Paul and I are in Croatia! It was an adventure getting here, as we missed our connecting flight in Paris (Jill, you told us to avoid the Charles-DeGaul airport!) even though we had over an hour to make it, and had to be re-routed through Amsterdam.
That’s okay because the Amsterdam airport had lots of natural beauty to calm you down and pick you up.
We arrived in Split at midnight. 34 hours without sleep. Our driver from the airport told us his harrowing experience avoiding the wildfires that sprouted here two weeks ago. He saved the house where he was living by dousing it inside and out with water. But everything around it was destroyed.
8/26 - we slept until 11 am, then explored the city of Split, Croatia, which has so much history that I can’t even attempt to address it here! The middle of town is a huge palace built by the Romans before Christ was born. More on this later.
Let me back up a bit. Paul and I are on a 4-week vacation in Europe. The first part of the trip is in Croatia. On our own at first, but on Sunday we join a bicycle tour with Backroads, which will take us from Split to Dubrovnik through the islands on a luxury bicycling tour (?!?) lasting 6 days.
8/28 - The palace in Split is where the scenes from Meereen City were filmed. In fact, they have Game of Thrones Tours and a GOT Museum! The next city we visit is Dubrovnik. That’s where the King’s Landing scenes were filmed. thirdeyetraveller.com/split-gam…
8/28 - we had fun yesterday and today exploring the city. So many windy little streets and passageways, and the unexpected.
8/28 - We also enjoyed a walk to the beach, where we watched cliff divers, people swimming in the Adriatic Sea, local boats as opposed to gigantic yachts ( note the masthead on the blue boat), and a relative to our dog, Zuzu. Also learned a new name for ATM machines.
8/28 - be sure to swipe left to see all the pictures I post. Here’s some night scenes from Split.
8/29 - and some talented buskers under a full moon.
8/28 - so I was off by a day or two on my previous posts. The last posts took place on 8/27. Today (8/28) we had a tour of the Diocletian Palace, which makes up a large part of the touristy area of Split. It is where GOT Daenerys’ dragons got locked underground and she freed the Unsullied.
8/28 - Inside Jupiter’s Temple we listened to some traditional Croatian songs. The roof of the temple was built with the top open, which actually kept the soldiers dry in the rotunda below. They almost didn’t let me out of the Palace at the end of the tour.
8/28 - Our fearless leader’s name was unpronounceable by English speakers. She told us to call her “Irene.” She is a historian and knew all kinds of cool stories, particularly about how evil Emperor Diocletian was and how much filth accumulated in a 1700 year old castle without toilets.
8/28 - We also saw some interesting signs along our tour, including one advertising an art exhibit. If you look closely behind the graffiti, you can see how a modern couple deals with a baby’s diaper.
8/29 - Our apartment in Split is nice. You can see details at
homes-and-villas.marriott.com/en/proper…
The view from the balcony was spectacular. To find it in the maze of streets, we looked for the goofy face.
