Split: June 14-18, Makarska: 18-24, 2019

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A hot walk from the bus stop which was at the Split Ferry Terminal through the UNESCO listed 4th century Diocletian's Palace in the Old town of Split. An overwhelming number of people and tour offices as well as busses and ferries.

From the drive in to Split it looked like a disaster. Over crowded decaying concrete high rise apartments everywhere and ugly scars mined into the surrounding hills. I decided that I would hate this town but then some of that was possibly due to the anxiety that had arisen from having to leave Sibenik earlier than I wanted to.

I had carefully researched the route we had to walk to find our new accomodation but stopped in the old town losing confidence of where I should go as none of the pedestrian laneways were clearly marked on the map.

Thankfully our accomodation appeared in front of us sooner than we had expected but our host who was to deliver the keys and check us in was not there at the arranged time. After a half hour we contacted her and after a total of an hour wait sitting in the shade of the appartment steps she finally showed up blaming crowds and commitments for her delay. I noticed on the reviews for this apartment that she was always late.

Thank goodness that was the end to my anxiety!
Our beautiful fully equipped 1 bedroom apartment with separate lounge, kitchen, bathroom, laundry and balcony with air conditioning was more comfortable than the house we normally lived in and, thank goodness, we were here for 4 nights! From the moment we walked in I was saying that I didn't want to leave and I kept saying it for 4 days. The ugliness that I had seen of Split from the drive in was no longer visible from here and all we could see was the beautiful historical town full of restaurants, entertainment, coloured lights and millionaire boats sitting in its glittery harbour dotted with islands. This was the shiny tourists side of Split. The residents lived elsewhere.

First thing we did was stock up on food for 4 days and made use of our kitchen by cooking up a feast.

Living so central made being in Split feel very luxurious from then on. Wandering 5 minutes from where we lived were the most significant sights in the town and strolling the little alleyways and courtyards with romantic restaurants on the way to the blue waterfront and marina felt like it was the best place in the world to be. As the evening cooled we sat enjoying the breeze whilst people watching on a waterfront benches or sitting in the courtyard of the ruins of the old palace singing along to performers along with everyone else.

Saturday afternoon was Split's gay pride parade and there were armed police everywhere. We were told that this was due to Croatia's intolerance to homosexuality and the risk of there being trouble. In the evening was a 5km "glow" fun run. It started at 10pm. I had never seen a fun run start so late but it made sense as the days were so hot. Sunday night there were all sorts of dance performances from young and old including hip hop, can can, salsa, and beauty pageant walking from 5 year olds!

Each morning we set the alarm and were out by 8.30am to walk to Marjan Park for a swim. Marjan Park is a lovely natural peninsula full of trees and birds and secluded (as well as not so secluded) swimming bays.

Tomas' was assessing all the beaches and attempting to swim in each. The prettiest swimming spots were in the secluded little coves on the eastern side where no cars could get to The western side had more populated beaches. We walked to the  eastern bays each morning after circumnavigating the Peninsula on the first day.
Bacvice is Split's most popular beach on the oposite side of town from Marjan Park, near the ferry terminal. It was very crowded with pumping music, playgrounds and bars. One visit there was too many.

Sunday evening some cloud cover appeared, so we set off to walk to the peak of Marjan Park for a beautiful pink sunset and the twinkling city lights. We were surprised at how few people there were at the top. It had been such a pleasant way to spend a peaceful, relaxed  evening.

From Split we caught a bus to Makarska a few hours further south along the coast.
I had resolved that we would no longer be moving at the pace that we has been the weeks prior. The intense heat of the sun made it difficult for oldies such as us to keep moving so unfortunately Bosnia and Montenegro would have to remain on my bucket list for a while longer. The plan was now to spend some time being a beach bum and slow the pace. The next 6 days were spent in a more intimate old town of Makarska which also has a coastline crammed with European charter tourists. We lay on beaches for most of the days and wandered the old town, doing short bush walks around the coast in the evenings. On one of our last days we met up with friends of Tomas, from Sweden and spent the day being beach bums with them. They had been staying in Podgora, 8km further up the coast.

From Makarska we caught a bus 3 hours further south to Dubrovnik, crossing the Bosnian Neum corridor along the way where our pasport had to come out twice: once to leave Croatia and then 20km later to re enter.
This drive hugs the spectacular blue Adriatic Coastline and resort beaches for jaw dropping scenery over the water to the Croatian islands.

More Photos follow below. ....

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