Blog for 9/12/2023 – Touring Korčula

Leaving Hvar went smoothly and as planned. The ferry service to Korčula when off without any hitches and it was beautiful to see the watery landscapes of this reality.
We arrived in Korčula and our itinerary said that we would be met at the dock and taken to our hotel. But that did not happen. We waited a bit but then just asked questions as to where the hotel was and fortunately, we land in the old city and the hotel was only about a 10-minute walk away from the dock.
We are in an older hotel that has no elevator and so since we are on the 2nd floor which is really the 4^th floor because the lobby is in the ground level, the administrative stuff is on the second level, the 1^st floor of rooms is on the 3^rd floor and so on. My joke is that we are totally getting our exercise in on this trip. Between walking, swimming, the climbing of stairs and going up and down hills of fortresses, I am moving between a big stress detox and a boot camp process for exercise.
Then the salty seas here are (in of themselves) a huge detox situation. The positive is even with factor 50 on, I am managing to get a tan and my skin feels incredible.
Once we settled in, we were supposed to have a tour guide to show us the old city.
But they also did not show up.
So, I called the numbers I had been given and got the balls that had been dropped rolling again.
I honestly don’t know how these travel agents manage to keep all the shifting circumstances under control.
The guide showed up an hour later, but we were off to discover the old city of Korčula.
Our tour was lovely, and we learned so much about this city and how important it has been for a very long time to the Venetians, Greeks, and Romans.
It was only recently that they got their own water from the mainland through a pipe under the ocean to them. For centuries this land was surviving on collecting rainwater and being very frugal with water distribution. Before the water pipeline from the mainland, they would bring water across in boats.
Our guide remembered those days as a child and how careful they were with the water.
It makes me wonder at what can be happening to other places because of upcoming climate change.
Today, we are off to a tour to some winery’s, olive farms and honey farms. Seems there is a lot to see outside the city.
While I was writing this, a huge sailboat came in with 4 masts and slowly maneuvered itself to dock right in front of the hotel.
I hope that each of you in your own way can find the time to take yourselves on some adventures in this life. It is important to make some memories and to share adventures with others.
I believe we learn by experiencing and sharing. I know that some prefer to learn from books, schools, and libraries. But I find that wisdom comes most from diving into the experiences and places rather than just reading about them from books along.
When I walk the limestone streets that have so much history in their very walls … that something new arises inside of me. That is how history becomes alive and fresh. That is how we learn to relate to people and places. That is how we embrace the many journeys of humanity throughout time.
When we put ourselves in the places and spaces of our ancestors of old, we reignite the tools and traditions of our lineage and become more whole as we also become more tolerant and open to the lifestyles of others.
There is value in all things in our experience.
Too often some people just want to live in a very small box when there is a vast and amazing world out there that can teach us so much if we are willing to let in history, become someone else for a moment, and feel past our own experiences into the roots that still linger in the shadows of our genetics.
~Suzanne Wagner~