It is from yet another train car with houses, cars, and the haze brought only by a sky threatening to rain speeding by that I think a couple of weeks back to Croatia. Appropriately, I traversed this exact length of track along Lake Balaton en route to Zagreb; however, today the lake itself is my destination. After a day dominated my rain, the sun rose on a rainless city the next morning. We awoke early to catch the early ferry over to Hvar Island, specifically the town Stari Grad. On the way to the ferry terminal we again stopped at our pastry shop and I eagerly picked up one of my long, nut filled pastries as well as a loaf of bread for lunch on the island. After the pastry shop, we stopped at an open air market near the water and picked up apples and cheese to complete our picnic lunch. We easily bought tickets for our ferry and headed aboard.
The ferry ride was thankfully uneventful, which is
always hoped for while traveling. The ride to Stari Grad took two hours. We started the trip by getting coffee and lounging in the ferry cabin before heading upstairs to the outdoor sitting deck. It was a gorgeous day. The sun was finally shining and we spent the rest of the ride enjoying the weather while alternatively reading, talking, taking pictures, and gaping at our surroundings. The ferry's passage through small coastal islands was very reminiscent of my ferry ride in New Zealand from Auckland to Waiheke Island.
Our arrival on Hvar Island left us a bit confused. We had seen the town from the ferry, but had docked a couple kilometers away from it. Once disembarking, we couldn't figure out how we were supposed to get over to the town other than by taxi or walking on a very narrow shoulder of the islands highway. Neither appealed to us, so after taking the shoulder several meters and then realizing it was a sure fire way to get ourselves killed, we asked. We were directed to a foot path to the left of the ferry dock that was unmarked, but nevertheless looked promising. After the short walk around through a wooded area we came to the edge of the town. Stari Grad is a very picturesque little island town. However, I was surprised to see that it was picturesque Italian. I honestly felt like I had been transported out of Croatia and into a small Italian town. I guess I shouldn't have been so surprised considering that on the island I was far closer to Italy than I was to Croatia's capital.
Without an agenda, we picked a direction and began walking. We wandered through narrow streets lined with buildings like a gapless wall that rose on either side of us. We soon came upon a a church that we were able to walk through and into an inner courtyard full of lime trees and other greenery. The inner garden was surrounded by a wall of arches. Back outside, we continued wandering the cobble stoned streets in search of an important sight I had read about online. We never did find it, but we managed to find other touristy type buildings that we were directed to by ever helpful brown signs. Within about an hour or so, we had explored most of the town and decided to stop at a park and sit on a bench and eat lunch. Our lunch of bread, cheese, and apples was delicious. After lunch we went to explore the other side of the town on the opposing side of the small harbor that the town surrounded, but found only roads leading
out into the rural area surrounding the town. With nothing else left to do, and several hours until our ferry, we had to get creative of how to spend our remaining time. We ended up walking down to a small pebbly beach that I'm sure is crowded in summer, but with the time of year and light drizzle that had begun, was deserted. We spent a few minutes on the beach collecting cool looking pebbles and trying to skip rocks on the surface of the rain pockmarked water. After that, we attempted to get a coffee/beer at a café that had been crowded when we came into town, but we were turned away because it was now closed. We found another café around the corner and sat down and ordered. Shortly after sitting down we were visited my a local dog that Franky affectionately named Mr. Magoo. He was adorable and just hung out next to our table or under our chairs in the hope of receiving some food. 
Occasionally, he wandered off to solicit food from other patrons of the café or passers by. At one point he declared the small plaza we were located in his territory by ensuring that another dog that came by made his way out of the plaza. We eagerly watched this amusing endeavor. At one point he bounded, ears flapping like wings across the plaza with a speed we didn't think he had. It was hilarious the way his ears flopped when he ran. Oh Mr. Magoo, what a character.After the café, we walked back along the path to the ferry dock and stopped at a peach along the way to stick our feet in. The water was a bit chilly, but it was crystal clear and felt good on our weary, traveling feet. We weren't at the peach long before we headed back into town where Franky and Claire got two huge 1.5 liter bottles of beer to drink while we whiled away the hours scanning the horizon. I was anxious to get back to Split, but at the same time it was nice to be somewhat bored.
The time passed and it was time again to get on the ferry. The ride back was similar to the ride over, and two hours later, we were pulling into the Split ferry terminal. We walked back to our hostel to drop our stuff off, and then decided to splurge on dinner in an actual restaurant instead of going to one of the many pizza joints nearby. The restaurant was nice, but our waiter was a bit weird. I think he could tell he wasn't going to get much of a tip out of us ragged looking college kids, so he didn't pay much attention to us. There were a couple of English speaking couples at nearby tables, so I spent part of the evening somewhat eves dropping.
Finally, it was time to head back. We went to bed early because we had to wake up at the crack of dawn to catch our train home. In the morning, we headed down to the train terminal and upon buying tickets back to Zagreb, we were told that no trains would be running that 
day due to construction, but that the railway company had arranged for buses. After buying our tickets, we headed over to the bus terminal and after asking which bus was the 7:30 to Zagreb, the woman looked at me like I was an idiot and told me that the next bus to Zagreb was at 8:10.
Very confused, we schlepped our stuff back to the train station to ask again where the bus was. It turns out it was behind the train station building right next to the track. After a little confusion with a man also waiting for the bus, about where we were standing, and then stuffing all of our food in Franky's suitcase to put under the bus because we weren't allowed to bring food on, we got on the bus. The ride was beautiful! In a blur we were traversing seasides, mountains, and flat lands. Then, we were once again back in Zagreb, and then finally, pulling into Budapest's Keleti Palyaudvar.
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