A Picture Perfect Day!

Today we woke up to a beautiful sunny day in Split.  We had the entire day to explore and do what we wanted, so we headed out around 10:00am to visit the inside of the Cathedral.

the Cathedral

The cathedral includes the treasury with ancient artifacts dating back to AD 600...it 's hard to wrap your head around how old some things are here!  We saw a variety of antique artifacts, clothing and even some human remains.  From the treasury we entered the cathedral, which was small inside compared to some I've seen, but beautiful with large murals painted on the walls, intricate woodwork and massive pillars. From here we went to the clock tower...and what a surprise it was. 

The journey up the tower started in a narrow circular stairwell and then eventually opened up to incredible views of the city.  Along the way we saw the huge bells...dating back to 1700....that ring at various times in the day.

ding, dong

Through the pillars you could see all around the city with the views getting more incredible each level you went up. We decided to go earlier in the day to avoid all the people, but this is a popular attraction...and I can see why...so there were lots of people to navigate along the stairs taking pictures and capturing their time here. 

at the beginning of the journey up

old and new

At the top of the tower we stopped for a bit to take in the scenery and enjoy this amazing day. We of course took lots of photo as well...

from the top

overlooking the Old town

Unfortunately our attempt at taking selfies was a bit more challenging in the sun, but trust me there really is nice scenery behind us!

look we're here!

We travelled back down the tower and then headed over to The Temple of Jupiter where a headless sphinx in black granite guards the entrance...this was imported from Egypt in the 5th century. Inside was a barrel vaulted ceiling with the most spectacular design. 

the ceiling…incredible

inside the temple

At this point it was noon, so we decided to wander down to the promenade to buy our ferry tickets to Vis. Along the way we walked through the local market...a staple in every location we've been...and purchased some delicious fresh apricots.  Fruit is so much fresher here than home...no "plastic fruits and vegetables here" as Lisa would say. 

it's almost ferry time

aahhhh….the market

On our way back we picked a spot along the promenade to have a little picnic lunch. We picked up some pastries...I tried Burek (cheese filled pastry) a common Croatian favourite...and we enjoyed our lunch in the beaming sun.  I love seeing the sun!!!

enjoying our lunch in the sun

(I think our selfies may be getting worse rather than better!!)

Once we had our fill of the beautiful scenery and fresh air...no cigarette smoke this time around...we decided to go on a trek we found in a local newspaper to the Marjan park area. Apparently the view of the city from the top is quite beautiful. 

Our trek started at the end of the promenade by a square that was designed to look like St. Mark's Square in Venice. We walked up the Marjanske Skale stairwell with its long steps and stone houses, where we came across a few locals...this is more of a residential area and you can actually drive cars on the roads off to the sides. As you travelled up the "street" the view of the palace area continually changed, bringing new perspectives along the way. 

at the bottom

beautiful…even after a fire

We arrived at the top of the street within 15 minutes where you could enjoy a drink or meal at the restaurant, Vidi Lica. The views from here were not disappointing.  While trying another attempt at our infamous selfies, an English couple came over to ask us to take their photo...they too were trying to do selfies without much success.  So in one of the most picturesque places in Split, we can actually say we have a good shot of us both...finally!  

finally a good group photo

After basking in the view, we decided to continue up along the walkway into Marjan Park.  On our path we came across a little church, views of the marina, huge aloe vera plants and a zoo...who knew.! 

one of the many streets we passed

enjoying the view from the top

After about 45 minutes of wondering around, we headed back down to the restaurant where we saw one of the first Jewish Cemeteries.  

the entrance

At the restaurant we stopped for a beverage and some down time, where I finally tried the second local beer here called Ozujsko...I'm not a fan. We relaxed here while enjoying the view on the outdoor patio for about 30 minutes and then wandered back down to the town. What a great way to spend an afternoon in a beautiful location, with beautiful weather...we even ended up getting a little sunburn!!

seen everywhere

Back in the town we decided to wander around the shops one more time to see if we could find any local momentos to take home. There's lots to choose from as Croatia appears to be known for its lavender, Adriatic salt, olive oils, figs, wine, honey, stone and the infamous tie...Croatia is home to the necktie. 

door handled at a tie shop

While wondering the alley ways we came across a cute little restaurant called Uje Oil Bar. The menu was limited, but all ingredients were fresh that day and included olive oil in the recipes. We also had a tasting plate of two different kinds of olive oil  and bread with our meal...one from the northern region of Istria and one from the southern area of Dalmatia (these olives came from the island of Brac, just off Split). 

delicious shellfish

My shellfish stew was amazing and my red wine was very good as well, but our waiter was atrocious!  To be honest I have never told a waiter where to go before, but I was pretty close...at one point it was so ridiculous we could only laugh.  Another interesting experience for sure. 

unique restaurant

After enjoying our meal, we wondered off and came across some music in front of the Cathederal.  Under the starry sky of Split, we spent a good hour sitting in the Paristil listening to Dale, the Croatian acoustic guitarist playing everything from Prince and Neil Diamond, to Simon and Garfunkel and the Eagles....it really was a magical evening. 

our entertainment for the evening

We left for a bit to get some delicious ice cream, only to return again for a little more music...this time the crowd had grown and by 11:00pm he did 3 encores before shutting down for the night. 

stunning open concert venue

We strolled back to our apartment, took some night time photos and finally packed our things for our trip to Vis in the morning. 

evening terrace

the square outside our apartment

To say today was a picture perfect day might be an understatement and it will certainly stay in my memory as one of the highlights of Croatia.  

our ferry in the distance

Looking forward to another adventure in Vis.

