CROATIA TRIP - DAY 13 - MLJET

Today we travel to the island of Mljet. We're all delighted that Matthew wants to take us there directly, so we'll have the whole day to explore. (Usually we arrive at our destination towards the end of the day.) Mljet is a small island (population about 1000) with a long history, which you can read about in the Wikipedia article in the link above. We docked in the village of Pomena, which abuts the Mljet National Park.

Jonathan and I walk through the park and take the ferry to the Benedictine Monastery, while our cabinmates go swimming and rent motor scooters.

Our full day on the island is punctuated by a midday break on the Arburat for lunch, so this is a good time to talk about food. Our passage included breakfast and lunch, and I expected coffee and bread in the morning and ham and cheese in the afternoon. But nothing could be further from the truth.

In the morning we have coffee (brewed or espresso) or tea and fruit juice; fresh bread from the market; a main dish which includes eggs, meat and/or pancakes; fresh fruit and sometimes an extra special goodie. Lunch usually consists of a pasta dish, a salad usually fresh tomatoes and cucumbers, a cooked vegetable, fresh bread, a main dish of fresh fish and as much wine as we can drink. We had a different main dish every day, for example, octopus, squid, shrimp or flat fish.

This is prepared in the tiny ship's kitchen and served to us on ceramic dishware, up a steep flight of stairs from the kitchen. I have no idea where the fresh fish, vegetables and bread came from, it just seemed to appear. The food was always served with grace and good cheer.

The little critter in the photo was our lunch one day