Woke a bit early so we could go outside and see Split for our 7am arrival. The coast has a Greek feel to it. Lots of lowish islands, with sparse vegetation and the same sort of scents on the air. The crossing had been the smoothest boat trip we’ve had in our lives. Not even the slightest hint of a chop or roll or anything. It was like being in a cheap motel with a big generator a block away.
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| Breakfast |
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| Market, Split |
Off the boat and through Customs we had a
sobe (rooms) lady attach herself to us. Price was reasonable based on Lonely Planet’s guide, so went with her for a look and it was fine, close to the centre and really a small apartment rather than just a room. We were back into Split not long after 8am. Found ourselves some nice pastries and coffee opposite the morning fish market for breakfast, before doing an orientation wander around some of old Split. What an amazing place! Emperor Diocletian retired here (the only Roman emperor to retire away from Rome) and had a 3Ha walled palace constructed as his nice little seaside pad. There are large parts of it still here, with all sorts of mediaeval and Renaissance bits and pieces built in, on and around the palace. There was a big market on, and we bought bread, cheese, toms, prosciutto and olive oil for lunches.
Interesting being here in Spring rather than in Autumn like last trip. The range of produce is quite different. Peppers are very pricey as yet, but wild asparagus is obviously in full flush. Funny-looking stuff, it is only about as thick as No. 8 wire and sold in big tangly bunches. Yet another beautiful day. Low 20s but warming up through the day, and clear skies. We’ve had about 15 minutes rain in the month of travelling.
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| Old Split from Marjan Hill |
Back to our room for a delicious lunch – so nice to have good chewy bread, and tangy cheese, and a beer to help it down. We spent the afternoon following a brochure’s tour of Diocletian’s Palace. We really enjoy seeing how successive societies have adapted and reused the buildings. We went up the brutal steps of the cathedral’s bell tower, an OSH nightmare, but a great viewpoint. Then off up Marjan Hill for a good view back over Split. The day was rounded off with a meal at a local restaurant with local specialties including black risotto (black from cuttlefish ink).
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| Inside Diocletian's Palace from belltower |
So a very good start to Croatia. The locals are quite different to Italians. There are quite a lot of tall strong men with blocky heads, wide square shouldered bodies, and faces quite un-Italian. The language is rather Russian-sounding, and unfortunately very unlike European languages. We are not going to try to learn more than the bare essentials, we’ll save our learning for Italian and French. The average facial expression here is a bit more glum than Italy. Maybe it’s Communism or recent war that does it, as it reminds us of the difference between Thais and Cambodians.
