Korcula, Croatia
Today we spent our entire day on a beautiful island, Korcula – one of the largest in the Adriatic at 47 km long. Just after breakfast we took a pilot aboard to lead us to the little port of the Korcula town thought to be a home of the traveler and writer Marco Polo. The town is perched on a peninsula, surrounded by strong 13th-century walls, reinforced with towers and bastions by the Venetians in the 15th century.
The town’s layout was cleverly designed for the comfort and safety for its inhabitants. Streets running west are straight in order to open the city to the refreshing maestral (strong, steady westerly wind), while streets running east are slightly curved to minimize the force of the bura (cold northeasterly wind). We strolled through this herringbone street pattern and through the Bishop’s Palace and Cathedral. We admired a rich collection of Byzantine icons in the Church of All Saints, which belongs to the oldest brotherhood on the island. We finished our walking tour at Cukerin – a small local bakery where we tasted some local sweets and bought some for later.
After lunch we had a special excursion to the nearby village of Lumbarda, 6 km southeast of Korcula town. The village is now one of the centers of production for the liqueur-like wine called Grk, which is made from the vines grown in the sand. We were invited to visit the winery of Milina Bire family that has been producing wine for centuries. In the wine cellar we sampled some wines, homemade prosciutto, cheese, olives and anchovies. After that it came a time to taste something stronger – different home-distilled brandies: cherry, lemon and mandarin orange. The vintner Franco was very proud of his products, repeating that his vineyards are completely organic and worked by hand.
We were in a very good mood when we gathered before sunset for a performance of the 400-year old Moreska Sword Dance. Virtually unchanged since the days when it was performed in the courts of Venetian nobles, the dance illustrates the story of the Black King abducting the princess and the Red King and his army prevailing to win her back. The story has its happy end - the Princess rejoins her true love.
The evening was still young and beautiful when we started our dinner, some of us on board and others ashore. A little post-dinner walk under the full moon was the perfect addition to this wonderful day.
