Used to seeing the sun-kissed streets of Hvar Town, the capital of the sunniest island in Europe? Have you ever seen Hvar like this?
25 years ago today, on January 3, 1993, residents woke to a rather unusual site – a blanket of white covering the town. Many thanks to Prosper Maricic for posting these two pics on the excellent Facebook page, Old Photographs and Postcards of Hvar Town, which I encourage you to follow if you are interested in the history of this gorgeous island.
Snow is rare on Hvar, especially snow which settles in quantity. The last time there was a sizable snowfall was on February 4, 2012. I remember the day well – here was the view from our terrace in Jelsa before we left (in 4-wheel drive!) to a meeting in Hvar Town. On the way, we saw the most incredible thing (sadly we were too stunned to take a picture) – a snow plough clearing the road from Hvar to Stari Grad! Surely a first on the island. What was even more amazing, I learned later, is that the snow plough lives permanently on Hvar, part of the infrastructure of Hrvatske Ceste (Croatian Roads).
As for the truth behind the claim that hotel guests get a free night if it snows, I think I have found the answer in a 1960s video – coming soon.
