Wednesday 10 June: MALI LOSINJ to CRES

Away at 08:30 and the road takes us up and out of Mali Losinj, past the old Yougaslav military base that Igor pointed out from the boat as we arrived - sadly no photographs allowed! Up and up we seem to go with 7, 8, 9 and then 10% gradients. We drink litres of water! We get to Osor which is the link between Losinj and the next island of Cres ( pronounced Tres - I saw a cyclist in Mali Losinj with a T shirt that said "No stress in Cres", I also saw another bicycle related quote in the cafe in Zadar that said "Life is like a bicycle ; to maintain your balance you must keep moving" - which I thought quite apt).Well we are certainly moving along on this holiday! We have coffee and coke in Osor and wander around. It's quite an arty place with painters with their easels in the main square. The road then takes us up and up out of Osor and we wonder whether there will be any downhill - perhaps it's a cliff edge descent to Cres. Barbecued pig on spit roast in the middle of nowhere - not ready for another hour though. Eventually we are rewarded with a 4 mile descent to the town. We have a lovely apartment overlooking the town and harbour. Picnic lunch bought at Osor on our balcony then we head into town for essential provisions ( wine and nibbles) and then to the beach. We cycle along the coastal path that eventually leads to a FKK area - in other words lots of naked Germans - none of which you really want to see without their clothes on. We retrace our steps and find a lovely spot for swimming and sunbathing. Late afternoon beer ( this is becoming a firm favourite habit), then back home for drinkies and nibbles on the balcony wondering if anyone will come to the restaurant below us.... no one comes so we sneak off to another place nearby. The menu is only in German, Italian and Croatian. Fortunately our years in the choir enable us to recognise (Agnus Dei) the lamb, which we order, and a large platter of it arrives. Ice cream in the old harbour on the way home.