Split

We continued on south from the lakes to Split as our next stop. Driving in Croatia has been great. The major highways are in excellent condition with regular rest stops. While the highways are tolled, the rates we paid were rather reasonable depending on the distance we drove. They ranged from $6 Kuna to $61 Kuna, which when converted ranged from $1-$12CAD. Not unreasonable in my opinion considering the roads were not congested, well maintained and easy to naviagate. There are many tunnels through the mountains as well and the longest one we drove through was roughly 5km. The city road conditions were also quite good, though a little more congested particularly when trying to access the centre of town. The coastal roads were one land each way and st time rather narrow. Cities and roads were built hundreds of years before the invention of cars and buildings and houses are literally built all the way to the property line leaving little room to expand roadways or even have adequate sidewalks. The coastline drive has incredibly breathtaking views of the Adriatic Sea below.

You could really see the distinguishing colours of the ocean with pockets of brilliant light blue surrounded by dark navy. In each of the many coves you could see people swimming. The road twists and turns require you to be alert because when heading south the right side of the road is usually a sheer cliff drop off. There are signs posted along the road that say, “ if you are tired, please stop”. 

We were based in the Split area for five nights and stayed at Le Meridien right on the water. We decided to stay just outside of Split in Lav to avoid some of the major crowds. The hotel was incredible. We got upgraded to a sea and marina view room situated right along the promenade in front of the hotel. The staff at the hotel were very friendly and our check-in was one of the most memorable because it included a glass of champagne; Z’s frequent status had a little something to do with this. Our room was well appointed with a king size bed, full bathroom, two closets, a sitting area and balcony. Our stay included breakfast each morning and the restaurant had a fantastic patio overlooking the pool and sea. This was a great way to start each day. The selection of food was vast and included fresh fruit, pastries, breads, warm items like waffles, pancakes, French toast, an omelette station and cheese and cold cuts. The coffee was very tasty and the freshly squeezed juice was a must. The hotel was newly renovated and had a great gym and spa area. The plan had been to get a run in, but the mornings were already quite hot, around 25-27C, by the time we got up and an Achilles injury I’d been ignoring was acting up with all the walking we were doing. We decided to treat ourselves instead to a massage at the spa. The hotel pool and beach area had plenty of loungers and some umbrellas to protect from the blistering sun. The beach itself was rocky, which is common in Croatia, so watershoes are recommended. The water was ever so refreshing though and usually very calm. 

There were many large yachts docked in the marina with most staying out throughout our stay. Most everywhere along the coast yachts were docked or anchored and some were so large you could probably fit 100 people on them. The wealth required to purchase and maintain one of these is staggering. 

We were able to book a walking tour last minute thanks to a cancellation. Our guide was Joško of Walking Tour of Split and by far he is the best tour guide we’ve ever experienced. We chose his four hour Grand History tour for a cost of $60Euro per person. We can’t rave enough about how incredible Joško was. He is full of passion for his city and country, extremely knowledgeable and engaging. He is personable and is able to carry the tour conversation in any direction as questions come up. We met in old town Split in Diocletian's palace. From there we started with a walk through the daily farmer’s market just outside the palace walls. He bought a couple fresh figs for us to try; I don’t really like figs, but tried a bite anyway and found it to be very juicy and sweet. Not anything

like back home. The market is the place to buy your daily fruits, vegetables, and flowers. From here we walked to the promenade where we learned a little more about life in Split during the Romans’ rule and Diocletian’s time. An interesting fact about the palace is that this was Diocletian’s retirement palace and he moved there at roughly the age of 60 which was almost unheard of living to age age in his time. We toured inside the basement of the palace which is said to be a direct replication of the upper living quarters of Diocletian. There were many different rooms including a theatre, sleeping quarters and hallways guarded by military personnel separating the living quarters from any visitors. Today the palace is buzzing with commerce activities and is filled with a bunch of shops, hotels, and restaurants. Roughly 2000 people actually live inside apartments within the palace walls. We learned many interesting facts about Croats including that they have two religions, Catholicism and football. Croatia has a rich history and has been ruled under many different empires including the Romans, Greeks and Austrians. There is a square in the palace, by the main cathedral built by Christians over top the original musuliem as a revenge on Diocletian’s treatment of a Christians in his final days as emperor, that showcases the architecture of all three empires. The palace itself is very well kept considering it was built in the 3rd century. The walls were all built with limestone rocks and were stacked to prescision requiring no

mortar to keep them together. The palace even had a sewer system which was incredibly advanced for that time. The roads were all made from limestones and over the years have become so well worn that they appear to be marble instead. Diocletian’s rule was actually quite progression in that he introduced a taxation system and split the Roman empire into four regions each with its own emperor. 

After about four hours, we all had lunch together and this is where we learned more about the recent history of Croatia and its fight for independence as communism under Yugoslavia started to crumble in the area. Joško grew up under communism and lived through the Homeland War of 1991-1995. His story was heartbreaking but one of survival and hope. He is roughly our age and rightly so says he will never forget what happened and is working on forgiving. Many people fled during this war. We could see evidence of this as we drove through the country by the number of abandoned houses in delapitated state. You could see where bombs hit buildings and have never been repaired. Twenty-three years after the war ended, the country is beginning to thrive again. Tourist visits are back up to the levels of the early ‘90’s. The downside is that since the war ended and Croatia has joined the EU, the general population continues to decline as young people migrate to places like Germany and Ireland where they can make a lot more money. All the while during this conversation, we enjoyed a very tasty lunch where I had a traditional beef stew dish and Z enjoyed a lamb dish and tried a slice of cuttlefish pizza. All in all our tour lasted about five hours and I’m pretty sure that Joško would have been prepared to continue if we wanted to. But alas we parted ways, filled with a good appreciation for Croatia. We spent the remainder of the day into the evening walking around old town Split some more before taking an Uber back to the hotel. Cool thing about Uber here is that the drivers double as taxi drivers too, so that gives them plenty of customers. Seems like forward thinking to me.  

We finished our evening by driving to a pizza festival that our morning Uber driver recommended to us. We had no clue what this was about but thought we’d go anyway. It was pretty late already and after being on our feet all day, I was getting to my max limit. It

was definitely a locals festival. We watched with interest how they made and then baked these pizzas on bricks which were heated by burning twigs directly on the bricks.  Not being versed in Croatian resulted in us really not understanding how we might be able to buy a couple slices and so as my max was reached we left empty handed and hungry. We discovered very quickly that no food establishments are open at midnight. I guess the 24-hour food culture of North America hasn’t thankfully made its way here. We had to resort to ordering room service and ended up not really enjoying our overpriced meal. 

Before leaving the beautiful city of Split, we drove to see the nearby Roman ruins in Salona. Here you can find extremely well preserved, extensive ruins of this ancient city. The amphitheatre ruins are impressive and standing a top provides you with an appreciation just how large the amphitheatre was and the significance of it within the Roman empire. It held upwards of 17,000 people in its day. Your imagination can just run wild thinking of the vast amounts of events held within the walls and the numbers of lives and animals that were brutally sacrificed all in the name of entertainment. 


The amphitheatre is about a 15 minute walk from the rest of the city ruins, but the intense heat of the day helped in our decision to drive over instead. Walking around the city ruins, you can see memorial chapel and the importance of providing ornate tombs for the deceased. A short walk from here you come across the city walls that stand towering over the ancient city ruins. Again, the imagination can run wild to think of what life might have been like to live in that city in that time. Discovery of ruins continues today and while there we saw some archeologists working at uncovering further remains within the city walls.