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"The Bibe" was a big, red and white hulk of a boat which was to carry us to Korcula for a day trip. Sleek and streamlined it was not, but it had two decks of seating, an onboard bar, and live music (although the music we could have probably done without!). The vessel departed at 8am - engines juddering into life and settling into a teeth jarring throb as we moved away from the pier. In the early morning haze Baska Voda looked quite tranquil without beaches packed with bodies.
The Bibe took us south down the coast of the Croatian riviera. We had barely been on board five minutes when waitresses came around offering shots of Rakia. Stomachs churning at the thought of shots before breakfast, we politely declined and went and bought coffees instead. A short time later the waitresses returned bearing trays of mini chocolate pastries, which we were happy to accept. At the table next to us a group of Croatians had almost finished their first round of beer and were getting ready to order another!
The journey to Korcula took around 4 hours. When we finally arrived, there was a mad scramble to get off the boat. We paused to catch our breath on the shore and look up at the walled town in front of us. Peeking above the rooftops in the centre of the town was the church spire, on our right was one of the outer wall's towers, and directly in front of us was a stone staircase leading into the maze of narrow streets. Dale and I had a vague recollection of the town's layout from a previous visit, so knew that the best place to stop for refreshment was the far side of the island where there is a walkway along the outer wall above the sea which is lined with cafes and restaurants. We found a bistro where we could sit in the shade and admire the view, and ordered cold drinks. Thankfully the bistro also had a toilet (public toilets being virtually non-existent in Croatia), although it was a strange arrangement since on one side of the bathroom were two toilet cubicles while on the other side was a urinal behind a partition but which was nevertheless visible as one exited the bathroom.
Beks and Tim decided to find a swimming spot while Dale and I walked through the old town, looking in jewellery stores (the island specialises in jewellery made from coral, turquoise, and lapis lazuli), and admiring the Venetian influenced architecture. One of the houses we saw apparently the former residence of Marco Polo, and there were Marco Polo souvenir shops everywhere!
Shortly after 3pm we met Beks and Tim back at the Bibe. Departure was not scheduled until 3:20pm, but we were still almost the last to arrive (the Europeans never want to miss out on saving themselves a good seat!). Back on board we settled in for another 4 hour trip, during which lunch was served with Croatian red wine. Lunch consisted of a whole fish, a sauerkraut medley which included gherkin, and whole fried anchovies. I am not naturally a seafood fan and struggled with the whole fish - its sightless eye creeped me out! The Croatian wine - which became more drinkable the more we had - helped to disguise the fishiness and I began to make some progress, dissecting the poor creature with my plastic fork. As Tim happily munched his way through the baby fish on his plate, bones and all, I shuddered and pushed mine to the side. (I certainly would not get very far on 'Survivor'.). Dale was game enough to eat some of his salty little fishes, but couldn't manage them all. As we ate, the waitress kept coming and refilling our wine cups - even if we declined! Dale and Beks were knocking the wine back fastest (my wisdom tooth was still causing problems and Tim had switched to beer) and before long they were mouthing the words to the worst songs of the 90s (which were being blasted on the Bibe's stereo system) and boogying in their seats. After the plates had been cleared the live music began. It consisted of a man on a keyboard set to a "dance beat", singing Croatian folk songs. The drinks continued to flow, the music volume increased, Germans began to dance, and suddenly we were on the party boat from hell! When the vocalist finally took a break, the 90s mix tape continued with such gems as "Barbie Girl", "Cotton eye Joe", and "the Macarena". The Germans and Croats were loving it! I was developing a headache. And soon we discovered that we were sitting next to the toilet and a queue to vomit was forming!!
We pulled into Baska Voda at around 7:45pm, dodging the drunkest of the passengers disembarking the Bibe we made our way back to our accommodation, glad to be rid of the blaring music.
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