Austria at last!

We left the dalmatian islands and traveled by boat and bus, did laundry, traveled some more by train and bus, and finally arrived in a small guest house in Austria.

 Apparently, this was a great moment for my hiking boot's glue to give out.

(Seriously, apart from not happening at all, the timing couldn't have been better -- it was just a 20 minute bus ride to a store where I could buy the exact same boots again and we were good to go!)

Once new shoes had been acquired, we went straight up the mountain on a 75 degree angle. When we were lucky, there were ropes and steps -- most of the time it was just leaves and pine needles.

Our first hut, the Hochstadelhaus, was empty except for us and the owner. After some fun conversations about the pandemic, politics, and foreigners and a good night's sleep, we left early the next day for a long hike in dubious weather.

Still, it wasn't bad all the time, and the hike was gorgeous and felt super remote.

After a good 6.5 hours, we finally saw the Karlsbader hütte at a short distance away!

Unfortunately, it turned out to be a popular hut for army training as well as hikes and via Ferrara, so it was packed. We got assigned a table right in the middle of the room, all windows were closed, CO2 levels rose to the 3000s, and what's worst is that the food was terrible 😔

Next day, we descended to a fancy wellness resort where we spent the rest of the day in the infinity pool, exploring the various saunas, and eating.

Not many photos though because we were encouraged to be naked and phoneless.

After this brief intermezzo of luxury, it was back to relentless hiking and sleeping in dorms.

Island hopping II: Jelsa (on Hvar island)

After two days in Bol, we got on the catamaran again and went to Jelsa on the next island, Hvar.

Things started off great with a super friendly guesthouse where we were offered beer and wine on arrival. We then walked through the old town (cleverly avoiding the touristy places near the harbor).

 and had an amazing fish stew with polenta (brodet) for dinner.

Next day, we hiked through lovely fields full of grape vines and lavender, and then climbed a mountain from which you could see both island coasts.

That evening, we went back to the same restaurant where the other dishes we tried were great but not as amazing as the prior night's fish stew so only one picture was taken...

For our second hike on the island, we followed the coast for miles and miles.

I had hoped to cross a hill to take a different route back, but unfortunately not all paths in our online map actually exist IRL.

So we walked back to Jelsa the way we came and ended our last day on the island with aperol spritz in the harbor followed by an amazing dinner of lamb peka.

So delicious!!!

Island hopping I: Bol (on Braç island)

Our boat from Makarska to Bol got cancelled at the last minute, so we travelled back to Split and caught a catamaran from there.

What shall we say about Bol? The mountains were lower than on the mainland so we managed to make it all the way to the top.

Our hotel had a nice pool to cool off and relax our sore muscles.

But the food was only so-so, so we had to resort to eating cake to fill ourselves up. And it was all just a bit too pretty for our tastes...(also, too many British tourists and too many coughing people for comfort).

Frans described it as "like being in Disneyland and not being able to leave". It definitely wasn't as bad as that, but not our favorite stop in Croatia...

Hiking around the Makarska Riviera

After sitting in buses full of 20-year-olds for a whole day (maybe we should have rented a car after all!), we arrived in sunny Makarska. We were a bit worried seeing all the tourists, but Makarska offered some amazing hiking and food!

Makarska is right on the sea, right below some pretty steep mountains. We braved the burning sun, and hiked up to beautiful views.

And once even took care of some work communications on the way...

After which we happily hiked some more...

In the evenings, we ate a lot. First restaurant we tried was disappointing, with octopus (no photo) and squid-ink risotto (our poo was black for *days* after that!).

The restaurant next door was better, with slightly obscene carrots draped over delicious beef cheeks and lots of Plavic Mali, our new favorite wine.

Kamp Velebit

We took a bus from Opatija to the cheap and somewhat-depressing seaside resort of Karlobag.

The weather was horrible -- extreme wind and rain -- so this seemed like a perfect time to take an early morning bus up to the Velebit mountains.

We had hoped to stay in a hobbit themed little hut like this. 

But I messed up our booking so instead we stayed here (which had electricity and was closer to the restrooms so it was actually a good choice given the horrible weather).

We spent our day planning the rest of our trip...

... and walking a mile back and forth through strong winds to the local restaurant to eat cevapcici.

The weather fortunately cleared up the next day, so we got to do some hikes as well. 

The crazy wind, scary paths and thousands of disgusting transparant flies made hiking a challenge though.

So most of our time was spent chilling in the restaurant or in front of our tiny cabin, until finally there was another bus that could take us down the mountain again....