The Wobbling Sprocket

We got kind of a late start so it was well that we only had 14k to go to Silo to meet the Superfast Croatian Speedboat. It actually is a true hydroplane. It has a couple wings in front that lift the boat out of the water. Here it is:

It’s actually Superfast as well. And since it is clearly Croatian, it lives up to it’s advertising. The boat showed up at 10am right on time and it only took one trip to get everyone and their bikes to Crikvenica.

Crikvenica was pretty confusing with a lot of one way roads, but everyone eventually got their bearings and made it on to the right road. There is a super hard climb on this leg of the tour and not a heck of a lot open along the way. We eventually made it to Fuzine, which is a lovely little town and found a deli that made some gigantic sandwiches for all of 10 kuna (about $2.50USD. The ride to Brod na Kupi is relatively easy from Fuzine. At the end there is a pretty big descent. Hotel Mance, where we had reservations, is rright opposite the border crossing.

There was some excitement for me though. I told Mr. Mance that I had reservations and he looked at me funny. That is always a bad sign. In the case of Brod na Kupi, which looks to have a permanent population of maybe 30 or 40 people, it is a very bad sign. Mr, Mance could not find us in his little reservation book. I showed him the emails I brought with indicating a confirmation from his son who wasn’t there.

It eventually worked out fine. Mr Mance took to the phone and got us a 4 bedroom, 4 bath chalet affair that was 1.5k away in a very nice setting. We still ate at the hotel where the food was excellent. Here is the place we stayed:

Here is the lady that owned it. She had no car. Mrs. Mance and I drove to her house to get her and then I gave her a lift back hoome. She showed up early the next morning on her bike….which I can tell you was a tank…she assured me it was “dobro, dobro!”- “goo, good!”.

Very seldom do we ever have a problem with reservations. Mistakes can happen though and it is important to bring evidence that you have a reservation which, at a minimum, secures the help of the hotel in finding an acceptable resolution/alternative.

Today was a free morning to do pretty much as you pleased. Carl and I rode our bikes South on Cres. Carl headed back about 10 to catch the 1230 ferry. I continued on to Martinsicu on the coast to check out a hotel I was interested in. Martinscicu was sleeply to say the least maybe a little too sleepy. It would not be easy to get to either. I made it back to get the van and arrive at the 1230 ferry. However the ferry was full of cars so I watched everyone but Allan sail away. Allen had caught the 1000 am ferry so he could explore more of the island of Krk.

They ran an extra ferry at 1pm so it was no big deal to miss the 12:30. Everyone straggled in to the Hotel Argentum in the late afternoon. Most had stopped in the town of Krk for lunch. The Argentum is nice and the people here are great. Mira runs the place. It’s a picturesque town with tiny tiny paths meandering through. In some you can stretch out your arms and touch the walls on either side.

From Vrbnik the mainland beckons. You can see the big mountains across the water very clearly. Here is the view from my balcony at the Argentum in Vrbnik:

Croatia is anything but flat. We will ride the 14k to the town of Silo on the coast and then catch a “Superfast Croatian Speedboat” that will take people and bikes to the mainland. The van will be driven farther up the coast where there is a bridge. The boat takes us to Crikvenicia where I noticed there is some kind of “Gran Fondo” bike festival going on. Hopefully we can check that out.

It’s now about 7am. A funny thing about Vrbnik is that there seem to be wi-fi signals all over town and they appear to be unlocked…my computer picks them up fine, but I can’t actually get into the internet. It seems odd. Mira has no idea about it.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to seeing the Superfast Croatian Speedboat again. I hope it is still Superfast as it may have to make a couple trips to get everyone and the bikes to Crikvenica. I talked to the owner/driver on the phone last nite. It made it sound like it would be no big deal.

Here is the view from my room that I just snapped a few minutes ago. It is about 630am here.

I am on the second floor.  The hotel is four of five stories with an elevator.  I would guess their are several hundred rooms in the complex.

Hotel Kimen is by far the biggest place we stay. In Cres it is the only hotel. The section we are in has just been renovated. There are still a few kinks to work out. The A/C doesn’t work as well as it should and the rooms are a little tight but the grounds of the hotel are very nice and everything is new. It’s an easy walk to the water and town a little further down.

The food has been very good all the way around. We have the half board arrangement at several hotels. I was a little leery of doing this initially, but the food has been really good.