Until then...

Lisa

Girls on a Mission

Trogir

Today we spent the morning checking out the shops in Trogir and taking a last minute walk through Old Town. I actually picked up some beautiful white marble jewelry...Croatian made of course.  This is the same kind of marble that was imported to the US and used in the White House when it was first built...and I can see why, as it is simply elegant.  

the clock tower

a familiar view

On our way back to the car we stopped at the local market.  The markets here are full of different varieties of honey, fig jam and lavender. 

time to get some honey

Right on cue the skies darkened, the clouds rolled in and it started to spit rain. Apparently it has been raining here for the past two weeks and just like home, everyone is sick of the bad weather and waiting for the warm, sunny weather to appear...us too!

Our drive to Split was about 25km and pretty non eventful until we entered the city itself. The city has a population of about 178,000 people and of course with people comes traffic and lots of different streets and highways....not to mention lunch hour congestion and detours/construction zones.  We don't have a GPS, internet or a proper map and the street signs are difficult to find, so it is no wonder when we missed one street we soon became disorientated...but we weren't going to let a little  directionality stop us!  The situation was made even worse by the fact that you couldn't just simply turn around and head back to where you made a mistake, you needed to keep moving with the traffic in one direction...did I tell you I hate driving in traffic!?  With a bit of luck and Lisa using her instructions and two little maps, we finally found our way to the car rental place....only 30 minutes later than expected...all in one piece. I was glad to drop off our little Corsa...even though I loved having a car the last 4 days. 

As soon as we arrived in Split the sun came beaming out and we quickly decided we should snap a couple shots of the promenade in case it rained sometime soon...remember the weather changes here at the blink of an eye. 

a quick picture

the promenade

The tourist area of Split is quite beautiful and impressive. Lots of huge yatchs, the major ferry terminal and of course Diocletian's Palace. Right after arriving in Split we had to hurry off to meet our host Sami/Kate who was going to lead us to our apartment in the center of town. We arrived with a couple minutes to spare, were let up the tiniest alley way and then climbed 4 flights of stairs to the cutest little bachelor apartment you could ever image...we love it!!...especially all the original stone walls and added little touches. 

our tiny little apartment

After settling in, organizing our food we've been dragging around the past few days and getting ourselves orientated, we headed out to explore the area in full force. The promenade is a major tourist area in Split full of caffe/bars, restaurants, jewellery stores, pastry and ice cream shops...you name it.  The view of the area from the water is also pretty spectacular...

stunning!

As we strolled along the waterfront we ventured into Diocletian's Palace...another UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

entering the palace

It is not your typical palace or museum, as it is the living heart of the city. It has a maze of narrow streets that hide passageways and courtyards, full of shops, restaurants, bars and caffes... there are actually 3000 people that live within the walls of the the palace.

a view inside the gate

Here is a model of the area with all its pathways and structures...no cars allowed! It can get pretty tricky if you're not paying attention or have a bad sense of direction.

arial view

As we entered one of the four gates to the Palace, we were greeted by a large number of stalls selling a variety of tourist items. What is unique about this area is how they use the ancient buildings to house all the shops and hotels. It is not high season yet, but it was quite apparent that the palace is a major route on many people's list of sights to see by the number of people and tours mulling about. 

the cathedral

We arrived at the Cathedral of St. Domnius built around AD 300....yep it's old and impressive!  While there we came across a group of men singing a Capella in the Vestibule...very soothing and harmonious music that we stopped to listen to for a while. From here we walked through various sections of the palace with its impressive archways...

looking inside

visited the Church of St. Martin built in the 5th century and then arrived at the Golden Gate where we we saw the statue of Bishop Gregorious of Nin. 

Bishop Greg

He was a 10th century Croatian Bishop who fought for the right to use old Croatian in church services. Those who rub his left big toe are guaranteed to be brought good luck...so of course I had to have my turn. 

good luck

By mid afternoon we headed out of the walled palace area in search of some kava in a smoke free zone...unfortunately smoke is hard to avoid...took some more photos and eventually found our way to a lovely little restaurant around the corner from our apartment in Narodni Trg called noStress Bistro. Not only does it have a great name, but our waiter was amazing...and put up with our crazy requests.  The food was good as well and I had my first taste of octopus...which I really enjoyed!!

the wall

delicious octopus salad

The evening was getting quite chilly and we were also starting to get a bit tired, so we found ourselves a few pastries at a local shop and headed "home" for some tea, treats and enjoyed some time in our quaint little apartment. 

pastry time

Tomorrow will be a full day in Split full of new sights and adventures I'm sure...can't wait!

Until then...

L & L

The Road Less Travelled...

