Fleeting moments

A regatta escorted us back to Trogir where we said goodbyes. I gifted my Modric jersey to Zlatco, our ship's waiter, who always shouted with glee when I wore it. In Trogir we paid tribute to the 3rd century BC marble relief of the Greek god Kairos, the god of opportunity and fleeting moments. This god is always in a hurry symbolizing moments flying by. Every Trogir household (including our hotel room) has a replica and, upon approaching it, you must touch his forelock of hair because once you have gone past him you can never get that moment back, no matter how much you long for it. Though fleeting, we're glad we grasped this moment in Croatia with family and new friends. Thanks for reading along!

Riders in the storm

We awoke to rain on our last day of riding on our last island, Šolta. The original Greek name for Šolta meant unripe fig. We buzzed up the wet mountain road to visit a local beekeeper who climbed on his roof with a sprig of lavender in his teeth and picked us some figs to prove that figs do ripen here, even in the rain. His passionate and entertaining droning would make a great Ted Talk. His "bee sex party" twerking might not pass the censors. In this country it isn't hard to find a coffee shop to get out of the rain, so we swarmed into one. No reason to ride down to the boat until lunch was ready!

Bittersweet

Our itinerary included a ride in Omis, a town on the mainland coast. During our time on Brac we marveled at the gorge that opened to the sea and visible across the water from us. So when we learned that the Omis port was closed for 3 years because of a gigantic bridge project in progress, we considered a mutiny. (Then we remembered how good a cook we have.) The captain took us to Split instead for a ride to the summit of the Marjan peninsula and a loop around. Of course this presented us with another opportunity to visit Gelateria Emiliana. We gave our new friends, Katie, Yves, Lori, and Steve, the scoop about the place, how they fill the cones with a stream of melted chocolate before the gelato goes on top. iCones firmly in hand, we headed down the stone path and around a corner to enjoy them. As we licked our lips and bemoaned the nearing end of our trip, Katie & I slunk away when the others weren't looking and got back in line for our second-dairy scoop. We ducked down in the crowded line to hide from our pals. Before we got to the counter, the others busted us, shamed us…then joined us. A bittersweet day. (Note to Kathy: Katie is a lot like you, a partner in troublemaking!)

Olive-ly day

We returned to the island of Brac for a ride from Pucisca to Postira through hillsides covered with olive orchards. Apparently there are over 1 million olive trees on this island alone. The trees, some of them hundreds of years old, are pruned so that the olives can be picked by hand. Our friend at our Brac apartment said that the healthiest and most productive trees allow space for the birds to fly through. We stopped for a bocce break at the top of the ridge, played some Rolling Stones, then rode into Postira, which was a little like a homecoming for us since we had morning walks and evening dinners here during our stay with our German family. We knew exactly where to go for an afternoon swim.

Croatian Riviera

A "monument to tourists" greeted us on the Markaska riva (promenade). Arlo renamed it the monument to sexual harassment. We couldn't "bare" it ourselves so we high-tailed it to a gelato stand where we won the gelato-ry with a scrumptious scoop of fig gelato, only the second in weeks of searching. A real cream come true. Fat and happy, we skipped to the other side of the point to watch water polo practice in the sea. The Biokovo Mountains protect the coastline here from the cold weather inland (what Croatians call hinterland) and create a colorful backdrop at sunset.

Korcula island

From Vela Luka we rode past wild fig trees and created a biking challenge: Arlo would pick a fig as he rode past, toss it over his head, and I'd try to catch it in my mouth as I zoomed up behind him. Success was a fig-ment of our imagination. Maybe first we should date…A swim and snorkel at a gorgeous beach in Prigradica, within steps of the boat, cooled us after a hot ride. While enjoying warm apple strudel for lunch, we sailed toward Markaska, known as the Croatian riviera.