Split

[May 30 - 31]

We got off the Dubrovnik-Split bus to experience our first taste of the little old ladies offering accommodation. Actually, there were quite a lot of people of all ages, holding signs with "Zimmer, Room, Sobe, Apartman." You couldn't walk anywhere with luggage without being approached with a lodging offer. However, unlike India, they took "no" for an answer.

We had already booked something in advance and were quickly escorted to our little apartment. After getting settled in, had a pizza lunch, and waited for Greg and Ashley to arrive from Spain. It had been a long time since we'd all been in the same country, so we were looking forward to the visit.


Dean inspects the Split waterfront; Greg and Ashley attempt to push him in


After they flew in, we went in search of dinner. After getting lost in a few back alleys, we found our place and had a nice meal. It was difficult to eat quickly because we had so much chatting to make up for.

The next day, we went to the necessary sites, like the Diocletian's Palace. It is not so much of a palace anymore, but a historic shell of the building with a few remaining attractions. We walked around in the cold basement of the palace and through a strange museum. The old town itself was nice and had all sorts of small paths between the old buildings.


Diocletian's Palace at night.

After lunch, we walked along the waterfront to explore the wooded area of the city. Along the way, we saw an old lady feeding a group of cats living under the old boats. She was talking to both them and us, completely in Croatian, of course. She seemed to have quite a history with the cats and they seemed to tolerate her too. Everyone was joking that this was an image of my future.


Marita in 40 years, perhaps less...

We came across the Ivan Mestrovic Gallery and decided to have a look. The lawn housed a few nice sculptures and we also came across a busy turtle. Inside, the guards turned out the lights as you left each room or looked like you were about to leave. I thought that the place must be closing, but it was just an effort to conserve energy. Mestrovic had some great work, mostly depicting human forms.

Not much else exciting to report about Split. It was mainly a hub for the ferry rides to the islands, to be covered in the next posts.