Although our meeting was in Dubrovnik, we’d been
told that one of the most beautiful places in Croatia was a little town named
Split, so that was our first stop in the country. But first we had to get
there, and that wasn’t
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| Sunset on the road to Split |
easy. Our flight choices gave us several options and
none of them great. Barb ended up booking a flight that had two stops before
getting to Croatia; I found a more direct route, but had to go through the
dreaded Madrid airport. However, the
weather was so unsettled in the northern US that the airline was happy to put Barb
on the plane from DFW to Madrid instead of her multi-stop itinerary. I was
happy because I was on that plane, as well. We both had bulkhead seats, but not
together. The lady who sat next to me had an elbow that resided in my ribs – I
really missed sitting with Barb! Overly tight quarters, a completely full
plane, and surprisingly bad food did not bode well for this adventure.
Perhaps I’ve expressed my dislike of the Madrid
airport (huge, no signage, surly people) in previous blogs; it’s better when
you’re traveling
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| Which currency in which airport? |
with a friend. After getting off the plane in Madrid we walked
through a sign-free mile (no exaggeration) to some ladies who were providing
new boarding passes and accurate information about where to go next. We were
either in Outer Mongolia or in Terminal 4, which is just smaller than Rhode
Island. We did find ‘The Club’ and after a food fest we were instructed to find
the gate (signage, along with perfume, alcohol, and souvenir sellers had
increased). Once there they put us on a bus and literally drove us in a huge
circle out on the tarmac to a gate that we probably could have walked to faster;
we got off the bus, went up the stairs, back into the terminal, down the jet
bridge and back onto a plane. It was certainly an interesting method of moving
people. On ‘local’ Iberia flights you have to pay for everything, including
water. The flight attendants were kind enough to bring me some tap water that I
didn’t have to pay for, but only one cupful; I sincerely thanked them.
And then we were in Dubrovnik airport – larger
than the airport at Victoria, Texas, but not by much. We got our luggage
easily, changed some
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| View from Hogwarts? |
money, and proceeded to wait for the rest of the gang. I
got 5,000 kuna (kn) which may be enough to last a life time or could get me a cup
of coffee – hard to tell. In any case, it all worked. Our driver, Antonio,
picked us up on time and we headed down the coast in the setting sun for Split.
The drive was worth the flights. The drive along
the coast puts me in mind of the sheer cliffs of Big Bend, the valleys of
Wyoming near Yellowstone, and the opening to the ocean that Harry Potter sees
from Hogwarts. This is a really pretty place. We did stop at a bakery to
grab a bite to eat. Who knew it was in Bosnia? The
counter girl at the bakery had a bit of English and absolutely no Italian, but
she did take
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| Bosnia bread |
money, so we were successful in feeding ourselves. As an aside, we
were talking about with the advent of the European Union
we missed getting our passports stamped when we went in and out of countries.
Antonio overheard us and asked the guard at the Bosnia/Croatia boarder control
to stamp our passports; the guard was amused and we were delighted.
Split
lies on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea; it sprawls across a central
peninsula and surroundings that link the Apennine peninsula to
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Top L to R: Sunset, NearNormal Travelers
Bottom L to R: Oceanographic Institute, Tito's house |
the Adriatic
islands. The city was started out as a Greek colony in the third or second
century BC and by 305 AD it was home a Roman emperor who lived in the Diocletian's Palace. About 300
years later it had grown to become the capital of the Roman province of
Dalmatia, Salona. Because it was in such a good trade area, Split was taken
over by several countries through a series of wars. It became a Byzantine city,
then later a part of the Republic of Venice and the Kingdom of Croatia, and for
a time a free city of the Dalmatian city-states. One way to experience Split is
from the sea side, seeing it as the early sailors did. We had a great sunset
ride on a little boat with a light libation for a reasonable price. I have no
idea what the name of the boat (other than Split Boat Trips) was, but it was a
good time. They even had blankets for those of us who needed them. The ‘safety talk’ was non-existent and there were no life
jackets in sight. This was fine for the people inside, but we were sitting in
folding chairs on the boat roof. The chairs were tied to the railings so that
they wouldn’t go overboard, but you had to watch your belongings because there were
no rails to hold those aboard. Our guide did say that the water was 20oC,
so you wouldn’t freeze to death, but you’d be cold in the air. Cruising along
we learned that Marshal Tito had a house at Split and a couple of others on some of
the other islands. He wasn’t here much, and when he was no one could come near
the houses. There was also a tunnel that he could drive the boat through thereby
getting to the house without anyone seeing you; reminds me of a James Bond
film. Our guide/waitress bounded up and down the ladders on the boat as if she
weren’t there carrying trays of beer and wine. I ask her where our stemmed wine
glasses were, and she said that she had to serve beer in glass, but that
everything else was in plastic. It was a lot cheaper that way when she dropped
a tray and cups flew everywhere. Her delivery was pretty cute and she was fairly
knowledgeable of the area – as one would expect.
