The pace of life has slowed considerably since we reached the gorgeous Mediterranean coast of Croatia. After three days in Split, including a day trip to Hvar island, we took a bus further down the coast to Makarska, an unapologetic beach holiday town on the edge of fantastically steep mountains. We’re just now ending a three-day spell of beach time and not much more. It’s been wonderful.

Today we’ll catch a bus another three hours south to Dubrovnik where we’ve scheduled our real summer vacation. We’ve booked an unusually nice resort, just a few minutes outside the city, for a six-night stay. This will be our longest stay in one place since we spent a week in Beijing in May. Life will be centered on the beach for the week, but we’ll be able to get into Dubrovnik by long walk or short bus ride for sightseeing or dinner as much as we want to.

One of the nicest things about our stay in Makarska was our big terrace overlooking the beach. Below is last night’s incredible sunset as we played cards on the terrace.

But our terrace featured something far better than a beautiful beach or a wonderful sunset, at least from the point of view of long-tern travelers…

Beaches in the Mediterranean aren’t exactly what one might expect. I remember my surprise decades ago when I first went to a beach on Capri, that most fabulous place on earth to go to the beach. It was all rocks and pebbles, not a grain of sand to be seen. We saw it last summer in Nice, where there’s a mile-long promenade but all rocks. And that’s our experience here on the Dalmatian Coast so far – rocks, cement, pebbles – but no sand.

Mind you, I’m not complaining. At all. This is unbelievably beautiful. Yesterday we went to two beaches on either side of the main port in Split, one in the morning, one after lunch. They were both spectacular. The water is just perfect, the views are amazing, the sun is warm. This is really the good life.

But don’t expect sand.

We are still staying in Split, but yesterday we took a day trip to the island of Hvar, its eponymous town, and the beaches on another neighboring island. It was a day of pure Mediterranean bliss.

After three months in Russia and Eastern Europe, arriving at the Mediterranean sea feels like a radical change to us. The senses are assaulted by Mediterranean magic — the turquoise water, the smell of pines, the warm sun, the fruity olive oil. We keep asking ourselves questions like, “Why have we spent so little time in the Mediterranean?” and “Why does anyone not live here?”

Hvar is a microcosm of everything incredible about the Mediterranean. The town is stunningly beautiful as you approach it from the sea, with its stone buildings and orange tiled roofs. Perched above everything is the dramatic Hvar Castle, testifying to centuries of conflict over this coast sometimes controlled by Greeks, Romans, Venetians, Turks, French, Austrians, and Germans.

After climbing up to the castle for the gorgeous views of Hvar harbor and the surrounding islands, we descended and shopped around for a water taxi to a nearby island with a nice Mediterranean beach. Don’t worry. We found one and spent a perfect afternoon there before making our way back to Split for dinner.