Split - Hvar - Trogir, June 1-3

Split, June 1

We very successfully had a lazy morning in our apartment. When we woke up thunder was rolling and the rain was pouring. It is always nice to drift in and out of sleep to the sound of rain and it offered an added bonus of feeling no guilt for not being more motivated to get out of the apartment.

We set into the rain shortly after getting up. The rain was reasonable because although it poured from time to time it was still warm enough that you didn't really need a jacket. We wandered around the Diocletain Palace - a UNESCO heritage site - which is a huge area that is the remains of the Roman palace. The really cool thing about it though is that it is so authentic. So many palaces like this are only filled with touristy shop after the same touristy shop. This one had so many great cafes, restaurants, shops, hotels, and even people living there. It was clear that there were actual people from Split there, maybe not a lot, but they were there. It kind of reminded me of the Gothic quarter of Barcelona with windy little streets. I love these old towns that have no cars, all made for walking. It is noted as likely being the best preserved Roman palace in the world.

So we wandered and then decided to walk up Marjan, which is a hill situated on the west of Split. It was still raining at this point but it was a quick walk with a good view. It is quite a large park for joggers and other such activities. It also has a zoo. I believe you can walk all the way to the top but my back was having none of it so we headed into the town again to find some coffee out of the rain.

We decided that due to the rain it would be a good day to wander in and out of all the little shops. It was a really nice way to spend our afternoon. After tiring of that we bought a huge bag of cherries headed back to our apartment. As much as we would have liked to sit at the beach, even though the rain had subsided, it wasn't really a nice sunny and warm day. Instead we hung out reading for a while. Both of us finished our books.

After spending some time relaxing we went looking for a book store. I can't very well be traveling without something to read. I found and purchased a book then we went to an internet cafe for about an hour. After we sat in a cafe for some time over a cup of tea. It was a nice cafe inside the palace, a great place to people watch.

We went looking for cheap food and ended up at the same restaurant we ate lunch at the previous day. Mostly I just wanted my veggie risotto again and because it was cheap. The food in Croatia is really great because it has strong Italian influences because they were under Italian rule quite some time. This is great for me because Italian food might just be the best in the world. I am absolutely in love with tomato mozzarella salads.

Hvar, June 2

We were up early to catch the 8:30 ferry from Split to Hvar island. The ferry took about 2 hours and takes you to Stari Grad then you catch a bus to Hvar town. This is supposedly one of the most visited islands/towns on the Adriatic and upon arriving there it was obvious why. It was beautiful.

You can rent boats, or catch a ride on a boat to a variety of different beaches/islands in the area. The great thing is that if you walk around or rented a scooter/bike you could really never see anyone all day. We weren't feeling quite so motivated so after walking through the town a little bit we grabbed a huge bottle of juice and some snacks at the grocery store and headed for the water.

We found a wonderful rock face area to sit on, rented a couple of beach chairs, and proceeded to bake in the sun. It was lovely because we were quite close to the town but with the way we were facing you'd never know it. It was quite wavy and although there was a ladder to get into the water we didn't end up swimming there. It wasn't well protected and there were a lot of boats, there were also a lot of sea urchins. And just the thought of stepping on one of those was enough for me to get out of the water.

Eventually, when I could feel myself sufficiently burning we decided to try a new location (I was wearing sunscreen all day, fyi!) We walked around the waters edge for quite a while until we found another quiet looking rock face that had a nice concrete dock with a solid ladder and we went swimming! It was amazing. The water was so clear. It would be so fun to so snorkeling there. To be in water that blue and clear was a treat. It was also so salty!

Eventually we got out and dried off in the sun while reading our books. A lovely day.

It must have been near 5 that we decided to walk back to the town cite. We made our way back, checked the bus times and sat in a cafe for coffee before wandering through a few of their market stands. We debated walking up to the castle but we just didn't have it in us.

We caught the bus back to Stari Grad in time to catch the last ferry back to Split. We arrived in Split around 10pm. Not surprisingly, I was quite burnt, mostly the front of my legs. Oh did it burn! I am blaming my sunscreen because I actually put it on quite a few times and I still sizzled and Tess made out fine.

Back at our apartment we watched a movie and went to bed.

Trogir, June 3

Friday morning saw us catching another boat. This time it was a boat bus to Trogir, about an hour by boat from Split. It was a really lovely ride. We were told you could take a bus or a boat but the boat boasted much nicer scenery. It was a relaxing start to our day.

Trogir has an entire area, situated on an island, that is protected as a UNESCO heritage site. It was founded in the 3rd century by Greek colonists and then developed into a major part in the Roman period. It was a really lovely place to walk around all day. The old area, where we stayed, has narrow little walk ways, high stone walls, and is filled with really nice shops and restaurants.

Naturally we started our day by finding a tourist map and a cafe for coffee. From then on we basically walked around, ducked into shops, stopped for lunch - more delicious risotto, this time chicken and mushroom, and tomato mozzarella salad - sat in the sun, sat in the shade, purchased lavender, which grows in the fields, and other nice touristy gifts. We had ice cream, walked around some more, etc. It was a really lovely day because Trogir was so small that it was easy to feel like I got to know it and I really enjoyed the shops.

We caught the boat back to Split, picked up some groceries for the next mornings breakfast and went back to the apartment with the intention to go out for a drink later that evening.

We ended up watching a third movie that night and around 10pm when we were thinking about going out again it started to pour rain. Instead we finished the movie and had an early night. Not really that bad.