We learned that the Split area at one time
belonged to Venice, but was, after Morean War of 1699, given to the Ottoman
Empire which is why
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| New and old Split |
Bosnia and some other small area is Muslim rather than
Catholic. And it went to the Ottomans because the locals didn’t want Venice to
have it. Split and Dubrovnik were shipping ports thus heavily involved in trade
and very attractive to anyone wanting to take over the area. All of the
shifting of Split from one country to another happened because of religion;
Antonio says that church is now very political rather than spiritual. However,
annexation of the city by Italy was purely political in World War II. It was
freed by the Partisans in 1943, then re-occupied by Germany under the guise of
making it an Independent State of Croatia. The Partisans again freed the city
in 1944 allowing it to become a part of post-war Socialist Yugoslavia; in 1991
Croatia became an independent country.
In 1979, the historic center of Split was
included into the UNESCO list
of World Heritage Sites. We spent literally all day (10AM – 10PM) in Split.
 |
Top L to R: Diocletian Palace, Street vendor
Bottom L to R: Split fountain, Cathedral |
What we actually saw was the ‘castle’, the town within the town, the cathedral,
the crypt, the baptistery, and a very nice small museum. The coolest thing
about the area, being Sunday, was the pipe organ and the choir during the
church service. For such a tiny space, the sound was glorious. Barb and two other of our crew climbed up a tower to get
a good view of Split, but rather than being nine flights of a dozen steps, it
was 18 and none of the steps were the same height. At some points they had to
drag themselves up using hand rails. One of the other ladies and I went to a
museum. Guess whose thigh muscles didn’t hurt the next day. At one time Split
was one of the centers of Croatian culture with its literary practice traced to
medieval times. More recently TV series by Miljenko Smoje,
called Malo misto and Velo misto, were developed in Split. We did add to the
town’s economy. There are street vendors, as well as little shops with
interesting items; all sorts of things found their way into our bags.
The next morning Antonio
picked us up at 9:30 AM and we were off to Dubrovnik. We had gone to Split on
the freeway because it was dark
 |
| Misty islands |
most of the way, but we came back right along
the water on the surface roads. All the pictures you see of the houses built
right into the mountain side are accurate and if the sun is in the right place
it’s really pretty. There is always a hint of fog between the islands because
the air is cooler than the water. It gives the area a mysterious, misty look. I
wouldn’t have minded getting in a boat and exploring those little pieces of
land; maybe another time.
Our first stop was Makarska. This is a tourist center, sitting on a horseshoe shaped
bay between the Biokovo Mountains and the Adriatic
 |
Top L to R: Monument to Tourists, Sardines
Bottom: Makarska |
Sea. It has a palm-fringed
promenade, with cafes, bars, and boutiques adjacent to the harbor. There’s a Monument to the Tourist where the ferry docks; it’s a statue of a man and a
woman pulling a roller bag. We wandered around the area for a little while, and
again I wish we’d have had time to do a bit more sightseeing. One of the
sardine boats came in and was unloading. The sardines are larger than I
expected. The fishermen were selling them to a cannery (I assume); those guys
were loading flats of fish into the back of a truck and throwing shovelfuls of
ice on top of them. The few fish that weren’t put on the truck were going to
folks walking up and buying them. Once this was over, the fishermen jumped on
the boat and off they went, back out to sea. Sardines are the subject of
paintings, sculpture, and even earrings.
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| Orange Vendor |
We stopped a couple of
times for scenic overlooks, and I think to give Antonio’s ears a rest from five
women talking at once. We stopped on the side of the road and bought oranges
from a grower, along with fresh figs. Both were amazing. They are famous in
Croatia for their oranges/tangerines, olives, and figs.
Then we had a late lunch at
Ston; it has one of the longest preserved fortification
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| Ston Wall, near and far |
systems in the world. The Walls of Ston are a series of defensive stone walls,
originally more than 7 kilometers (4.3 mi) long, that surrounded and protected
the city; their construction was begun in 1358. The wall links Ston to Mali Ston, and is in the shape of an
irregular pentangle. They also protect the salt pans. The folks there have harvested tons of salt
since the Roman days and if, in those days, they were attacked, they would run
up to the wall and around the mountain, warning other people as they went. One
of their other claims to fame is their production of oysters and muscles. Antonio
bought us some Croatian salt to go with our oranges and our figs.
