We Don't Do Winter or Summer!: Mljet & Korcula Islands

As our time in Dubrovnik drew to an end, we hopped a bus from Old Town to the new port to catch a ferry to Mljet Island. It was a quick 1-½ hour trip with comfortable seating. Though Mljet (muhl-YET) Island is one of Dalmatia’s largest, it is sparsely inhabited and undeveloped, covered with oak and pine forests and is home to Mljet Island National Park—the reason for our visit. Rick Steves suggests a day trip to the Park. We think it is worthy of an overnight or two. There are two adjoining saltwater lakes: Great Lake and Small Lake (connected at a bridge) to walk around, a boat trip to an island in Great Lake, kayaking, scuba diving, biking, swimming in the lakes or in the Adriatic.

We arrived at the Hotel about 4 pm, checked in and found that the buffet dinner wouldn’t start until 7. Not wanting to miss this day’s 10,000 steps, Roger calculated that we had just enough time to buy a Park pass and walk around Small Lake before dinner. We walked up the street from the Hotel, then up and over concrete stairs into the Park—nothing in Croatia comes without stairs! We found the path and wound our way around Small Lake. The pine smells, the bird calls and lack of people were delicious after our time in Dubrovnik. We completed the day with a glass of local white wine and a lovely buffet dinner on the terrace overlooking the water.

The ferry docks where the boats are anchored.

As you can see, the hotel (above the yachts) is just steps away.

Small Lake with Great Lake in the distance.

A map of Mljet National Park with the 2 salt-water lakes.

Ominous clouds greeted us on day 2.

We hoped to do the 5-mile walk around Great Lake, take a boat to the island in the middle, and maybe do some biking or kayaking the following day. But fate had something different in mind. We awoke to a threatening sky and within an hour, rain and thunder. Our check-out time was 10 am, but our ferry didn’t leave until 2 pm. Fortunately the kind Hotel receptionist allowed us to stay in our room until the ferry arrived. We talked, read and watched the rain soak into the dry land. The Croatian coast is nearly as dry as SW Utah—people here were delighted with the storm. About an hour before we caught the ferry, the rain stopped. Roger took the opportunity for a quick jump into the Adriatic. It was a little chilly for me. We left on the ferry, a little disappointed that we were not able to see much of the Park.

Our next island destination was Korcula (pronounced KOR chula) about an hour away. The ferry rides have been pleasant…I sometimes get seasick, but the catamarans have been very stable and the sea gentle.

Our lodging in Korcula was within the Old Town walls—very exciting. Our AirBnB host gave us photos to guide us through the warren of paths. First, we lugged the baggage up the stairs (of course!) through the gate into Old Town, turned left at the 2nd right and we were there. Our place here was fantastic. The host provided us with milk, eggs, bread, coffee, oranges, a liter of homemade strawberry water, cookies, cereal, tea, sliced ham and cheese, plus all the condiments. Oh, my…we were set for the week!

Steps into Old Town

Looking out the Old Town gate

Our place is the pink building on the right.

It doesn’t look so great from the outside, but 40 steps up later…

Here is the kitchen and dining area

And the bedroom. Everything we needed for the 4 days.

We arrived Korcula in time for dinner at a restaurant recommended by our host. It was a few doors away on a terrace overlooking the water. Kathy had baked spinach and cheese cannelloni and Roger had fish. We also ordered a liter of local white wine. Korcula is known for its Grk (pronounced Gurk) and posip white wines, so we treated ourselves. All of this was especially memorable and fun because the storm we left in Mljet Island found us just as we were finishing dinner. Our waitress came by and shook her head. “It looks like rain is coming,” she said to us. “What happens then?” I asked noticing how full the terrace was becoming. “We move inside,” she said. But inside was a space of only about 10x12 feet. An interesting challenge, I thought, as more people were seated for dinner. Imagine, twelve tables of us chatting happily under large umbrellas (which we were told were sun umbrellas) for the shade…all of us happily eating excellent meals. Suddenly the rain starts…at first it is just a little. Our waitress explains that the “sun” umbrellas would protect us for 15 minutes before they started leaking. The minutes pass. Roger and I leisurely finish our meals. Others are just getting started. Guests and waitstaff nudge the tables closer together to avoid the drops from the umbrella edges. The rain picks up. Drops start to fall through the umbrellas. The waitress removes our dinner plates (now empty). We grab our liter of wine (now only a ¼ remains) and rush inside the restaurant. We are the first. We find a small table. We didn’t think there was enough space inside, but we all squeezed in as if it was all planned. Lively conversations and laughter followed. We stumbled home on the cobbled path, very happy after all that wine that we lived just a few doors away. It was a delightful end to a great day.

We spent the next morning exploring Old Town. For centuries it was one of the most important outposts of the Venetian Republic. It retains much of it’s Venetian influence. It is laid out in the shape of a fish skeleton. There is one path down the middle of the walled town and smaller lanes branching off in both directions like ribs on a fishbone. We walked each lane, peeking into the tourist stores, looking at restaurant menus to see what we could afford and what looked good and just getting the lay of the land.

One of small lanes off the main path through Old Town

We returned to our AirBnB to wash laundry (yes, it had a small washing machine), hang it out (many people hang it out the windows, but we had a rack inside for drying), and to overcome our computer problems. We definitely had to be in the right frame of mind to do that. In the end, we were successful. I now have access to Google, to our blog, to our banks, to our regular email, etc. all of which we had been unable to access at one time or another since our arrival. What a good feeling to be reconnected with the world! (Says the woman who never carries her phone with her!)

The next day, we took a small group wine tour. There were 6 couples. We visited 3 wineries and toured a large part of the island. We met a very interesting couple—we think maybe in their late 50s—from Florida. They sold their Florida home, all their possessions, and were traveling around the world. This kind of life decision always fascinates Roger and me. They usually stay in a place for at least a month so that they feel like a part of the community…they learn how to live in a foreign place. They make plans for the next destination and perhaps one or two more. They are just “bumping along.” They have no set itinerary, but plan to meet with friends from the States along the way. Lovely people, lovely conversation…made the wine tasting all the better. We tasted the red Plavic Mali and white Posip wines along with many others at the 3 stops plus honey, cherry liquor, dessert wines, and local cheeses. Another lovely day.

One of the stops on our tour.

The last wine stop

An isolated beach on our wine route.

If you sailed the Adriatic, you would find tiny harbors,

beaches and turquoise water everywhere.

Vineyards on Korcula

One day we hiked around Korcula harbor to a “water park” and series of beaches. The walk took us along the coast, past beautiful homes, around a little harbor and then to a roped-off swimming area (roped off from the boat traffic). We never found the “water park” which according to the road sign had a slide, etc. We did find a beautiful campground right on the water with lots of trailers and campers. We continued our walk on an unpaved path that extended around a peninsula, found an isolated spot and jumped into the cool water. It felt great after working up a sweat on the walk. We looked through a large grocery store (well-located near the campers) and a nice hotel (largely populated by Croatians, I think) and finally we split a beer at a beachside cafe.

Our last morning on Korcula, we took pictures and sat for an hour or so watching people. A cormorant kept diving and surfacing near us. In the crystal clear water, we could clearly see the bird chase its prey under water. It corraled the fish onto the rocks near where we sat and then tried to catch it. Several times, the fish jumped back into the water and hopped along the surface to escape. Finally, the bird caught its breakfast…almost like a PBS special right within our view.