from Dublin to........Mirissa, Sri Lanka: Getting squidy wid it, Hvar (Croatia)

From the lazy days and nights in Korcula to the madness in Hvar, it was a rude shock, but a welcome change of pace. The main culprit being Kiva Bar, basically the only place to go out during the off-season. All the hostel owners encourage their guests to go there each evening so they can collect their commission / payments for doing so. This was ok because the bar was really fun. The bar staff were particularly friendly, giving us many free drinks, especially on the third night in a row there. Each night I think we were there till closing. What made it so good was the great bunch of people staying at the hostel that came out each night.

The place was crazy the first night. Bumped into the dwarf kidnapper from Dubrovnik there too. Mariano and Justin were loose the night. Helmet shots and 1L cocktails were being smashed. Limbo by the girls was enforced upon them. Missed out on the early morning swim on the way back to the hostel as I was too engrossed in trying to “borrow” a golf cart parked on the mariner.

Not surprisingly it was a quiet day at the beach to recover. A 30min walk from the centre of town, but worth it. Pebbles of course, but beautiful clear waters. Saw that Aussie yacht docked in the mariner that day too. Back to Kiva bar again that night after 2/3 of a bottle of red under my belt. The four of us that went there early were the first ones in the bar (it was just after 10pm) and we were rewarded with a couple free shots of our choice. Kahlua please! The bar eventually filled up and it was crazy again. IT was really busy at closing time of 2am…..so what do you do, you keep the bar open for another hour or so. Met plenty of people that night…..some I saw back there the following evening. Justin lost his phone that night which had 3 months of photos on it….”Faaarrrrkkkkk!!!” (in-joke) and I nearly had my foot broken by a stray limbo-er (still causing me grief four days later).

Was a bit of a mess the next day due to lack of sleep. An afternoon nap, a Berocca and a swim and I was ready to go again. By the third night the barman knew me well and what I drank. Recall only buying two drinks that night, a 1L cocktail and another one to share with Haley. Must have had 5 free shots on top of that, 3 of them drunk with the barman. Gold. Recollections are vague at best from that night but I do recall Haley and myself getting rather out of control. Suffered badly the following day. A few of the guys missed their early morning ferries as they were too drunk and slept in. I was staying another night thank god and it was going to be an alcohol free day too. Back to the beach with Berta and Esther to recover. I saw absolutely bugger all of Hvar Island and I don’t regret it at all.

So the squid you ask….well I had originally booked two nights in Hvar but when I got there I discovered there was a local food (squid) festival and squid fishing competition on starting in a few days, so I extended my stay. It was a 2.5 day event with cooking demonstrations at lunch highlighting the use of squid (and free to eat afterwards), a wine tasting (which I missed), live music in the evenings and a screening of an opera/theatre production held performed in the Hvar theatre which had turned 400 years old. Disappointingly I didn’t see any of the squi fishing weigh-ins. The festival, designed to extend the tourist season, didn’t seem to work very well (it was the first time it was held). Maybe it will be more successful next year.

There is a very small chance I may go back to Hvar in late October. Within about 10 minutes of arriving at the hostel, the owner Luka (a hell of a nice guy, but can be slightly intense at times), invited me to help him pick olives from his planation for a week or more. Sounds great. Free board and not too long a day working. I asked him when he starts picking….’in 3 weeks time’. ’Ah. Well I can’t stay here that long as I need to see Italy as well.’ So if by some small chance I don’t end up liking Italy, I may head back here for a couple weeks to hang out. Am kinda hoping I may find a similar offer in Sicily. I had intended on titling this post ‘Superstar DJ….here we go!’ as Luka kept greeting me with “Hey boy” or “Hey guy”, not “Hey girl” though.