We had a really good time in Split and still
didn’t get to everything there was to do. For information about my rating
system, see Reading the
Reviews.
 |
| NearNormal Travelers - Photo by Lucy Santos |
Where we stayed:
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| Four carrots |
Authentic
Villa was where we stayed in Split. We should all get a
 |
Top L to R: One bedroom, Kitchen
Bottom L to R: Bougainvillea, One bath |
mountain climbing
badge for the sets of stairs inside the facility. The rooms were comfortable,
if a bit cramped, and I’m thinking that everyone in this country is over 6 feet
tall given the height of the mirrors and the cabinets. The WiFi was adequate,
and there were plenty of plugs. The place could benefit from a few more trash
cans and a box or two of tissues, but okay. The air conditioning works. At
least at this one you can flush the paper down
the toilet. The light out the windows the mornings we were there was glorious.
Where we ate:
I wasn’t all that impressed with
the food at the restaurants. It just didn’t measure up to either Crete or
Athens. All of the seafood was overcooked. I’m wondering if this is the style
of preparation for the area.
 |
| Three and one-half carrots |
Knoboa Bakus (B. Angeli Radovani 5,
20230, Ston, Croatia) was an interesting place to eat. Although they had an
English menu, the folks
 |
Top L to R: Menu, Clams
Bottom L to R: Octopus, Oysters |
were much more likely to speak the local language. Three
of our group pronounced the oysters (broiled and raw) quite good; three others
said that the clams were very good, too. I ate an octopus salad that was very
tasty. It was mostly octopus, a few bits of tomatoes, lots of parsley, some
slivers of onions, and some garlic, dressed with oil and vinegar. There was
also homemade bread that was very nice to go with it. And yes, I ate all of the
salad. Service is ‘Mediterranean-ly’ slow. The waitress bordered on surly,
which is not traditional in this area.
 |
| Three carrots |
Konoba Otprilike Ovako (Sinovčića ul. 5, 21000,
Split, Croatia, +385 95
 |
Clockwise from top: Mushrooms, Potatoes
Bread, Seafood risotto |
707 0777) had a good review, but we were all a bit
disappointed. Perhaps it was the end of the season and they weren’t trying very
hard. Barb said that her seafood risotto was fishy; I had risotto with ink and
mine was fishy, also. However, the mushrooms, bread, and potatoes were very
good. The wine was tasty and we did have a lot of fun sitting basically in the
street and peeking at people through the temporary hedge.
Olive tree (Obala
Hrvatskog Narodnog Preporoda 6, Split 21000, Croatia +385 21 781 103) was a
lovely set of bars and restaurants set facing the bay on two sides. Our eating
has been interesting. Sometimes the prices
 |
Top L to R: Menu, Olives and prosciutto
Bottom L to R: Sausage and eggs, Cheese-
cake |
are in euros, other times in local
currency. The bar, which we stumbled into at first, was not serving and they
really didn’t want you to sit in the area. The restaurant was serving, but they
didn’t particularly want to serve us either. However, what we did have was
good. Karen had a lovely plate filled with sausage and boiled egg. I had a
variety of sausages and olives. Barb had a lovely cheesecake shaped like an
apple with cinnamon apple filling inside the core. What we didn’t realize was
that the menu was in Euros rather than in Konas so what appeared to be an
inexpensive meal was actually very costly. Again slow and rather surly service
made us less than happy with this meal.
What we did:
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| Four carrots |
 |
| L to R: Mosaics, Museum entrance |
Diocletian’s Palace (Dioklecijanova ul. 1, 21000, Split, Croatia)
is where we heard the lovely organ music, climbed the tower, and visited a well
curated museum. This is well worth the visit with something for everyone to
enjoy. We did see several tour groups from Viking, which tells me that there is
a lot of history to discover and enjoy.
Split Boat Trips (Obala Hrvatskog narodnog preporoda 55, 21000,
Split, Croatia) is basically a kiosk at which you buy tickets on one of several
boats that can do as little as a brief tour of the harbor all the way through a
dinner cruise. We opted for the cruise with libations and a tour. It was a good
deal for the money and a lot of fun.
Saint Blaise Church
(Ston, Croatia) is a tiny Baroque church dedicated to the patron of Dubrovnik, St.
Blaise. He warned people in Dubrovnik, particularly the priest, to prepare the
city defenses against a surprise attack by the Venetians.
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| L to R: St Blaise exterior and Interior |
Ston Wall and Salt
Works (Ston, Croatia) is a tiny town that is well worth stopping into for a
few hours. The salt works have an interesting story, as do the walls. And of
course, the scenery in the area is pretty spectacular.
Our Driver:
 |
| Four and one-half carrots |
Once again we did the right thing by contracting
a driver to take us from one point to another. Antonio was wonderful! He was
polite, knowledgeable, and had a great sense of humor. He works for AA Travel;
contact them through Vl. Antun Regi’o, Ol.B 89058055122.
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| Antonio |
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