Flemming and I wanted to see the island of Hvar from air, and to get some inspiration on what places to visit.
Nobody was at the airport, and we quickly got airborne. The island of Hvar is quite big – around 300 km2, 68 km long, with a population of approx. 12,000 people. It is a desired tourist destination, consistently listed in the top 10 islands by Conde Nast Traveler magazine.
We headed for the western part of the island first, towards Stari Grad:
The ancient Greeks founded the colony of Pharos in 384 BC on the site of today’s Stari Grad, making it one of the oldest towns in Europe. The old town of Stari Grad:
The views were breathtaking, as always on the Dalmatian coast of Croatia:
When we flew by the town of Vrboska, I couldn’t believe my eyes – there was a tremendous fortress inside the town! I did several rounds to take a good picture:
We definetely were going to visit Vrboska!
One can only fly in 1,000 feet or below over Hvar; the Brač Tower never answered any calls, and Split never allowed to enter their controlled airspace.
The town of Jelsa where we stayed:
It was very exciting to fly over Hvar, and approx. after 1 hour of flying we suddenly noticed a huge front coming – we could see its movement and the lightnings over the sky! We quickly landed and tied down my OY-9797 on 4 points:
In 15 minutes time it began raining, and we were lucky to see mammatus clouds – the most unusual and distinctive clouds formations, typically formed underneath a cumulonimbus raincloud. People were stopping and filming them. It was rather spectacular:
Two days earlier, in Zagreb, the roofs were torn away by a similar storm…
Flemming and I were celebrating the event by dancing; someone took a picture of us:
And then the storm came! It was raining heavily for about 10-15 minutes, and after that became quiet again. People were hiding in cafes and restaurants, having a drink and filming the rainstorm.
It became a little cooler, like +28C, very nice for a change from +38C…
We went home, and continued watching that furious storm from our balcony.