Today was a packed day of driving and sightseeing. When we first woke up we could hear it pouring rain, but it stopped as fast as it began....this seems to be a common occurrence so far in Croatia. We were on our way by 9:30am and headed on our journey toward Zadar, 145km toward the coast...without a real map!  We decided to stick to a non highway route in hopes of seeing some countryside...and avoiding any more tolls!!...and we were not disappointed.

stopping for a look

Our drive consisted of mountainous and rugged terrain...it was quite nice with the low level clouds hovering over the mountain tops and we also came across the odd valley and rivers. 

road less travelled

At times we felt like we were the only people on the road until we would come upon some form of road construction...there seemed to be lots of this during the first part of our trip...or some car would appear out of nowhere and zoom right past us.

a little surprise below

I think one of our favourite parts of this drive was when the sun came out and the temperature went from 13 to 19 degrees in about 30 minutes...bring on the sun!  

We arrived in Zadar around 12:30pm and found the peninsula area after navigation through a downtown detour and trying to find extremely unfamiliar street names we could never remember.  While looking for a parking spot, we came across a small boat ferry that would take foot passengers across the water to the other side of the peninsula…very cute.

ferry anyone??

Our main reason for coming to Zadar was to hear and see the Sea Organ.  The sea organ is an architectural object located on the shoreline of Zadar's peninsula and is the world’s 1^st experimental musical instrument which plays music by way of sea waves and tubes located underneath a set of large simple and elegantly carved white marble stone steps. The waves create somewhat random but harmonic sounds. 

found it!!

When we found the organ we decided to enjoy our lunch while listening to this unique instrument...it actually sounds a bit like a whale at times. The sounds change depending on the waves strength and at one point it became very loud after the wake of a boat hit the shoreline. 

enjoying the music

After we finished our picnic lunch...and before the weather changed...we decided to tour around the peninsula for a bit before heading on our way. What  a lovely couple hours...and completely unexpected. 

standing over the Sea Organ

We strolled along the waterfront, walked by the Zadar University, admired the architecture and even took a few shots of laundry hanging from shuttered windows...a popular sight in Zadar. 

look up

We also arrived at a local park/garden that had some lovely views of the city...I even managed to loose Lisa in there for a brief moment and thought I might be heading on a solo trip from that point forward!!

views from the park

Parts of the peninsula are walled in with many entry gates and a beautiful marina on the inside inlet. Before leaving, we also found a sweet little shop/gallery that sold handmade and painted ceramic jewellery...Croatians appear to be very artistic and creative people I've discovered. 

heading out the gate

At about 3:00pm we made it back to our car and headed off for another 125km toward Trogir. I must say, Zadar was an unexpected surprise and a city I would recommend to anyone to visit if coming this way. 

enjoying Zadar

Our drive to Trogir was another pleasant surprise...beautiful coastal views, rural countryside and extremely snaky, mountainous roads. The view of the cities of Trogir and Split as we came down the mountain was spectacular...no pictures though since the road was too narrow and full of sharp turns and traffic.  

We arrived in Trogir, another UNESCO World Heritage Site, around 5:30pm...only to be locked out of our apartment complex!  The parking attendant was kind enough to call our host Marija who quickly arrived to greet us and check us in. 

Where or where is our host?

We were worried we might loose the good weather and the sun was going down, so we headed out right away to explore the area...that is after we figured out how to lock and unlock our apartment door.  I'm not sure what they are trying to keep out of our place with a 4-point deadbolt, but we certainly shouldn't fear anyone breaking into our place any time soon!

the main entrance

Tiny Trogir is medieval like, with streets that form an incredibly complex maze...good luck finding a shop after you leave!  I think I could wander around Old Town for hours on end. 

first view of the Trogir

We wondered around looking in shops and being asked by several of the restaurant staff to join them for a meal...it appears very quiet this time of year, but I'm certain over the summer months this little city is packed with tourists from all around. 

a view inside one of the many restaurants

After travelling through alley after alley, finding some "coffee to go", and taking some photos of the Cathederal of St. Lovro, we arrived at the seaside promenade. 

beauty everywhere

Cathedral entrance

lit up at night

The promenade is full of restaurants, caffe/bars, the Kamerlengo Fortress and many yachts at the marina. I loved just walking along this palm tree lined promenade..especially in the evening as the lights come on and everything comes alive.

promenade by night

the marina

the fort

After getting our fill of touring around, we decide instead of eat dinner at a restaurant, we would buy some delicious ice cream and sit and relax under moonlight before heading home...to our surprise we came across the music of a local marching band practicing upstairs in one of the buildings by the Cathederal, so we sat and listened while enjoying our dessert. 

we know you're in there

We arrived back at our apartment around 9:30pm, finished up some of the food we brought with us...and our famous 2L of wine...and finally settled in for the night. We are only here for one night, so it will be a short visit, but definitely worth the stop. Tomorrow will be a morning shopping trip in Trogir and then off to Split for a couple days. 

beauty by night

Here's to another memorable day full of new adventures, beautiful sights and lots of sunny warm weather.

Until tomorrow...

Lisa & Lisa