Hanging Out With Mike

Since my brother, Mike, is here visiting with me on Hvar, I get to take him to all the places that we fell in love with almost ten years ago when we discovered this island in Croatia.

It all started here, at a campground on the south side of the island. We'd driven down the entire island with our three vacationing families, looking for just the right place to pitch our tents.

After hours of searching, we found Camp Lili in Jagodna, on the south side of the island. We hadn't even known it existed until that fateful day we drove in search of a campground!

So of course I had to bring him here as it's part of our sweetest family memories.

Ask my brother and he'll tell you...I still get giddy seeing the beauty of the Adriatic here! I'm glad it was sunny, which showed the color of the sea so vividly.

Though it was hard to tear ourselves away from this idyllic spot, we then headed over to another spot on the island that we love.

The village of Humac is a well preserved pastoral village from an era gone by. Originating in the 17th century, its quaint stone houses are a marvel to see.

But before wandering through its now uninhabited paths, we hiked up to the spine of the island for a lookout.

I couldn't stop thanking the Lord for such beautiful weather these days as I share Hvar with Mike! Seriously, how could it get any more spectacular than that?

We meandered our way down into the village, taking in these amazing stone buildings from centuries ago.

There is a bit of a resurgence of activity in Humac, with several stone buildings being renovated, and crops being planted. Don't you think a vineyard would grow better with a view like that?!

And I'd sure love to be back on Hvar in June sometime to see this lavender field in Humac!

All that walking and soaking in of beautiful sights called for some refreshment once we reached the town of Jelsa.

And we took our seat on the infamous Jelsa bench, considered to be only for those with wisdom.

Hope we qualified!

With the tourist season winding down, Jelsa was quietly charming and we truly enjoyed just sitting for a bit to take this pretty scene in.

Not wanting to leave out Stari Grad from our list of "must sees" we headed there as the afternoon was waning.

It's quiet there too, which makes for fun picture taking moments!

Dating back to 384 BC, you wonder how long some of those stones have been around in Stari Grad?

We finished our day back over on the south side of the island in Zavala, one of the small fishing villages on that side.

As the sun set we walked along the shore, taking in a few more lovely views as the day began to turn to night.

What an incredible day it's been again, hanging out with my brother in one of my favorite places in the world. SO glad he came to see it!