split, croatia

i so wish we'd could have brought the sunshine with us from split! it was quite a reality check yesterday to land in helsinki and 12C rainy weather after spending 5 sunny days in over +25C...summer will, hopefully, come to us too.

meanwhile, we stayed at villa marjela. we chose it for the fact that it is close to marjan, which has great outdoors facilities, among other things. villa marjela has 10 or so rooms, the breakfast was sufficent, rooms super-clean and the staff very friendly.

our flight home left in the morning and it would have been a hassle to use the croatian airlines bus from city center, not to mention a very early rise. the owner went out of his way to take us to the airport in his own car. that's what i call great service, thank you nenad!







we were in split for 5 days and spend the days walking around, either on and around marjan or in the old town. here is prokurative square







inside the old town surrounded the fortification walls of diolectian's palace, which is one of unesco's world heritage sites







the narrow passages seem to go on and on...







...did i mention narrow?







imagine yourself here in the middle ages, no street lights, in the dead of night







what i wondered on many occasions was how do they get the furniture up in their homes?







one of the wider alleys







fountain







cathedral of st. duje







part of the palace basements has been turned into souvenir shops







steps up from the basement to the square in front of the cathedral







yes, they would be romans







this paved path is on the south side of marjan and leads up to tiny church of st. nicolas. there is a path all way up to the top of marjan which is at 178 m







great vistas from the path...







yet another







there are 314 of these steps to the top of marjan. i didn't count them but we made it, slowly, all the way to the top







if i ever win the lottery...







tour around marjan continues, this view is to the south-west







to the north







on the northern shore of marjan there a lot of places to camp out for the day. we liked these table and chair combos all around the beach area







to be here in the summer...well, the water would be wonderfull but there'd be too many people for my taste







now, if you go to croatia (or slovenija, serbia or kosovo for that matter) you absolutely need to have some burek, you can choose from meat, cheese, spinach fillings. not very light but sure gives you plenty of energy!







ligne na žaru, grilled squid, with spinach and potatoes. i ate squid in one form or another every day...







just to remind you that split is in dalmatia!







this was certain someone's seafood salad at konoba leut. i tasted some of it and regretted choosing something else that time...







my seafood platter at restaurant central where we ate three times...







another seafood salad, this time in restaurant kalafatic







pršut, that would be dalmatian ham







seen this before? yet another portion of grilled squid...







there was ice-cream all over the place, had to try pistachio, certain someone went for orange







i admit, croissants are my weak spot (well, one of them...) this filled with vanilla pudding wa so good, not overly sweet







yet another seafood salad at konoba marul. this ties the first place with the one served at kalafatic







our last dinner (mixed grill for two) at restaurant central at narodni trg. there was no way we could finish everything...







these houses along the trumbiceva obala are nice and look like they've been there for ever (like they probably have)...







...but this monster thay are building only 200 meters away. what were they thinking!?! obviously, i don't approve this kind of buildings anywhere near ones that are centuries old (nor anywhere for that matter)







seafaring nation that the croats are, plenty of boats in various marinas







back to marjan, this is from the southern side along the water. most of the shore is either paved like this or bebble beaches, or deep cliffs







refreshments are in order, once in a while...







a year ago in cavtat this kind of cacti was already in bloom







i bet this beach will be packed in just a few weeks







water was still a bit on the chilly side







what can i say...beautiful







the beaches were not packed yet. to us it was warm enough for beach, but we did see a lot of local women still wearing pantyhoses...







this goes on and on







that would be me, swimming stadion in the distance







the market place. i could have spent half a day there, whatever you need in cooking you'll find it here, fresh. and if you're into smuggled cigarrettes...them too







the riva (sea promenade) in the center. these segways looked like a handy way to get around







hmm...there seemed to be a lot of shoe shops in split. this pair took the prize for the quirkiest one







evening falls on riva and the cafes along it







will we go to split again? well, there is still a lot to see (like all of the eastern part of the city)...we have talked about renting a car on a future trip, there is so much more to see in croatia than just the coast line.

if we ever do go to split again, we will certainly stay at villa marjela. perfect location as it is in residential area (no noisy restaurants to disturb your sleep), and there is parking in the front if you're driving, but it's still close enough to walk into center. bog!