The Island Of Korcula

Today we decided to make our way to The island of Korcula (Pronounced Korchula), which is about 100 km northwest of where we are staying. In order to get to this island, by car, you have to drive almost to the tip of a peninsula, to a community called, Orebic, and from there, take a ferry. 

The road to Orebic is very serpentine.....INCREDIBLY narrow, winding and much of it is on an incredibly high coastal ledge....with rock walls on one side and steep, deadly, rugged drops to the ocean, on the other side. Keep in mind, NO SHOULDERS, a FLIMSY metal guard rail on the ocean side, a speed limit of 30 km/hr and locals who drive very aggressively and FAST!!! It was a scenic but intense drive.....putting our winding road trips, in Portugal, to shame!! (It took about 2 hrs to drive 100km!!) 

We stopped for gas, and while there, I saw a young man sitting on a cement ledge, cracking something with a stone, then eating what he had gotten into! I went over and saw it was fresh walnuts! (OMG!!!)He was sitting under a walnut tree! I was so excited to gather some walnuts, which we, then, enjoyed while resting there, for awhile. We were able to take a small bowl full home, as well! Did you know that walnuts (and almonds) have a soft 'skin' around the hard shell of the nut, which breaks down and is shed when the nut is mature??  Fresh walnuts are soooooo good.....there is nothing like them, for flavour!! Here is the tree and the delicious fruit from it!!....

The drive we took, also had us in SERIOUS wine country!! Each town, we drove through, had a wine (and olive oil) tasting/ selling venue every second building!! We stopped at a lone wine shop along the highway at a VERY elevated point, where the view was amazing!  We bought a bottle of their best wine and enjoyed some conversation with the owner. There were 2 stray puppies there, foraging in the garbage and just hanging around, hoping to get a ride to their forever home!! They wanted to come back to Canada with us, sooooo bad!!! I felt so sad leaving them behind!!

We stopped in Orebic, for a very tasty pizza lunch, before taking the ferry over to Korcula....

Orebic is a very pretty and vibrant coastal/port town. We did not spend too much time exploring it, but enjoyed what we saw....

The ferry ride to Korcula took about 20 minutes.....

One of Korcula's claims to fame is that it is the birthplace of Marco Polo!! We toured the 'Old Town' and enjoyed a walk , along the coast line, from one ferry port to another! Korcula's is clearly a very beautiful island with quite a pulse. We did not have time to fully explore it but, it was clear to both of us that it would be a nice place to vacation! There were lots of quaint, artistic shops, which we enjoyed browsing through and of course, the scenery was amazing and beautiful! I know I have said it before, but I am going to say it again.....the water in Adriatic Sea is sooooooo crystal clear and inviting!!! So beautiful!! 

We had a good time in Korcula. Our drive, home, in the dark, on the harrowing, serpentine road was not that fun, but once we got safely tucked in, at home,  we enjoyed our special bottle of wine and felt grateful for another day of adventure!!