Pebble Beach Pros (and Cons) and Zlatni Rat Beach
I remember laying on the hard and lumpy pebble beach in Nice in the semi-warm sunshine of a winter day way back in the 70's, in my jeans and sweater and not enough money in my pocket to rent a sunbed, if they were even available off-season. We sat with our backs supported by the wall and I am sure I thought how much nicer it would be on some soft sand.
Croatia has an incredibly beautiful, rocky coastline and islands galore filled with small coves, secret swim spots and spits of beach, but rarely sand. It's a new kind of beach beauty and a new beach experience. But laying on Zlatni Rat in the pebbles, on our sunbeds and under our umbrellas on Thursday, I became if not a convert, at least a fan.
Pebbles don't get as hot as sand. Pebbles shake off your towel in two seconds and never blow in anyone else's face. Pebbles stay where they belong, on the ground when the wind blows, no sand in your face or your food. Pebbles don't end up in the cracks and crevices of your suit or your body. Pebbles come in many sizes from tiny to garden rocks size, but all are smooth as beach glass. Pebbles don't stick to your legs after you lotion up. Pebbles don't stick to your feet when you walk out of the water and onto the dry part.
But the best part - when you swim, the pebbles don't stir. They stay put on the bottom in the crystal clear water. Five or six or seven feet down, you can see the bottom and every little fish swimming by, no sand to swirl around and muddy up the views!
Of course there are cons, like no sand castles or sand sculptures. No digging your toes into the warm sand while you sit and read. No laying on a towel, making a sand pillow below, for a soft place to nap. And I still would pick sand over stones but pebbles are not too shabby either.
Enough espousing, back to blogging - Thursday morning arrives and we have so much laundry to do after a week of sailing and no where to wash and hang even three pairs of panties. So we begin our quest for a laundromat but apparently there are NONE on the island. The hotel has a service on site but it would break our budget for a couple of days and at this point my clothes don't warrant 100 Euros to wash, dry and clean a couple of loads. On foot we go to the hostel to ask for laundry, no dice. We hit another hotel whose website says laundry facilities (as opposed to service) and even pretend we may be interested in a room later in the week, but no dice. We stop to chat with a woman sitting outside her house with a sign to rent rooms to see if she will take in our two loads for a fair price, but no dice. We finally stumble upon a sign...Laundry..80 Meters and head down a really narrow windy street but it turns out it closed last year so, no dice. We give up and buy some Woolite and spend the next hour washing in our bathtub, at least as much as we can reasonably hang on the balcony and dry in one afternoon.
Then finally off to the beach, Zlatni Rat. We drive and park at the edge of the pine trees and walk through a glade and past an old Roman cistern in ruins to arrive at the beach. Zlatni Rat is a small triangular peninsula of land jutting southerly into the Adriatic at the narrowest stretch of the channel and across from Hvar Island. 
The geography of it and it's pebbles is so unique that the sea currents, literally, each day change the direction of the tip of the peninsula, first swinging it slightly curved west and then east, like the sea wagging the tail of the land.
The beach runs the length of the east and the west side of the peninsula with the pines wedging down the middle, cutting the beaches into a deep Vee shape. There are small beach shacks selling food, one for fries, another for crepes, another for smoothies and even a produce stand where you can buy fresh fruit. 
There are two beach bars, with comfy seating and a few sunbeds and you can stand in a short line for a calamari burger, big enough for lunch for two.
Because it is September, the beach is full but not jammed. We pick our spot and pay up 150 kuna for two sunbeds and an umbrella for the day. We spread our towels, lotion up and relax, observing the families, the young buff guys and the old retired people like us. With most kids back in school, the beach is filled with only toddlers, all running and playing and swimming buck naked, sitting on those pebbles, rolling on the rocks like they are soft as pillows.
And apparently, the Croatian sensibilities are much like the Germans, bikinis no matter your size and tops off no matter your age or sagging. There are even grown men stripping down out of their wet trunks and into a dry ones.
The sun is warm and strong, but it is a September sun, an Indian summer day, just like at home. We swim, we read, we relax and at six PM we are still sitting on those sunbeds, watching beach life go by.
We finally pull ourselves up, have one last swim and head back, shower and dress for our dinner reservation. We head back to Zlatni Rat, to a beautiful konoba for a bottle of crisp white and a grilled fish plate for two.
The tuna steak is fresh off the boat this morning and is, perhaps, the best tuna we have ever eaten, or possibly tie with the tuna loin in Rioja, Spain, which means it is juicy and salty and tasty like a great steak.
We drive back, the stars are out. We turn off the A/C, open the windows and the balcony door and fall asleep with the sea breeze. I lay there awake for a bit as Steve falls asleep and I think to myself:
The positively best thing about long and slow travel with Steve is that gives you the time to again be kind, the time to once again make each other the most important thing in your life - not fit them in, between work and cooking and dishes and appointments. It makes you remember why you love each other and why you would say 'I do' all over again. And fall in love again......not bad.
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