Split, Croatia is a beautifully aged port city on the Adriatic sea. It was our second stop in Croatia as my dad and I made our way to meet up with an adventure tour group. Even though there were tons of tourists, they didn't detract from the charm and beauty of this incredible little city.
My dad and I drove to Split from Pula and the drive took about 6 hours. The sky was like something out of a dream and now I've got a folder full of boring cloud photos. The drive itself was great. It was so much fun to see the country and to have the ability to stop and linger as we wished. It would make me reconsider my future transportation options. Public transportation is cheap and convenient, but it lacks serendipity and the ability to explore.
I had booked a room in a house for us and it turned out that we had a little guest house all to ourselves. The accommodations were great! Later I would find out from booking.com that there was a mix-up. The lady who owned the house didn't speak English and thought that we had just showed up and wanted a room. She didn't know that I was the person who had booked online. So booking.com charged me a fee for being a no-show and it took many emails and many weeks to get that fee refunded.
After dropping off our bags and freshening up, we walked into town to see Split and get some dinner.
When we arrived, there was some sort of procession and church event happening. The costumes and pageantry were fun to see, though I wished I had a better idea of what was going on.
The style of the tall church seemed unique to me. It feels Roman, but is different from anything that you will find in Rome.
Exploring the old town area of Split is like stepping back in time. Having been occupied by the Greeks, Romans, and Venetians, it's fun to imagine what it would have been like to grow up in this city during different time periods.
For some reason, my imagination always pictures everyone from the past as pirates. Pirates or children with pet dolphins who went on weekly adventures.
The tiny little streets and alleyways sent my imagination to another time. I could see swarthy bands of pirates trying to wheel their ill-gotten booty up the narrow stairs.
Down that street I could imagine children hurriedly running to the dolphin food store to buy snacks as a reward for their faithful dolphin friend. Why the reward? Did the dolphin save a fisherman who fell off his boat? Or did it save a dog that was stranded on an island?
The mind can't help but wander when exploring an ancient city like Split.
The waterfront of Split is gorgeous. It seems to be the place where everyone goes once the sun begins to set and the temperature starts to mellow.
I realize that some of the people in this photo are missing their feet. That's from my phone's HDR mode.
I kind of like how the HDR mode makes the people feel temporary, but the buildings remain solid and permanent.
Eventually my dad and I found a place to have dinner. The food was likely good, but all of my memories are of the view, ambiance, and company.
Afterwards, we headed back to our room to get some sleep. The next day we would be moving on to another city to return our rental car and meet up with our adventure group. I hope you'll join me tomorrow to find out what we did!
A question for my readers.
When visiting ancient places, do you ever imagine what your life would have been like centuries ago in those places? Do you wonder what your job would have been? In Split, I'm pretty sure I would have been a pirate, or some sort of adventure-rescue person with a lovable, trusty dolphin. What would you have been if you lived here a few hundred years ago?
