Peter's sketch of Skradin from our hotel balcony
Looking back at Skradin at the top of our first "official" climb.
On our first "official" day to bike touring we left Skradin around 10:30 am and climbed about 8k - this provided a wonderful view back to the National Park Krka we visited on our first tour day. We greatly enjoyed our rest stop at about 20K in Sibenik, a UNESCO World Heritage City with wonderful medieval streets and better yet, freshly fried sweet dough balls sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar - wow.
Fueling up on the local Sibinek treats...
And smiling along with the Sibinek locals.
Having fortified ourselves with those treats, we ended up riding the last 30K straight into Primosten. The coves and inlets are incredibly picturesque and the waters of the Adriatic are a remarkable, cerulean blue we have never seen in our neck of the woods. We had stunning vistas of the nearby islands - and as the Dalmatian Islands are a large part of our later bike route we started to get VERY excited to experience island biking!
Old fortress walls on the route to Primosten.
Primosten is a sweet town that is actually an island itself (a la Mont St. Michel) - our hotel was situated right on the beach, and we loved hearing the surf from our balcony.
We all took shuttles to dinner at an "Agrotourism" site in the ancient village of Draga, just outside of Primosten. It was a fascinating mix of ancient cooking styles melded with modern agriculture. As Peter said, it is one tough place to make a living - the land is 99% rocks, and to plant a few olive trees and grapevines requires laborious backbreaking work. Even so, we enjoyed flavored liqueurs and native Croatian cooking that belied the struggle to farm in such arid country.
The EPlus bikers at Draga...
And the incredibly delicious outcome of the 2-3 hours of slow cooking!
After a short but good sleep we were off again this AM to bike 43K to Trogir. The ride started with a very VERY challenging 4K climb right off the bat - we are talking 15% grade with precious little warm-up. I am ever so glad to have worked hard this past winter with a trainer, as we had so few chances to bike outside in Minnesota this spring. Both Peter and I fared well on the 3 steep climbs on the route. 43K (25 miles) is a walk in the park in our town, but the topography of today's ride made it a challenging but rewarding workout - the views at the top are stunning!
Primosten is WAY in the distance after our first big climb of the day.
Beautiful poppies (and Peter) decorated the landscape during our awesome ride.
We arrived at our hotel by noon, cleaned up and strolled over to the medieval center of Trogir, another UNESCO World Heritage site. Its architecture is wonderfully intricate, a complex blend of Greek, Roman, Venetian and Croatian influences. The harbor area is full of boats of all sizes and purposes, one more interesting than the next.
Looking at Trogir from the bridge crossing.
Peter had the chance to sit and sketch in two different spots within Trogir, both in public courtyards:
Dinner was on our own tonight, and thanks to the recommendation of John, Carolyn and Lee we ended up at a wonderful restaurant (Kamerleago). The service was superb - which in my definition is funny, friendly and hugely helpful - and the food was just delicious. Word got out quickly in our group, and after our foursome was seated at 7 pm, eleven more Experience Plus bikers showed up to eat as well! It was great fun. Tomorrow brings a great day of biking, boat rides and ferry rides - and hopefully more fab weather!
Trogir by night from our hotel balcony.
Peter is a wonderful artist!
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