Croatia Day 3 - Travelling to Pag

We checked out of our hotel around 11:30am and met a pre-arranged taxi that took us to the Sheraton Hotel where the car rental company was located. When we arrived we found a highly inefficient business with two fellows sitting and staring out the window while one other associate did all the work. It took a long time to get the car, but once it arrived we set off on our journey. Our destination today was the Isle of Pag. We found the roads in Croatia to be extremely well marked. Getting out of Zagreb was easy with signs at each intersection showing us the way to the highway. Once we were on the highway we found them to be well maintained and modern. And drivers were predictable and courteous.

The scenery as we drove was mixed with forest, farms and small towns. As we progressed we were soon also seeing views of mountains and the ocean.  There are two ways to get to Pag from Zagreb; the first is to take a Ferry; and the second which was recommended is to drive half an hour south of the Ferry cut off, cross over to the Isle via a bridge and then drive back North. This is a quicker route and it also let us see the very strange and impressive scenery on the Isle of Pag.

The very windy road snakes and curves between mountains and the sea. The hillsides have some greenery but are mostly sandy brown rock. It looks like it is straight out of a Star Wars movie.

Our destination was the Hotel Boskinac, which is a Wine Resort just north of Pag.  The hotel is about a kilometre up a small single lane road and near the top of a hill. We parked our car and then scouted around to see how to actually enter the hotel. We found a steep set of stairs and left our luggage at their base. The hotel staff were happy to retrieve them for us. We later found a back door that avoided the stairs.  The hotel staff were friendly and we were quickly checked in. Our room was large and there was a small but fun balcony.

 It was now time for a drink. The hotel bar was impressively stocked so we decided to first have cocktails - yes even though this was a wine resort. The bartender was so helpful we couldn't stop ourselves. While we sat on a comfy couch and sipped our drinks a waitress appeared and gave us each a dessert plate. We were surprised and thought that maybe this was a welcome treat. But a few minutes after we had taken a few bites a manager appeared and apologized, saying that the treats had actually been ordered by another guest. We were given the choice of keeping them and paying or relinquishing them. It was an easy decision since the desserts were too sweet and not what we wanted before dinner.

At dinner the service was professional and friendly. We had "lamb done 3 ways" which was quite tasty. And of course we had one the winery's own wines. Unfortunately the wine was not impressive.