During our honeymoon two years ago, we took a day trip to the island of Hvar. While the island is best known for it's beautiful blue waters and beaches, I was excited to see the lavender fields. I had done a little research beforehand and it seemed the island was known for them. I was full of excitement and had visions of the lavender fields you see in Provence.

When we arrived at the island, we walked through the town to the taxis and found a driver willing to give us a tour of the island along with stopping at the lavender fields. We drove and my eyes were on the lookout for the purple rows of lavender. After some time, the driver told us we were at the fields. However, they looked much different than I had imagined and I thought we must have been too late in the season. We went on to show the driver images we had found online of the fields, and that's when we were reminded to not trust everything you see online.

It turns out that 50 years ago, Hvar did have the abundant lavender fields I had imagined and seen online. However, as newer generations became less interested in harvesting it, the fields became less and less abundant. The rocky hills that had once been bursting with lavender were now a mix of lavender and other wild flowers and greenery. While I did not find the lavender fields I had hoped for, we did learn a lot about the island on our tour and our lovely driver even picked me a bunch of lavender to bring back with us.