Krk

Frankopan Castle. Krk's medieval fortress

First things first: none of us knew how to pronounce Krk...For the record, it's approximately "Kirk" — the island, it turns out, is not named after a dramatic pause.

I had been quietly dreading today. I had once again been talked into getting back on a bike. Mal assured me this would be a much more relaxed ride, which should have immediately raised suspicions. Apparently "relaxed" meant 22 kilometres instead of 42, as though halving the distance magically transformed it into a leisurely pootle through the countryside.

To be fair, it was beautiful.

We cycled inland across the island beneath an unforgiving Croatian summer sun, passing dry stone walls, olive groves and sleepy little villages that looked as though they'd barely changed in decades. The scenery almost distracted me from the heat. Almost. Except Mal's phone overheated and shut down half way which meant we were directionless and baking. 

The best part? We were finished by mid-morning.

That left plenty of time for what has become one of my favourite cruise-day combinations: lunch back on the ship, an unapologetic afternoon nap, and a swim to cool off before dinner.

There are worse ways to spend an afternoon.

In fact, there are very few better ones.

Krk is bigger and prettier than Cres in our opinion

Lots of nice places to sit and eat and relax

All the islands are known for water activities

This was the ONLY photo I took while cycling

Back on the yacht to relax

Afternoon cocktail. Cheers!