Korcula Here We Come

There’s no mistaking when the ship’s engines get revved up.  I was already awake this morning around 6:30 AM when the rumbling started.  The Colombo was departing for the island (and town) of Korcula -the next location for our ride today.

Our breakfast was scheduled for 8:00 A.M and then Miranda and Lucija gave us our morning briefing.

We still had a couple of hours until the expected arrival at the town of Korcula.  Mike and I took advantage of the extra time to check Email and get our devices charged up.  

The Colombo was accompanied by the Princeza Diana, a sister ship from Sail Croatia, that is also doing the same route as we are….only on a slightly nicer ship.

As we approached Korcula, we had a really nice waterside view of the town.

Just before we docked in Korcula, the Princeza finally went ahead of us and arrived at the dock first.  We had to tie-up to them when we arrived.  We were wondering how the crew would get the bikes to shore -it seemed complicated,  But, it was obvious they’d done it a few times before. 

One crew person would get the bike on the upper deck, and hand it down the ship ladder to a waiting crew member.

He would roll it down the side to where the step was between the ships and hand it over to a third crew person, who rolled it through the Princeza to the dock.

One by one until all of the bikes were delivered to shore and waiting for us to start our ride.

Like everywhere we’ve been so far – Korcula has a very deep history.  It is known for its specialty wine and also as the reputed birthplace of Marco Polo.

Mike and I have started using a bluetooth bike intercom system to be able to talk to each other when riding.  We brought them on this trip -and I’m glad we did.  But today… There was definitely a game of… Marco?   ….Polo!   going on all during our ride.

The route was fairly simple for the day.  We rode out along a coastal road for about 8-1/2 miles and took a break in a small village.  Then we turned around and headed back mostly the way we’d come -but with a side trip to an overlook.

When I pull out my camera while riding -I’m mostly doing it with one hand and just holding it pointed in the general direction of my shot (while keeping one eye on the road), taking a photo and hoping for the best.  I told a few of our fellow riders that sometimes I got lucky and sometimes the pictures look like I handed the camera to a monkey!  I took the picture below while riding, with the camera over my head hoping to get Mike because I knew he was behind me at the moment.  Not bad.. hah.

Just after I took the above picture, we turned onto a very narrow road and pedaled along the shore.  The road was right at the shore and there wasn’t anything keeping us from falling off the edge if we weren’t careful.

The view was so pretty.

As we arrived in the town where we’d take our break, I noticed this interesting (to me) house.  Because we stopped I was able to walk back and take a picture.  I liked the fishes on the railings.

After a break, we hit the road, going back the way we’d come.

I’d seen this chapel on the way out and knew I wanted to take a picture on the way back.  Lucija is very accommodating for picture stops -although I tried not to do it too often so that I didn’t delay the ride too much.  With the E-bikes it was easy to catch up after a stop though.

Mike alerted me that he’d seen a sign post for the Camino.  Any time I see a Camino way marker in Europe, I like to get a picture of it.  I started keeping my eye out and -poor Lucija- I had to stop again.

Then I had to stop again because there was a beautiful cactus blooming on the side of the road.

We had to follow the shore around a small bay.  I was still catching up from my picture stop -so I tried to get a picture of Mike on the other side.  He’s hard to see, but he’s in front of house in the middle -just past the blue car.

Not long after that picture, we turned to go up to an overlook for the city.

There was a sign, so I tried an “artsy” picture.

For some reason, I didn’t take any more pictures of the rest of the ride -although it wasn’t far at all back to the mooring.

It was a very nice relaxing ride.  They’d said it was a “recovery day ride” -meaning it was supposed to be easy.  There were some hills, but much easier than the last couple of days.  

After dinner we took a stroll through the old part of Korcula.  It was interesting -with a lot of narrow alley’s and twists and turns.

This is the land gate entrance to the old part of Korcula.

Nearby at the top of the stairs was this wall sculpture that looks decidedly Veneitan

Directly inside the city gate was the church.

Doorway

Alley

An old closed off door of some sort.

Nearby by was a break in the wall quite hight up and we could see a bit of interesting “ruins” in the space beyond it.  Mike was tall enough to try to capture it.  A lady walking by was really curious about what we were taking a picture of.

I’m pretty sure this was an entry courtyard to a hotel.

The plaza in front of the old city entrance.

We walked around the sides of the walled old city to try to see the towers.

After all of that it was gelato time!  After we were done with our treat, we went back to the Colombo and settled in for the night.

Miles:  18.1     Ascent/Decent:  1,175     Average Speed:  10.3

Categories: Part 4: Korcula