We woke up this morning docked in the harbour in Split.
What a wonderful place.
Off the boat by 7:30, we made the short journey to find our very centrally located studio apartment, and it didn’t take long to see why the old town(e)* is mainly pedestrian. The three short staircases we had to negotiate to get to the square where are apartment was were ok, even with our loaded bikes, but it made us realize that this place is best negotiated on foot.
(* additional e added for Mark Bingham if he’s reading along)
Kirsten KaarsooTo Marjory SwordThey were just against the wall while we ate. Moved them into the hall way of our room building for the day and then our room for the night. Reply to this comment 4 days ago
With our great breakfast done we were then off to explore this incredibly beautiful and interesting old city.
A couple of warnings here:
There are a lot of pictures to go through, and I mean “A Lot”. I took far more than I’ve put in here but even so it would take me far too long to curate what I have dumped into here then into a really succinct and representative set. I don’t have time for that, believe it or not we have to do some biking!
Second, you might hear me go on and on about how lucky we are to be here in April. It’s already crowded and several locals we spoke to have commented that in the next few weeks the crowds will be insane. I get chills thinking of how many marauding Vikings (the cruise ship types wearing polyester pant suits and oversized sunglasses) will be here in August.
And my comment in the picture caption above about restaurants …. This is not our first time in Croatia. Back on our 2017 tour we spent 9 days in Croatia, totally unplanned, as we abandoned the EV6 Danube route in Novi Sad Serbia and headed west for the Alps. The Croatia we went through is not that Croatia that 99% of other people go to, i.e places like Dubrovnik or Split. Our Croatia was very rural and very nice, but we found it very difficult to find restaurants to get something to eat. It was incredibly ironic that most days we were cycling alongside wagons loaded with fantastic looking produce and wondering where it all ended up. The answer is here, on the coast.
There are probably more restaurants within a 50 m circle around our apartment here in Split than we say in the seven days it took us to cycle from Vukovar to Zagreb in 2017. As of today, we’ll finally have some common reference points to talk about Croatia to other folks who’ve been here.
Ok, I’ll shut up, after I give a shout out to Apartment Aborda, very nice and a fantastic location, and also to Konoba Korta, our breakfast place in the same square. Highly recommend if your in Split.
Here’s Aunt Betty’s overfilled picture album of Split. Sit down and endure as she wades through them with you.
Just outside the walls of the old town and the statue of Gregory of Nin (Grgur Ninsky in Croatian), the medieval bishop of Nin. He introduced the Croatian language to Mass so folks could follow along. Given the antiquity of everything else around here, this is pretty modern, dating from 1929.
Kirsten KaarsooTo Jacquie GaudetYes, it was busy, I can’t imagine what it will be like in July! Never mind adding in the heat. Reply to this comment 1 week ago
Anne MathersKudos to the chef. I could not, in my wildest dreams, imagine something so beautiful by reading the menu and seeing ‘seared tuna, tomatoes and red pepper puree’. Wow, just wow! Reply to this comment 1 week ago
Marjory SwordPat and I loved split. Thank you for all the photos. I am watching them all as I am sitting on the couch with my leg up. Reply to this comment 4 days ago
Today's ride: 1 km (1 miles) Total: 679 km (422 miles)
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Scott AndersonIsn't Split an astonishing place though? As much as we loved it though we'll never go back after seeing it during Covid when the streets were almost empty. It will never be like that again. Reply to this comment 1 week ago
Lyle McLeodTo Karin KaarsooIt was in the Michelin guide, with only a 2 euro price tag. That’s a real sweet spot. It may be lazy, but we usually look at the Michelin guide and if there’s something there that looks like what we want and reasonably priced. That’s what we do. Simple and cuts the hunt time down to almost nothing, plus I’ll take the Michelin recommendations over a google rating every single time Reply to this comment 1 week ago
Anne MathersI’m out of words to describe that dinner, but to say that it will (and Split in general) be a long lasting sweet memory for the two of you. ❤️ Reply to this comment 1 week ago
Kirsten KaarsooTo Karin KaarsooIt doesn’t cost 2€ it is the classification system like cost one $ sign for cheaper, $$ a bit more etc Reply to this comment 1 week ago
Lyle McLeodTo Anne MathersThanks Anne,
It was a great night, but watch this space! We just had another great night in Šibenik at a very family run place Reply to this comment 1 week ago
Lyle McLeodTo Scott AndersonApril is not covid, but it’s probably as close as you could come now. It must have been devastating for a huge portion of the people whose livelihood is based on tourism. Reply to this comment 1 week ago
