Vis Island, Croatia- Mamma Mia – Here I Go Again!

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OK, so maybe I’m just a little bit enamoured of the Mamma Mia movies.  I wouldn’t go so far as to say I’m “obsessed” but I am definitely a huge fan. I once dragged my daughters to a Mamma Mia movie singalong and I did see an ABBA cover band at Red Rocks with my girlfriends…so, um, maybe a tiny bit obsessed???

“The movie is terrible!  Pierce Brosnan? He can’t sing at all!” you might say.  Yeah, I know, I know…but the beauty of these two movies (yes, a sequel came out in September 2018!!) is that they are so terrible that they are awesome!  Just let go of the fact that they’re awful and enjoy.  The scenery is mind-blowingly gorgeous, the music is poppy and fun and harmless, and the storyline is, well…silly.  Maybe that’s why I love these movies – they’re goofy, light, a great escape from the world’s problems, and the location – let me tell you about the location!

Back in 2016, I did my very first Workaway (www.workaway.info – just about my favorite website everrrrr) doing trail maintenance on a tiny Greek island called Skopelos.  Little did I know when I accepted the work exchange assignment that the Mamma Mia movie was filmed on Skopelos!!  No. Way!!!! I got to climb the many stairs to the tiny church atop the rocks overlooking the sea where the Meryl Streep wedding was filmed and saw the harbor where some of the dance scenes were shot. I was in heaven!!

Flash forward to September 2018 – the sequel, “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again” was finally available at a theater near you – ten long years after the release of the first movie.  One hot afternoon in September, I left the villa in Tuscany where I was housesitting (wait – what? you might be saying…I’ve got a couple of blog posts here on this site about those amazing two months, so check ’em out) and took the bus to Pisa to a movie theatre to catch MM2.  I had read on the Pisa movie theater website that the movie would be shown in English with Italian subtitles, so I ordered an Aperol spritz at the candy counter (gotta love this!), found the perfect seat in the theatre, and settled in but…guess what!? The movie was in Italian.  With NO subtitles!! Ah well.  The plot wasn’t so deep that I couldn’t figure out what was happening and all the music was in English so I sat back, sipped my cocktail, and thoroughly and completely enjoyed the movie.  The Greek island scenery was stupendous, just like the first movie.

Now jump ahead with me one month later to October 2018…I’m traveling the Croatian coastline with Piu, the Frenchman, and we decide to take a ferry to check out one of the islands off the shore of Split.  Which one to choose? Hvar, full of fancy yachts and luxury?  How about Korcula, which has vineyards and an ancient town wall? Or Vis, with its three paragliding takeoff sites and many locations that were used for the new MM2 movie?  HOLD ON…WAIT JUST A MINUTE…WHAT??  The new Mamma Mia movie, which takes place on the tiny mythical Greek island of Kalokairi was filmed… IN CROATIA?? You can guess which island Piu and I chose, as he’s a paraglider and me, well, I’m an unabashed ABBA fan. Or obsessed, I suppose.

 

We booked one night’s accommodation on Vis for the ridiculously low sum of 20 euros, figuring we’d check out the island, spend the night and head back to the mainland the next day.  After taking the Jadrolinija ferry across the Adriatic Sea a little more than two hours from the bustling port of Split to the quiet, nearly deserted port of Vis, we immediately decided we needed to stay more than just one night.

 

The island was magical! Vis is tiny, just under 35 square miles, and is divided into two main towns—Vis Town, the harbor where the ferries arrive, and Komiza, across the island to the west coast, where we were staying. The local bus was waiting at the port for those of us heading there, and we spent 20 kuna ($3) for the fifteen-minute ride.

We had no solid plans other than to hope for good flying conditions for Piu, and I was planning to visit the three or four locations where the movie had been shot.

We rented a 50cc scooter for the day, and tootled around, the motor straining to get us up the winding hills of Vis. One of the “must-see” sights was Stiniva Beach, voted “top European beach in 2016″…interesting since there are only two ways to get to the beach: by water taxi or private boat, or by hiking down a rocky, treacherous path to what is more of a cove than a true beach.  The movie had scenes filmed here, and we enjoyed an hour of peaceful beaching before it got too crowded. We headed back up to the scooter, checked out another beach, and then scootered away to look for somewhere to enjoy a glass of local wine.

Another quick stop to peek into Jastozera Seafood restaurant, where the “Waterloo” musical scene broke out (that’s what happens in musicals, right? Everyone in the restaurant “breaks out” in song and dance!).  We (ok, “I”) also poked around Dionis Pizzeria on the Vis side the next day, which is where the market scene was filmed.  

My list of things to see and do on Vis was complete; however, Piu wasn’t able to paraglide, as the wind wouldn’t cooperate. We did, however, celebrate his birthday at the restaurant next to Jastozera, enjoying a lovely dinner of fresh seafood.

So nice to have a lazy couple of days to enjoy the sea, the sun, the scooter and the scenes of the movie.  And yes, the MM sequel was as good as the first one (take that as you will!)

Here are some pictures of the quiet, hidden corridors and alleyways of Komiza and around the island.

Uživati…Enjoy.

 

 

Life is short, and the world is wide.  I want to make some memories.  Donna, Mamma Mia 2

May the rest of our lives be the best of our lives.     Tanya, Mamma Mia 2