrived at our hotel and enjoyed a round of boot beer.
What a day! Old Town Dubrovnik with Game of Thrones walk of shame throwbacks, international border crossings, rain, super lunch, mega hotel with two pools and an awesome private beach at the Bay of Kotor. Oh, and did we mention great mountain roads? At any rate, we had a ball today despite a bit of a downpour in the mountains while in Bosnia. Back in Montenegro the sun returned and we all smiled.
Today our ladies had a spa day and relaxed. The boys rode their bikes up to Mount Lovćen and into the National Park by the same name. We had gorgeous weather for both schedules. The pictures should speak for themselves. Additionally, we celebrated two unrelated birthdays tonight. We all hope this group will have many more birthday celebrations in the future. Happy birthday, Sheila and Ron! Or as we sang" Sherona!
Today we returned to Bosnia i Herzegovina. We circled the Bay of Kotor one last time and took in the sweet views of the mountains and the sea, side by side. Then we climbed the Black Mountains and experienced a very quick border crossing. Once in Bosnia we learned that cows like to hang out right next to the roads and sometimes loiter on our pavement. All went well and we had a very nice Bosnian coffee experience. As we headed towards Mostar we climbed the Dinarian Alps one more time and descended into the Valley where Mostar is. We could not have imagined a better entrance to this magical city. After our best boot beer yet (+2), we wandered in the tight alleys of the Old Town. Whatever happens in Mostar, stays in Mostar, or so goes the saying, right?
We left Mostar and passed by the infamous sniper tower which was a symbol of the heavily contested Balkan Wars from 1992-96. Then we swept through the luscious Bosnian hills and valleys along the Croatian border. Later we crossed back into Croatia and traveled north towards Split. At Split we jumped on the E65 and traveled on the freeway for a bit to arrive in Zadar in time. Overall, it was an eventful day, no rain, but one technical problem reared its head and had to be cleaned up. Once in Zadar, we enjoyed another boot beer and a swim in the pool before dinner.
Today’s day belonged to each couple of this group. Some stayed by the pool, some explored the lovely city of Zadar and Old Town. … and some of us switched one of the RTs out for a spare bike just to be on the safe side for Ron’s RT differential. With Tom Skritic’s excellent local language skills we consulted a local professional and diagnosed the issue to make the bike switch. So that Ron and Diann will have fun during our last riding day (tomorrow) into Split. Then in the evening we all convened at dinner and listened to each other’s stories of how we spent the day.
Our last riding day took us along the coastline of Dalmatia from Zadar to Split. We stopped in Sibenik for coffee and marveled at all the boats and shiny people there. The weather stayed perfect with sunshine and 25 degrees Celsius (75 F) as we hugged the coast near Primosten and all the way to Trogir. In Trogir we stopped for lunch and took in some of the sights in old town. As we headed back to Split we took a detour and headed up a very steep hill. All bikes made it up and down and we arrived at our hotel in time for put last boot beer. What a great journey we had through some of the finest places on the Adriatic Sea.