9/16 Split Croatia
We arrived to Split pretty late in the day after a very long ride. The ride was made longer because an hour before we were supposed to arrive they’ve asked us to get off the train, and board a bus that would take us to another train. They did not give us much explanation why. We were then driven through some villages and within half an hour we were stuck on an unpaved “road” because of an oncoming traffic (we were not the only ones who got rerouted.) Eventually we did make it to another train.
Once in Split, we were greeted by dozens of grandmas chasing us down the street offering us accommodations. Since we already had a reserved hostel, we were not interested. But they didn’t speak English and some were more persistent than others and followed us a few blocks.
I blame the grandmas for getting us lost right off the bat. We had to walk to the hostel and tried to orient ourselves in the unmarked streets and extreme heat (despite it being 7pm). So we ended up going right instead of left out of the bus station. And then we circled awhile around the city looking for what is supposed to be a “popular landmark” – the theater. However, each person we asked, gave us a different direction. Eventually we found our way and things got better.
Hostel was nice and clean and very homely. Right away we got a recommendation from the owner about where to go for dinner and headed that way. Over dinner we made a friend, an American from Denver named Phil who was traveling by himself because his wife is afraid of flying. He kept us very good company. And then we headed to explore the night city.
Split is a beach town and that day was beach weather. I was wearing a dress (gasp! Yes, I periodically wear something aside from jeans now) the entire evening. Levka got to enjoy more legs. Of course they were not as good or as abundant as what he has gotten used to in Ukraine, but he was happy anyway.
The really cool part is that we stumbled upon a semi-concert in the old Cathedral. In Split, you can freely walk the streets within the Old City Walls and the Cathedral. The streets are lined with restaurants and coffee shops. Given the weather, everyone is outside enjoying themselves. The Cathedral (or what remains of it) includes the 500 year old columns and some walls. But generally it’s an outdoor space surrounded by beautiful ruins. In this space, there was some live music and people dancing salsa. Neither was professional but nevertheless really cool. Anyone could join the dancing and half the people didn’t know how to salsa, which was even more entertaining to watch.
After a few more hours of walking, we were exhausted and headed home.
| From 2011.09.15 Split |
Split Day 2:
Because of the heat, we decided to spend the entire day on the beach. Did I mention that Split is a beach town?
So in the morning, we made wonderful breakfast. (By “we” I mean Levka) and then we headed out. We didn’t take our swimming stuff at first. The plan was to go, explore the area to find the best beach, then come back to pick up our swimming stuff. OK, maybe it is not the most productive way to do stuff, but we were told that everything is close.
So we “followed” the route that was suggested to us. Once again we found that the streets were unmarked, the map was unclear and right away we walked the wrong way. It’s safe to say that we got lost every time we left our hostel. At the same time we discovered, that getting lost is a great way to explore the city. And it is not a good way to spend the day at the beach. We did make it to the beach with our swim stuff by 4pm. The water was beautiful and we swam till sunset.
Another dinner, more walking, more music on the street, some more legs and the next morning we were off to the Islands.
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| 2011.09.15 Split |
