I get excited about weird things, and this morning it was the fact I'd get to drive a car onto a ferry. It'd be a first for me and one of those items that is on the "wouldn't it be cool if" bucket list. It turns out that driving a car onto a ferry involves a lot of waiting, a little driving, and is pretty anticlimactic. Either way, we were onboard and headed to Hvar for the day. The island is infamous for the number of celebs it attracts, for its beaches, and for its nightlife… although we'd get to experience none of those things since it was a bit of a stormy and windy day.

Once off the fairy, we walked around the town of Stari Grad, the first settlement area of the island, before taking off in the car to a beach I'd Googled that was supposed to be pretty cool. The road to the beach was SKETCH with its roads that I supposed technically fit two cars most of the time (although just barely) and other times fit one car, which made it a bit of a stressful drive. The road also featured a single lane tunnel that took about 2-3 minutes to drive through and looked as though it was chiseled out of the mountain by hand instead of clean cut walls of tunnels created by machines.

The beach felt like the scene from the 6th book of Harry Potter when Harry and Dumbledore travel to the beach where Lord Voldemort traveled to as a kid and ultimately where he hid a Horcux. It was windy, stormy, and with huge waves crashing into the shore.

The goal for the day was to visit a few wineries, which ended up being a fail since most wineries had closed for the season and the only one that was open was booked out for tastings. Oh well, can't win them all. We arrived in Hvar Town (the main town on the island of Hvar) to check into our Airbnb and then proceeded to get our exercise by walking up to the fortress on the hill overlooking the city. It provided excellent views of the town.

The highlight of the day (and maaaybe the whole trip) was dinner. Our Airbnb host in Split told us that we must get peka, a traditional Croatian dish that must be ordered ahead because it takes over 3 hours to cook, so I messaged our Airbnb host in Hvar Town for a recommendation of the best peka on the island. He recommended a restaurant but after messaging them on Facebook, I learned they were closed. Shit. So I did the only reasonable thing and asked this restaurant for a recommendation to another recommendation with excellent peka and they came through with the name of a spot called Stormi Korma. I emailed them for a reservation and to place our order and saved the address to Google without putting much thought into it.

The drive to restaurant started off on the main highway but as we turned off, the road narrowed into a one and a half car width and the feel of the place was one of emptiness. "Oh no", I thought, "was this another winery situation where we show up to it being closed". This was only amplified when Google Maps announced, "You've arrived" and there is only abandoned buildings. Not good, but I drop of the parents and find a place a park on along the road. We see a sign that says, "Korma", with an arrow pointing up the abandoned street and so we set off. Our reservation was for 6:30 at sunset and the lighting is beginning to fade making it all seem more intimidating. There were no more signs but I just followed my gut on where to turn until finally I see lights off in the distance and hear the faint murmurs of conversation. Thank god.

We are greeted and sat down outside with an excellent view of admiring the desolate landscape. It is a truly beautiful spot, and it is only then that I remember reading about this restaurant as being a "must-have" experience on Hvar since it is the only active building in an abandoned village. And what an experience it was. The lamb served in the peka dish literally melted in my mouth and the flavor was amazing.

On the drive home in the dark, I reflected on the day and on traveling. The day before dinner had felt like a bit of a fail due to the weather and missing out on wineries but now I felt extreme levels of joy and contentment. We'd just experienced something unique and special, and it made me realize that it just takes one incredible moment to make or break a day, traveling or not. In a shorter amount of time than I'd like to admit, my parents and I will forget most of this day and a lot of this trip but we will, I hope, never forget this dinner and experience. It felt like we stepped back into time and for that I will be eternally grateful.