Day 03 - Delnice, Croatia to Krk, Croatia

Temperatures reached 100 degrees (F), at worst, on a day with modest climbing, a distance of 71km, and a massive descent, dropping a total of 1,300 meters over the day. Leaving Delnice, we encoutnered a few rolling hills, and then a long, gentle descent over 4k that cooled us down in the speed. Another climb, and then we had a rollercoaster fall, a much steeper ride down with astounding views of the Adriatic Sea. Suddenly, the Mediterranean scenery and colors bloomed before our eyes.

Directions being a bit iffy (not all maps showed the same route), we rode together much of the day, and enjoyed the awesome views over a 1.4km bridge. All the beauty helped, because for most of us, the heat was quite overpowering. At times, we hit stretches of road that seemed to roll on without a hint of shade, the sun gleaming overhead in a cloudless sky. So, a highpoint for everyone was the water hose and sprinklers on the side of a building. We filled our CamelBaks and frolicked in the water, only to sizzle again on the open roads. Toward our day's destination, Krk, the ride was not only very hot, but very bumpy. Zooming cars and little shoulder room made for "let's get this over with" conditions.

After many hours in the sun, peddling in sweaty riding clothes for hours, it was quite a shock to learn that our hostel was not expecting us. After some negotiations, they agreed to open, but only at 7PM, 4 hours later. With no showers in sight, we headed straight for the waterfront in Krk jumped in the calm, extremely welcome Adriatic. Anything irksome or difficult faded away, and the moment made it all very worth while.

Krk (one of our vowel-lacking stops), is a beautiful town on the sea. It has large cobble stone walk ways and labyrinthine, narrow streets reminiscent of Southern Spain or Morocco, and the white sand stone and pastel colors famous in these parts. We enjoyed gelato and dinner (in that order) in a charming outdoor café visited by street cats. We noticed few if any tourists from the US, apart from the majority of our group, which was nice in its own way: we are off the beaten track, indeed.

Our hostel was a bit raggedy, understandable since it had been closed for some time. Conversations between Connie and the manager were their own breed of humor (see quotes below). Knowing we had a 7:15AM ferry to catch the next morning (and a 13km ride before hand), we headed to bed as soon as we could.

Croatian Fun Fact (courtesy of Lonely Planet)
In total area, Croatia is slightly smaller than West Virginia.

Quotes of the Day
Manager: So, you are 15 people?
Connie: Yes.
Manager: How many men?
Connie: 11.
Manager: OK, so that's 4 women and 10 men?
Connie: No, 11 men. Four women, and 11 men.
Manager: 14.
Connie: 15.
Manager: Wait. FOUR WOMEN. . .
Connie: Yes.
Manager: . . . and TEN MEN (holding up all his fingers).
Connie: We are a total of 15 people.
Manager: Men and women separate. How many men?
(And so on for a while.)

Manager: Breakfast is at 5AM.
Connie: Perfect!
Manager: Oh, I was just kidding.
Connie: But we actually do need breakfast at 5:30!

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Created: Saturday, June 23, 2007 08:28