Beautiful Račišće

Author: Kali

After our bundu-bashing, we were all exhausted and just wanted to throw our bags down and go for a swim. A friendly couple, Martin and Danke, warmly welcomed us with sweet pastries, traditional homemade wine, grappa and a special homemade juice to our accommodation. Having entered Račišće in such a horrible way, I was so thankful the town and our apartment was so wonderful and beautiful.

 

 

Our apartment was on the top level of an old 17th century stone block building. It was literally 10m from the ocean. Račišće is one of the smallest and oldest villages on the island of Korčula, and only has around 30 homes, 2 restaurants/cafés and a lovely old church. It is surrounded by a beautiful little cove and small harbour with clear, calm ocean water. From our balcony, you could even see the rocky harbour bottom.

All the beaches and shores are filled with smooth, round pebbles and rocks. No sand to get into everything. It was heaven on earth! (Hey Kate, you would love these beaches.) The sea water was very salty, but absolutely gorgeous! There is no sand in the water, so it is crystal clear and a delight to swim in. It is so refreshing and inviting, you can’t stop yourself from plunging in.

We spent our time swimming and floating around the three small beaches, or jumping off the harbour wall. Jumping off the harbour wall was so much fun. It is about 3m high and drops down sharply into the clear, cool, blue water, and we would do all kinds of tricks whilst jumping off. The local children would appear every afternoon to swim and jump off the wall, showing the few tourists how its done. It was very funny to watch them.

Every hour the big old church bell would chime. Chiming for the day would start with a full minute of constant and loud ringing (at 6am!), and would end the day the same (10pm). A few times I couldn’t help but chuckle, imagining someone swinging on the bell cord. 😁

There is a small boule court where the old men go to play boule (bocce, pentanque) with a few beers, every evening. Later, they would head to the bar and start singing loudly, with the whole town hearing their traditional clappa singing.

The one morning, we decided to run to a little beach. After about 2km, we came to a desolate little cove that had a rock house with a garden built on its shore. We were only planning a quick swim, but having fallen in love with the pristine water and white pebbly beach, we spent more than 2 hours in the water. We simply couldn’t tear ourselves away. Also, lucky for us, someone had left two pairs of goggles on the beach. Us four children took turns gazing around, amazed at the beauty that were beneath us.

I have lived near some of the best and most beautiful surfing beaches in the world and I’ve snorkelled on the Great Barrier Reef, but this little town of Račišće with its glorious water, has stolen my heart. It is most definitely my favourite costal place in all the world.

We spent beautiful sunsets on our balcony, looking out over our stunning surroundings, and having precious conversations over a bottle of Martin’s homemade wine and freshly baked bread. I will never forget these special times!

 

 

I am so grateful for the three days we had here. It would always be too short in this amazing place. What a privilege to have stayed here! ❤️😄

Until next time,
– Kali –