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  Split, Croatia
Thursday, September 22, 2005

The sun is shining and the weather is sweet. Makes you want to get on a boat and go to an island to do nothing but laze around on a beach and burn, which is what we're going to do. However, as I have spent one day sunbathing so far and managed to burn - my back is still peeling about a week later - maybe I should take it easy?

Yesterday we spent about 9 hours on a bus travelling on one of the most beautiful journeys we have taken. We started in Opatija, a Spa town that was built by the ruling Austo-Hungarians towards the end of the 19th century and travelled to Trogir, a small island an hour north of Split, a large and mainly ugly city that is a port servicing many of the islands on the Dalmatian Coast. We had, to our right, azure waters that looked about as inviting as a sea could ever look and then out of the window on our left huge stark grey mountains shrouded in a huge cloud cover that always threatened to drench us, but never did. Many of the coves looked the sort of place you could spend a good while doing nothing, but we plan to do that on the islands of Hvar and Korcula over the next week before heading to Bosnia.

Trogir is similar to the main attraction in Central Split, the Dioclesian Palace. A Roman Emperor, Diocles, retired here in the 3rd Century and built a huge palace that today still stands, albeit not so well protected as it is full of shops and tourists, many of them pink due to the strength of the Autumn sun. It is one of those places where you can wander around and easily get lost, such is the design of narrow passages and alleyways and in one case an underground thoroughfare. It is fascinating and beautiful, much like myself. I also rubbed the big toe of Gregorius of Nin (a statue, not the man himself, otherwise he might find that a bit annoying), which will bring me good luck forever. Similar to the statue of Juliet in Verona, where you rub the right breast. Not sure what that brings, though.....

We are staying in a private room (a Sobe) in Trogir, which is the cheapest accommodation other than camping. For 20GBP a night we have a room that is clean and central and nice and quiet. The other alternatives would be to pay 45GBP+ a night for a hotel - Croatia is not a cheap destination and food and beer is almost the same price as in the UK, so we have been spending quite a bit here. But it's nice, so who cares.....

Onward and downwards.....

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