Day 25 - Monday 6th June

The hotel serves breakfast on the same level as the reception. We ate ours on the balcony next to the promenade that runs around to the marina. It was yet another warm sunny day and so it was a very pleasant setting for our breakfast.

After breakfast we walked around the path by the sea to the next bay to look at the Amfora Hotel where were originally going to stay. It is a much bigger hotel with the guest rooms built on the hillside and set around several swimming pools next to the beach.

Later we strolled through the shops in the town and then had lunch at the Riva Cafe where we'd had pre-dinner drinks last night.

The main event for today was a wine-tasting tour. Our driver and guide, Drazen, met us in the hotel foyer at 3pm and walked us to his van which was parked in a parking area behind the hotel. He said cars are not allowed within the marina area and the town.

After travelling on sealed roads for about 10 minutes, we turned off onto an unsealed fire trail that was cut into the side of the mountain. We continued on this road for about 30 minutes but to me it seemed like an eternity because I was convinced we were going to slip off the edge of the cliff at any moment and roll down the cliff and into the sea below us.

The van often seemed to slip on the loose rocks on the road surface. Somehow he managed to keep it on the road. As we proceeded, he kept chatting and telling us about the countryside and the vineyards. From time to time, he would take his eyes off the road and point out items of interest. I would have been much happier if he'd kept both hands on the wheel and watched the road.

It became even more complicated when we met a car or truck coming in the opposite direction. One vehicle needed to back up until there was enough room to squeeze by. The road is so narrow, I still can't figure out how we did it.

When we'd left Hvar, he'd pointed out where my seat belt was. As we drove along the fire trail, I felt that I needed a helmet and a parachute rather than a seat belt. Suzy was quite calm - partly because she was sitting on the side nearest the cutting whereas I was looking straight down off the edge of the road on my side.

Eventually we got back onto a sealed road. Suzy asked him if we'd go back to Hvar on the same road. To my great relief, he said no. When we stopped at the first winery, I told him that I'd found the trip on the fire trail frightening. He apologised and said that he usually asks if anyone is scared of heights.

On the way to the first winery, we passed through a tunnel through the mountain in the centre of the island. The tunnel was more than 1km long and was only wide enough for traffic in one direction at a time. At each entrance to the tunnel, there were traffic lights that operated on a sensor. It would use the sensor to determine if there were any cars waiting and whether there were any vehicles in the tunnel. The tunnel itself was unlined and so it was like driving through a mine shaft. This didn't worry me because I'm used to being in tunnels as part of my job.

The first winery was an old-style cellar with earth floors in a stone building with no windows - to maintain a steady temperature for the wine. The winemaker didn't speak English and so Drazen gave us the explanation of the wines. We tasted white, red and dessert wines.

The second vineyard was very different from the first. It was a new building with a tasting room built in the basement area. This was a long room that could probably accommodate a banquet for 40 people. It was constructed in stone with vaulted ceilings to imitate an ancient Roman structure.

Clearly they were big on marketing. One of their staff, a very tall man, presented the wines to us and allowed us to taste several of them. Between each wine, he provided us with different foods, such as cheeses and meats, to complement the taste of the particular wine we were sampling. The owner of the winery, a man called Tomic who only speaks French, hovered and spoke to us and other small groups who arrived from time to time.

The last destination was different again and very special. Drazen stopped the van in the middle of nowhere on a quiet dirt road and we then walked about 100m up the slope to a stone building overlooking the valley. There we met a chef who was busy cooking a barbecue for us on an open fire. It was a very peaceful location with the sun slowly setting over the mountains. It was an excellent meal with plenty of wine.

By the time he dropped us back at Hvar, I was feeling the effects of all the wine we'd consumed.

The hotel still hadn't been able to lower the temperature of the air conditioning in our room and so we asked them to provide us with a top sheet for our bed so we didn't need to use the quilt again.