Split
Tiny winding streets with old buildings, hugely driven by city break tourism rather than the more sedate options are part of the character of Split. The small tight streets in the old town have lead to the adoption of motorised cards, like you may see in a warehouse for moving goods around.
There is a tension in the city between the history, the ancient buildings and bloody occupations and the rowdy tourist trade looking for cheap beer and sun.
Cash in king in Split, but there are ATMs everywhere, a concession for all the tourists who are not used to carrying cash any more.
Day 1:
This was a very early start to the day, up at 4am for a 6am flight, at last the flight is direct and the time is the same in both countries. I landed at 8:40am and was through passport control and waiting for the bus by 9am.
It was about half an hour on the local bus to the centre of Split and cost only 40 Kunar, or about £2.80, which is pretty good for an airport transfer. The bus station is a little outside the centre of town so I took a brief coffee break in an outdoor cafe on my way to the Archeology museum.
The museum is a bit out of the main area of the town and is set in some small gardens with various relics and mosaics around it. Inside was a small but well curated collection of items divided into Greek, Roman, and Medieval sections. It was only on my way out that I found someone who worked there and I was able to by a ticket. The museum explains a lot about the unique blend of cultures that make up Croatia, part of both the Greek and Roman empress, it was then populated by the Slavic Croat tribes in the middle ages, much later of course it had a heavy soviet influence.
After the museum, I walked into old town, stopping briefly at a Italian-style plaza for a beer, before exploring the old town and seeing the Roman ruins, such as the Diocletian’s Palance, Augio Medieval Palace, and some unnamed locations. It is quite remarkable how they are so integral to the city, it is scattered through the old town, and used day to day, not sidelined and fenced off as a tourist attraction.
I then stopped for lunch at a cafe with had its seats in an alleyway, it’s nicer than it sounds, there was an old staircase on one side and ancient paving slabs. Lunch was a selection of local cheese and homemade breads followed by a tomato pasta with meatballs.
I then headed to the City Museum, a fairly small exhibit in a venue that reminded me a lot of the Picasso muse in Barcelona. A courtyard entrance and a museum over several floors, there were a lot of pole-arms on the walls for some reason.
After the museum, I checked into my hotel, sharing the floor with a large family taking up the other rooms and headed to a nearby plaza to update my journal.
I the walked along the seafront, past some incredible naughts, and down to the Mestrovic Gallery, a beautiful house turned sculpture Gallery dedicated to the eponymous sculptor. Croatia’s most famous and important sculptor, he has a clear and distinct style, dealing primarily with religious figures.
The tickets also gain you access to the Mestrovic Cirkvia (Chapel) with more of his work and a lovely view of the ocean. These are primarily reliefs, but with a crucified Jesus carved in his signature style in the Nave of the church. it’s not a style I’m particularly fond of, but it’s worth the time to visit.
I then went to the Croatian Archeology Museum, dedicated to the Croat tribe’s history, which was interesting but also under heavy renovation, at last, half the museum was closed and inaccessible which was disappointing. The museum was free at the time due to this, however.
Feeling more or less done for the day, I found a bar opposite the open on the Quayside, (Strangely, my floor-mates were having a drink at the same bar.
I headed back to my hotel, as it is very central and I could drop off my bag before heading out to an Italian for dinner.
Had it not been recommended, I would not have tried Apetit, it was down a dark alleyway and up some stairs and seemed quite sketchy. However, once inside, it was elegant and the food was good. Not the best I have had on my travels perhaps, but still very good. Pizza stye bruschetta, flowed by beef medallions and Gnocchi. I also had a carafe of the local wine for less than a single glass would cost in Sweden.
Exhausted, I stopped into a Spar for a large bottle of water and witnessed six Australian girls being 12 bottles of vodka to share.
Back at the hotel, I tried to book a boat trip, but it was full and the response I got to if it was worth coming along anyway incase of cancellation was terse and passive aggressive. A screenshot with a crude circle around the relevant part of their FAQ.
Day 2:
Ironically, i was up and looking for coffee at more or less the same time as I had been the day before.
