The Sunday 0900 catamaran to Split was quite full. There were many people waiting at the landing. The ticket office had advised me to buy my passage as soon as they were available. I suspect some intending travellers missed out.
My niece has arranged to fly out to Split to meet me on Wednesday evening, 3 days away. I will travel a bit north to Šibenik to do some sightseeing before returning to Split to pick her up from the airport. So I will just overnight in Split and catch the northward bus in the morning.
Split is Croatia's second largest city. It's also a port and an industrial centre. As you may imagine, this normally doesn't bode well for pretty landscapes. Fortunately Split occupies a tongue of land protruding westwards and the ugly parts are on the north side, leaving the southern side, which faces the island of Brač, relatively unspoilt. This is the side that Diocletian's retirement Palace fronts. Smart Emperor.
Split is named after the spalatum plant that grows in this region. It first entered my consciousness as a Balkan restaurant in Amsterdam where on several occasions I enjoyed tasty and filling mixed grills, including the signature skinless sausage, ćevapčići. In those days Yugoslavia was still whole and the restaurant labelled its cuisine Yugoslavian. At the time I didn't know enough Balkan history to say which region of Yugoslavia the restaurant founders were from. Since the breakup it has rebranded itself as Croatian, of course.
Split is a major transport hub and there are ferries up and down the coast, and to Italy. There is even a train line linking it with Zagreb, but the route is very circuitous, but there are plans to build a high-speed line. I had a squiz in the bus station and noted that there were plenty of buses to Šibenik so I could just buy a ticket in the morning.
Traveller accommodation in Split city is limited as most visitors make for the surrounding resorts on arrival. I have a flyer with the address of a hostel in Split that's cheap and will do me for the night. What I didn't expect was that in the old city streets are narrow and often unsignposted, so it took me a fair amount of walking to find the hostel. It is a bit scruffy but serviceable. The owner told me to head for the Pizzeria Galija for a nice lunch. It is an establishment with old world decor and charm. However I opted for a delectable steak with chips, and not just because of my unhappy experience in Hvar. I have been feeling a bit faint in the mornings. Maybe I'm iron deficient.
In the evening I walked up Marjan hill where I took these pictures of Split's harbour.
Afterwards I had marinated octopus (hobonitca) at Buffet Fife, well-known for its regional cooking. I feel that I could get to like Split inspite of it being a working city with dirt under its fingernails.
I finished the evening wandering around the esplanade, which is a very nicely appointed public space.
I don't see any mention of gelato in my journal, but I think there must have been one. These things happen.
I'm looking forward to returning in a few days, as well as exploring the offshore island of Brač.
My niece has arranged to fly out to Split to meet me on Wednesday evening, 3 days away. I will travel a bit north to Šibenik to do some sightseeing before returning to Split to pick her up from the airport. So I will just overnight in Split and catch the northward bus in the morning.
Afterwards I had marinated octopus (hobonitca) at Buffet Fife, well-known for its regional cooking. I feel that I could get to like Split inspite of it being a working city with dirt under its fingernails.
