"I've been waiting all day for Americans..."

Today was amazing! But first I need to back up to yesterday evening. We went to the tour sales kiosks that are lined up along the Riva in search of a tour to the famed Blue Cave and a couple of other highly recommended nearby islands. We decided to skip the smaller speedboats for a larger, multi-level boat with many more shade and inside seat options. As it turns out this was a brilliant call because the boat rides between destinations were all very long and the sun was brutal. Anyway, when we finally found the boat we wanted, the nicest Croatian lady helped us get a spot even though today's tour was technically sold out. She was so happy to see us because she had been waiting all day to say, "Happy Independence Day!" to some Americans 😄

After booking our tour, we went back into the old center of the palace and bought a couple tickets to climb the bell tower. The steps started out extremely steep up into the tiny tight corridor where passing the people coming down was almost impossible. It opened up into some newer stairs with handrails - thank God! - so I managed to haul myself up a million stairs to see the view. Totally worth it, but I had no idea what was in store for today!

Today we started our tour journey at 7:30 am and it lasted until 7:00 pm, talk about getting your money's worth! It was the magical Blue Cave that glows from sunlight filtering through an underwater entrance and turning the whole thing a stunning blue, next we went swimming in a gorgeous cove with the clearest water I have ever seen anywhere in the world. Then on to the island of Hvar where we sprinted up this intimidating hill to walk around a fortress and get back down before the boat left. Next to another little island with a marina full of yachts where we again sprinted up and over a challenging path to a little beach that I'm sure was lovely and relaxing, but we just had a moment to jump in and cool off before heading up and over the path again back to the boat.

It all sounds hectic I guess, but it was a day jam packed with gorgeous sights and simply perfect travel! We just ended with a late dinner at a restaurant called Fig, coincidentally owned by a Californian from Santa Barbara. It was delicious!