I had coffee in the Plaza next tot he hotel and decided to go tot he Contemporary art museum, but skip the nearby fine art museum. It fires out this is impossible, they are int he same building, fine art of the first floor, contemporary on the ground.
It is a really good museum, good size and well curated. Occasional pieces of modern art are scatted through the fine art exhibits, such as stools made to look like human hair and the contemporary art had some powerful pieces, a huge woman’s face painted entirely with lipstick and the records of the illegal protest against George W. Bush’s visit, where the main fountain ws coloured to look like blood.
I then walked over to see the golden gate and state of Gregory of Non as well as the bell tower of the Holy Arnir. All in remarkable proximity to each other.
I then stopped for a beer, and got to listen to a crowd of english girls trying to order a full english breakfast at lunchtime.
I decided to go to the nearby Froggyland, a location that would fit in an American road trip Curiosity. 507 stuffed frogs, in poses or dioramas with short annotations the curator had spent ten years on his taxidermy. No picture are allowed, perhaps because they would discourage attendance by seeing them in advance. The ticket taker asks for you opinion on the museum and your favourite. I was apparently the only one ever to list the courtroom scene as my favourite. The attention to detail is incredible, Frog wheelwrights are setting the final piece, frog barbers have applied the shaving foam It was take less then twenty minutes to explore, but it is worth it.
It was then time for lunch at BoKeria, a restaurant Anthony Boudin had tasted at. I had several glasses of excellent wine, a cod spring roll as long as my forearm and an Oxtail stew. Excellent.
I then booked an Uber to the castle Klis, used as Mereen in Game of Thrones, there are only a limited number of Uber collection points in Split, so I had a bit of a walk ahead of me.
The Uber driver asked me immediately if I could cancel the booking as he would like to change form his company car to his on as he lived near the castle and was at the end of his shift. I agreed to it, but the situation was unusual enough that I took a picture of his cars licences place and sent it to a friend with some details, as better safe than sorry.
In the end it was fine, and he told me about the tribes Uber had caused him,(I told him about the physical fights it had caused in Morocco) and how without his wife working he was doing a 16 hot shift. I gave him double the agreed rate, more or less what he would have got without Uber.
Klis castle is impressive, almost 2,000 years old, it gives an incredible view over slip and was the site of most Mereen shots in Game of Thrones. Largely a ruin, a few buildings have been preserved and when I was there, the man supposed to be teaching archery and the longsword was instead rocking out on a electric guitar with this accompanying me, I explored the castle from end to end and got some nice photos.
The next bus back to town was at 19:45, about 45 minutes away, so I sat in the little cafe bear the castle the was showing the England v Belgium game with a. Beer and a table mate who was smoking very pungent self rolled cigarettes. I had to leave before the ned, but England was 0-1 down with no indication they would do better.
The bus never arrived, a group of five Dutch kids arrived a little after I did and as the time move don we got tot talking. We also spoke to a local who was waiting for ht bus who said it would arrive any time now. When she got into her friends little vauxhall, we decided it was not a reliable report and looked into other options.
I said I was going to be calling an Uber and would be happy to share. Everyone was interested and so we had to look at the Uber Extra options. We agreed to split the fair, but I was the one ordering so was given cash by the kids. It was at least a fifteen minute wait, so I said I was going to have a quick beer at the nearby cafe and wandered off, with their cash in my pocket and no guaranteed of anything happening as far as they were aware. Realising this, I sat as near as possible to the bus stop, and in a very visible location so they would not think they had been scammed.
When the Uber was a few minutes away I rejoined the gourd and met the the new people who were also looking to be included in the shared trip down from the castle.
We were fortunate. Despite being advertised as a seven person car, it was in fact one of the nine seaters we typically took to our snowboarding venues in Sweden. On the trip back, I spoke to one of the Dutch guys next to me about my 12 cities challenge.
We were dropped off at a car park on the western edge of the old town and went our separate ways. About three minutes later I ran into the new couple coming out of their hotel on their way out.
I walked into town, past a square with a large Church and explode the markets stalls nearby. I finally found a stall selling a checkerboard Croatian football top for a reasonable price, cheap and low quality, but enough for the World Cup final the following evening.
