Today we planned to visit some of the local wineries; however, as most are not open until the early afternoon, we needed something to do this morning.
We decided to take a walk to see the Church of St. Antun (Anthony of Padova), which is about a 6 km round trip (we didn’t tell the kids how far it was).
We packed our trusty daypack and set off. The walking route took us through a lot of unexplored territory, which meant we got to see much more of the island than just the old town and surrounding village.
The walk mostly followed roads and paths, and as we got closer, there were signs guiding the way.
We eventually arrived at the bottom of a large set of stone stairs (the kids tell me 101 in all), with cypress pines lining them the entire way.
The stairs led up to a small church at the top—and to our surprise, the trail we had just walked formed part of the Korčula Croatia Camino walk. Exploring around the church, we located the Camino trail symbol on the side of a small box fixed to the church. Inside was a stamp for the St. Antun Camino site. We collected our stamp and continued to explore.
After a short stay at the church and a rest break, we headed back home. The full walk was around 6 km return, and the kids were champions—not a complaint (I think they are getting used to the daily walking).
We grabbed some burek from the local bakery in town for lunch and then chilled out in the apartment to recharge before heading back out in the early afternoon for wine tasting.
The wineries we wanted to visit were close to Lumbarda, essentially the next town over. We grabbed a local taxi, who dropped us off at Popic Winery.
Popic Winery was great. The owner greeted us as we arrived and showed us to a table. She was lovely and very engaging.
I decided to have the three-wine tasting with a plate of local anchovies and olives, while Laura had the three-wine tasting with a cheese and meat platter.
Each of the wines—a Grk (unique to the region), a rosé, and a Plavac Mali (red)—was fantastic, and the view from the winery across the vineyard and to the next town was lovely.
After we finished up at Popic, our next stop was Bire Winery, just over a kilometre up the road. We walked—around the corner, up some stairs, followed an overgrown goat track, and then a main-ish road back down to the winery. It was a warm afternoon, and by the time we arrived, we were ready to chill out and taste some more wine.
At Bire, we both decided to do two tastings and share another platter (mostly for the kids, who were being superstars).
We had the Bire Grk, which is a blend of three of their Grk grapes—each grown from a different part of the island (the rocky hilltop, the sandy lowland, and the red soil in the middle). This was my favourite Grk so far. It was delicious. Next up was their Plavac Mali (red), which was also delicious.
After our tasting, the local taxi picked us up and took us back home, where the kids got a well-deserved gelato.
We ventured out into the old town for a low-key pizza dinner tonight. It was lovely, but the breeze was up again, so we didn’t hang out for long and headed back home to chill out in the apartment, sitting in the window looking down over the port and the old town.
Tomorrow we head to Dubrovnik by ferry. Hopefully, it will be less eventful than last time.
