"I hate America" "I hate doctors" and "I hate tourist" was the start my conversation with an elegant French woman who knew nothing about me besides my accent.   Her white hair was swept into a perfect bun, her English was impeccable, and our conversion covered everything from stroke recovery, medical advances or lack thereof, art and the meaning of human connections.   That is what I love about traveling, the time to explore the "whys" of all of these statements and ask myself the same questions. By the time our boat pulled into this new port, we had exchanged numbers, heard how she and her Croatian husband meet at ages 15 and 17 on a train and "time stood perfectly still."   We were invited to see her house, a house outside of town with a "perfect trail; a trail Jesus would have walked on" overlooking the sea. She gave us advice on where the locals drank coffee and the "only restaurant that is not a total sham."

We were greeted in the city by a taxi our Airbnb host set up for us given their concern about us walking with our luggage (little did they know about our small packs) and brought to our new home - a historic windmill overlooking the ancient city of Hvar.  

The Island of Hvar is just south of the island of Brac with a fascinating history.  Archeologist have found remnants of Neolithic people on the island, and then later the Illyrians settled the area and then the Greek who build a colony of Pharos around 400 BC  thought to be one of the oldest towns in Europe. Later the Romans who left numerous buildings and then in the middle ages Croatians dominated the land. Later it was a critical Austrian port before it returned to being Croatian, then German, then Yugoslavian and back to Croatian.  It has a rich sea history between the near east and Europe. The town of Grand Hvar has dominated the Croatian tourist seen for 150 years after a physician saw the potential of the island for "relaxation" and "healing." He worked to restore many of the old buildings and encourage European travelers.  After the Yugoslav wars tourism in Croatia boomed. Hvar island especially has been the heart of this growth. Royal visits started in the late 1800's, Jackie O came in 1964 followed by Orson Welles. Jody Foster in the 1970's described it as "the most beautiful place on earth." However, what locals will tell you changed everything was in 2011 when Beyonce shared her "baby bump" with the world and named her child "Blue Ivy" (who has since received honorary Croatian citizenship) after a tree in Hvar.   That coupled with the Pope's preference for Hvar wines has landed this island and this town solidly on the tourist map.

We chose to come here at the end of the season, and are glad we did as it sounds like summer can be crazy.  This time of year, while a different restaurant closes every day were are here, the beautiful beaches are ours alone, and at night the streets are run not by party going tourist, but local kids and games of ball.  

We have settled back into our nuclear family and have spent our time getting caught up on work (thanks for holding down the fort!), blogs (thanks for still following along!), learning more about the complex and fascinating history of this region and planning for the next stages of our trip.