I went back to the hotel and dropped by bags off again before I went out for dinner. I was feeling lazy and had another early morning coming so I went to a restaurant in the Plaza and had a ridiculous amount of cheese as a starter and then what amounted to a meat feast pizza. Way too much food but it kept me entertained.
I then when back to the hotel for a few episodes of South Park on the local TV stations before bed.
Day 3:
I was up early for the bus ride to Krka. I had a quick coffee after checking out of my hotel and headed to the statue of Gregory of Nin, where we were meeting. It was a much larger group of people than I expected, maybe 100 waiting. One of the first things that was announced was because of the World Cup Final, the tour would be leaving 30 minutes earlier to get back in time for kickoff. The bus was parked on the other side of town and so we walked down there, blocking up the streets.
The bus ride was about an hour and a half to Skradin, the starting point of the boat ride along the river into Krka national park. The boat ride takes about an hour, and has some excellent views. It would not doubt be a peaceful ride, except for the fact I was next to four quintessential valley girls, who could have stepped out of the film "Clueless" One said "I really, like, want a tattoo, but I don't know where. Or of what."
When we docked, the guide gave us some brief information and then we were off to explore. I had my camera (and all my worldly goods) with me, so did not want to go swimming and leave it unguarded, so I opted for the hike. I paused on the bridge overlooking the end point of the waterfall for a few photos, and then climbed the many steps to the highest point and paused for lunch.
After lunch, having been told it would be about an hour and a half hike around the waterfall and lake, more if you stop for photos, i set off with a determined stride. Two hours would be cutting it a little fine, as I had to do the start to where I had lunch again as well as that was where the bus was arriving.
All in all, the walk took 35 minutes, including time to stop for photos, and to do some of the side walks to view points. I was back at the start and so paused for a beer. I then started to notice the excitement for the Croatia vs France World Cup Final building. A number of people were dressed (as I was) in the kit, and two girls were face-painting anyone interested with the checkerboard colours of Croatia.
I headed back to the bus, and due to delays in the journey (with a lot of people heading into town for the game) we arrived only 10 minutes before kickoff. The streets were jammed with people, the main viewing arena was packed to capacity. After a bit of walk, i managed to find an outdoor bar, selling beer to the people standing on the street and after a 20 minute queue, stood towards the back to watch the game and enjoy the atmosphere.
The feeling for the game was excellent, the excitement, especially during the equaliser was a sight to behold. Beer in one hand and camera in the other I tried to capture the feelings of the crowd, whilst also taking part. Disappointed that they lost, they did so with dignity, there was no violence or misbehaviour that I saw, walking through town later that evening, there were only people cheering, waving flags and showing pride for their team. With so many England games marred by our fans behaviour, it was heartening to see something different.
I'd checked into my new hotel straight after the game, and headed back out with my camera. I managed to get some nice shots of the fans and I then found an incredible restaurant with live music where I had a rabbit risotto and a veggie spaghetti. Both superb and with some local wine.
Though it was not that late, the day had taken it out of me, so I headed back to the hotel to sleep.
Day 4
Due to extending this trip to be able to watch the football, I was actually working from Croatia. After checkout, I found a cafe near enough to my original hotel that I could use the wifi and settled in for a few hours of admin work and the occasional call. I had breakfast (an omelette) and several coffees.
At just after midday, I decided it was time to head to somewhere else for Lunch. I walked down through the old town to the waters edge and had a relatively mediocre Club sandwich at a seafront tourist bar called Bistro 7. The meal was regularly interrupted by the test noises from the stage they were setting up.
Following that, i headed over to near the taxi rank to continue working at a little pub with some outside tables facing the ocean.
It eventually got to the point where I needed to head to the airport, so i jumped in a cab, though that was the more expensive option, but Uber experiences had been less than stellar. Checkin was easy enough, no real queue, but when I got through customs, the whole departure lounge was full! Several flights were delayed, and there were a lot of people travelling home after the game. I ended up sat on a radiator, after a long queue for a beer at the kiosk as there was no real restaurant. Split is building a new terminal, and it is definitely needed!