During the night I continued to read A Tomb in Turkey to get in the holiday mood. My alarm went off at 6am. We had a small shower in our deluxe cabin and then went to breakfast - a buffet. I had my usual muesli, orange juice, boiled egg and coffee plus a chocolate croissant. We disembarked at 7.15 - later I discovered I had left my blue jacket in the wardrobe.
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| On board the Regina della Pace |
We walked through the port to our apartment, Zagrebacka 5. It was tricky to find the house. We called Katja, our hostess, who came to meet us and gave us the keys. In spite of the shabby building, the apartment inside is new and modern, with a living room/kitchen, bedroom and spacious bathroom. But she asked for payment in cash so we went together to a nearby ATM to get out the maximum amount. There are about 6 Kuna to one Swiss Franc. We had a coffee on the corner and learnt a few words of Croatian.
kava coffee; pivo beer; vino wine; racun bill; molim please; dobardan hello; hvala thank you.
Then we walked through the markets selling clothes and fruit and veg. I bought a sunhat. They had lots of broad beans on sale. I should have got some then. We went through the so-called Golden Gate into
Diocletian's Palace, the main feature of Split old town. The place consisted of a maze of streets, with halls, arches, domed ceilings and stone walls built in Roman times. The Roman Emperor had the palace built as a retirement home in about 400 AD.
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| In the cellars of Diocletian's Palace |
We paid to go inside the cellars which were renovated in 1956. There were many rooms with descriptions in each one as to its original function. We saw an old oil press, a grinding stone, lots of rounded ceilings and many original features. The gift shop had lots of nice things and I bought some silver and white earrings.
Then we walked up to the Peristyle, a crossroads point in the Roman town where some men were dressed as gladiators for photographs. The queue for the Katedrala was very long so we went for a beer instead and listened to a guitarist. Then we explored the narrow streets and ended up in
Uje Oil Bar where we ordered lunch. It took ages to arrive. We had bruschetta with egg, shrimps and samphire (Richard took my shrimps) and I had grilled tuna steak with pak choi and a bottle of Croatian Sauvignon Blanc. It was delicious but quite pricey.
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| The main square where we had another drink |
Then we went back to the apartment for a rest. We signed into Wifi and I posted a few pictures on Facebook. Later we went out again to explore the main town square which was more modern. We had a drink there; I had local chardonnay and Richard tried the dark beer. We had dinner at
Kod Joze, a local restaurant where the manager suggested the mixed meats. We splashed out on the
Dingac 2010 red wine. It was very tasty but I couldn't finish my huge meal.
Back to the apartment to watch the athletics, the Bislet Games on Croatian TV.
