To Sea!

 May 31 2025

 

Today's the day! We were able to put our bags on the ship at 10:30, but not able to board until noon, so the morning meant a slow check-out from the apartment, then waiting around. We were told we'd be fed a huge lunch at 1:00, so don't eat breakfast. Bettyanne and I wanted coffee -- I'm not usually a coffee drinker, but in countries such as this, it's irresistible.  We asked at one of the spiffy restaurants lining the harbour if we could just have coffee, but no. Lots of empty tables, but you know. We found a tiny coffee bar and were directed to climb a narrow spiral staircase to a guy at a cappuccino machine and a long, narrow balcony. Coffee here, while delicious, often comes at temperatures somewhere between cool and tepid. If you ask for very hot, it’s actually warm. We sat with our warm, delicious café lattes and looked down our noses at all those fancy eateries.

Carol was out there somewhere, and she eventually found us by following such directions as: 3 lines of streamers past the white and black and red boat, directly in front of the tallest palm tree. That and Bettyanne wildly waving her pink hat led her to us. 

Pink-hat photographer

 We finally got onto the ship, the Mali Ante, achieved by crossing the decks and passageways of several ships rafted together. We were assigned our rooms. Bettyanne and I are in Room 13, Carol is sharing Room 12 with Gill from Scotland. 

Room 13, before we messed it up too much

Outside our upper-deck door, a breezy common sitting area

We were given an introductory talk from our guides, Miranda and Ana, the usual: ship routines and rules, the schedule.

Then we were given lunch, an immense spread served family-style at each table: First course, Penne with ground beef; second course, roast veal with roasted vegetables and mushrooms; dessert, a cheesy-sweet confection wrapped in filo. I generally don’t eat red meat, but I don’t make hard rules for myself. I expected it might be like this. Apparently our chef is the best in all the fleet of Sail Croatia, so I’m not complaining!

The ship sailed out of Split after lunch, taking several hours to reach Rogoznica. We snoozed. There’s been a lot of snoozing on this trip!

Pulling into Rogoznica

 

Rafting up beside another ship like ours There are lots of these small cruise boats in Croatia.

 
In Rogoznica, we were given our bikes and we took off on a test ride of about 5 km, to make sure each of us had a bike that would suit us. There was a bit of a hill, and four people switched from a regular bike to an e-bike right away. Bettyanne and I had pre-ordered e-bikes. Carol is on a regular bike, but nervous.

Our tiny tour took us to the Dragon’s Eye Lake. This is a round, deep lake with straight cliff-wall sides, much like the cenotes of the Yucatan. Ana told us a legend of the lake that had an element in common with cenote history: the sacrifice of virgins, in this case to the dragon that protected the people of the area. Apparently when one such young woman was up for sacrifice, she fashioned a sword from the anchors of fishermen, and stabbed the dragon in the eye. That eye burned a hole in the ground, forming this lake. (Something like that.)

Dragon's Eye Lake, 15 metres deep

Returning from our short ride, everyone went their separate ways for dinner, to the several restaurants lining the harbour by our ship. Bettyanne and I ate together. She only had room for a salad after that big lunch, but I ordered grilled octopus, which I’ve been craving since I was in Portugal in 2023. I guess I should have known by the price (cheap at €21 — it’s usually closer to €40) that it wouldn’t live up to my Portuguese experience. It was fine, but reinforced that it’s the chef, not the ingredients, that matters.