For some reason, even if we’re in those really exotic locations, Chris and I always get colds. Apparently, our immune system isn’t that strong! But after spending two weeks inside the house (one to rest and get stronger, the second one to catch up on the work that we hadn’t done for a while), it was time for us to go outside! There are a lot of things that we want to do in Šibenik and biking to the St. Nicholas Fortress was one of them! So we filled up our water bottles, packed our swimming suit, rented our bikes and we were good to go!
The bike trail is relatively new, and the best way to get there is to go around Šibenik. There is a dirt road the goes on the other side of the sea. From there, we could access the path. It’s recommended to go by foot because there are some steep hills, but we figured it would be a lot faster biking… That was until we ended up pushing our bikes up the hills.
The view from the top is absolutely gorgeous though, and worth every drop of sweat it took to get there! Originally, we planned to get to the fortress, which is at the entrance of the channel, but we didn’t have enough water packed to get there (1.5L for two people is NOT enough!). So instead of going far on that day, we decided to enjoy our bike ride and find a place where we could swim and cool off. So we kept riding, and the hills got even worse.
At the top of the second hill, we stopped to admire the view, which happened to be even better than at the top of the first hill. We also needed a much-deserved break after pushing out bikes up for so long, so we indulged by eating the cherries we brought. They are so delicious at this time of the year, and they were the perfect snack on the top of the channel. It couldn’t get more Croatian than that.
Another thing that I loved is that their countryside has a lot of evergreen trees, and their smell reminded me a lot of Canada. I felt like I was back home, even though I was walking around a foreign country.
From the top of the third hill, Chris and I noticed stairs that seemed to lead to the water, so we left our bikes at the top (because who wants to push them back up the hill, really?) and walked down to see what it was. It happened to be a super cute dock, which turned out to be our spot for swimming. When we got there, we saw a sign talking about an old cave that a few hermits lived in, so we decided to explore around and found it. That’s how we ended up walking in a scary tunnel and discovering a secret boat passage (?). We don’t have a clue what the boat thing is about, but it was definitely scary, as there were many holes where people could hide and scare us… Fortunately for us, there were nobody there! Still, I let Chris go first so he could protect me…
Those holes actually happened to be a great place to change into our swimming suit, since there was already a couple on the beach! When that was done, it was time to jump off the pier and taste the cold but refreshing water of the Mediterranean.
By the time we got in the water, the couple that was there left, and we were alone again! When we were cool enough, we started exploring a bit more to find the cave that we actually hadn’t found yet. It’s only from the water that we noticed where it might have been hiding! So we climbed up there and found a multipurpose cave, which was used as a living place for hermits, but also as a bunker and storage room during World War II.
After that, it was time to bike back home, as we were getting incredibly low on water. It was sad to have to leave, but we told each other that we were going to come back. Who wouldn’t, really? 🙂
Doesn’t it look like heaven? And next time, we might make it to the fortress!