Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky / With one hand waving free / Silhouetted by the sea / Circled by the circus sands / All memory and fate / Driven deep beneath the waves / Let me forget about today until tomorrow
As if there weren’t enough reasons to fall in love with Cres already, here’s another: there’s a waterfront cafe that opens at six, about forty yards from our apartment. If I grow tired of that one, there’s another one that opens a half hour later about twenty yards past it. I imagine they open so early to support the fishing fleet. I could try them both out, but with only three mornings here I may as well stay with Cafe Bar Fortis, now that I know it has good WiFi available.
And, I like the music. While I’m here this morning, they play the original version of Mister Tambourine Man. How appropriate, Here in such a seductive setting. Why not just stay on here in this calm, beautiful spot and wait until the world regains its sanity?
Beautiful this morning. Looks like a perfect day to ride, but we won’t.
When I started scoping out this trip last spring, I imagined three days in Cres in the autumn could be amazing. There are at least two rides from town that look great, besides the roads that brought us here and will take us away. To the south the main road continues for another forty miles almost, to the end of the connected island of Lošinj. Too far for a day ride for us, but we should at least bike as far as Osor and see the famous swing bridge that connects the two islands, spanning a narrow navigable channel that was cut during Roman times. Going the other way, we could climb back up to the high point of the ridge and then drop down the other side of the island to Beli, and maybe see if any members of its Griffon Vulture colony are at home.
Today looks like a perfect day to ride, if a bit windy. It looks like fair conditions should persist until well into the afternoon. Still, we’re not taking either of these rides. We’re going for a walk - Rachael’s choice today. I consider biking out to Osor by myself, but after I help her plot out a walking route I decide that it looks like a great way to spend the day and decide to join her. We can bike tomorrow, perhaps.
The walk we map out follows the shoreline to the end of the path for perhaps four miles. On the way there or the return, we’ll leave the shoreline to walk one of the paths up the slope a ways. From the map it looks like it passes through an expanse of stone walls and olive groves. It looks like it should be brilliant, and it is. For the next eight miles we wander through a timeless landscape that feels like it could have looked much like this a thousand years ago. Once we pass the marina and leave the coastline we don’t see another person until we return to it along the shore.
After following the waterfront through the outskirts of town and past the marina, we leave the shoreline to follow this crude road through the olive groves.
Scott AndersonTo Ron SuchanekAmazing the lies you can tell with a camera, isn’t it. She caught me in a good moment. It’s that good, no stress Cres fresh air. Also, the $70,000 in hair stylist fees helped. Reply to this comment 3 years ago
Not far from the sea, the road we’ve been following turns back inland again. Our route to the sea though follows this narrow rocky path that reminds us of the monopati we hiked on Serifos in the Greek islands years ago.
Turning back, we follow the shoreline all the way back to town. The next two miles look pretty much like this until we near the marina. Note the clouds though, which are developing and darkening. Rains will start less than a half hour after we’re back at the apartment.
We get back dry, but the rest of the day is dark and wet. We huddle in our room until dinner, and then head for the closest restaurant to our room. As Rachael walks to a shop to buy cookies I wait for the bill and am presented a bottle of Maraksa from Zadar for an aperitif. Maraska is the Croatian word for maraschino, which apparently originated in this part of the world.
Scott FenwickScott and Rachel, you have picked a wonderful route in Croatia. It brings back great memories as Pat and I visited Cres for a very brief time eight years ago on a boat and cycle tour of the islands in the Kvarner Bay. It was the crowning jewel of our first European cycle tour and we have not looked back since. A couple of years later we completed an unsupported tour of the southern islands. As many people have discovered, the islands in Croatia are certainly special. Reply to this comment 3 years ago
Scott AndersonTo Scott FenwickSomeone else who’s been to Cres! It’s quite a special place, as you know then. And mixing boating and cycling sounds enticing, alright. Rachael has been lobbying for a gulet tour of the Turkish coast for years now.
Hey, it’s late September again. Shouldn’t you and Maggie be on tour about now? Reply to this comment 3 years ago
