Couple of Guys with a Map: Splitting from Split, Croatia

As mentioned in the last blog, the public transportation in Croatia needs to be blown up and started from scratch. The city of Split itself, though, is majestic.

Yes. majestic.

The bulk of the city was established by Emperor Diocletian of Rome in the 3rd and 4th century. He is notable for creating a Tetrarchy with 4 emperors to rule different regions of the empire instead of a monarchy with one, trying to stabilize the economy with a common currency, tax reform, and building a palace just for himself as a retirement gift of sorts as he felt he deserved more than any human before him. In fact, he actually thought of himself as a god. I would kill to have that kind of confidence. "Please stop referring to me as human. For the last time, I am a god, ok?" Ultimately, he went the way of so many others before him…abdicating his throne, losing his mind in his final days, refusing to eat and stumbling about the Palace grounds naked. That's how every emperor wants to go out.

After his death, he intended to be buried in an epic mausoleum because he regarded himself as the “son of Jupiter” (son of the highest Roman god at the time). After he died, the church took a few liberties and the obnoxiously large mausoleum was finished as the Cathedral of St. Domnius. AND to make matters worse for his legacy, the Tetrarchy he started basically collapsed immediately and civil wars broke out around the empire. What a plot twist! The palace then sat abandoned for 400 years, until some Croats sought shelter inside the walls. I imagine their faces identical to the “surprised” emoji when they started unpacking - “Ummm…are we the first ones to think of moving in here?"

The walls are still beautiful, but like many other walls in the world, ended up creating more problems than they solved (Hi, Donald!). Much of the city developed within those boundaries, and folks cramming in created more twists and turns than a Game of Thrones finale (really on a GoT kick over here). Disease spread like a kindergarten classroom. But the only issue it created for us was that because it is situated right on the Adriatic sea, it’s ideal for fat cruisers to mosey in and out of, and for Asian photography enthusiasts to use a gigabyte per minute of photo space. Mobility is therefore limited at best, and Bec and I are going to be social media STARS in Asia as we are accidentally in about a million pictures.

Mausoleum turned cathedral on left, emperors apartments/office turned cafes on the right

Outskirts with a hint of Roman flare

If you have three days in Split, here is the best approach:

Day 1 - All of Diocletian’s Palace and cathedral, including the surrounding walls and parks and promenade on the ocean.

"So what's wrong with taking the backstreets?" - 20th century philosophers Smashmouth

Glute burner

Orange is the new black (roof)

Bec is high. Above sea level.

Day 2 - Avoid all crowds at all costs. Take minimal public transportation if possible. Marjan Park and the beaches on the coasts are glorious and empty.

View from beginning of Marjan Park trail

Swimming holes present rare chances for unauthorized pictures of a very fit wife

Day 3 - Attempt to get to Klis Fortress, or a separate day trip preferably with some sort of organization to a surrounding Island.

The set of the city of Mereen

Actual Mereen

Reverse angle so you can see a dragon in the distance.

You have my sword, Khaleesi

Throughout - eat all their food, drink all their cappuccinos.

That was our plan after some trial and SEVERAL errors on the transportation, Notably, to get to Klis Fortress you'd probably be better off shouting commands in the air for dragons to pick you up like a cab service instead of attempting the public transport out there (six different ways, in our case). Nonetheless, our 3-day plan worked like a charm.

Food? Food. Lots. Hot Cevapi sandwich from Kantun Paulino, Sesame Tuna Salad from Bepa!, Swordfish Salad from Misto Street Food Factory, and Steak wraps at Sexy Cow were all highlights. As you can tell, Croatian food doesn’t really know how to fully identify itself…so just takes what works in other countries and combines it.

On the coffee front, Becca has grown frustrated. She has stated several times that the worst part of her day every day, especially at home, is when her coffee cup goes empty. Yes. She lives a blessed life. Well, let me tell you the looks of disappointment as the waiters deliver her toddler sippy cup sized cappuccinos are comparable to stomping in a child’s birthday cake…not because they are bad, but because she finishes them that much faster. Thus, sadness…and thus tripling the amount of coffee dates required in a day here.

It's like playing "Tea Party" as a child but instead of tea it's coffee and instead of a child it's your wife and instead of make believe it's a wife that really wants a lot of powerful coffee. BUT, the views in Cafe Barr 11 in Stobrec made up for that.

The Highlight: Klis Fortress. This is a tough one, because it basically took a day and a half and possibly some tears to find our way there (see last post) on the 22 bus, and there’s very minimal effort put into the maintenance of the ruins and creating a museum out of it. BUT the views were that incredible, and with it being outside of the reign of terror of the tour buses, we were free to explore it and have Becca act like Khaleesi from Game of Thrones. The dream! Honorable mentions: Diocletian’s Palace, Marjan Park walk, views from atop Cathedral of St. Domnius.

We are now splitting from Split and entering the home stretch with Dubrovnik for 3 days, Barcelona for 1.5, then Chicago for 3 more (David and Beth, if you're reading this, we'll be there Thursday evening - thanks for the lodging). We are enjoying ourselves, and our photography efforts. We hope you do as well!