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Published: September 28th 2022
“
It is always sad to leave a place to which one knows one will never return. Such are the melancolies du voyage; perhaps they are one of the most rewarding things about travelling.” - Gustavo Flaubert
Greetings from Split - we can’t believe that tonight is our last night in Croatia! We are back in Hotel Slavija in Split, where we booked an additional night, in a very lovely room with a little stone balcony. We just shared a beer on our balcony 😀. We also found out that breakfast is included tomorrow morning - bonus!
We had a really enjoyable day today travelling from Šibenik to Trogir, then on to Split. We had a leisurely morning, and hauled our suitcases to the bus depot (it was a lot easier going down the stairs and down the hill than up!), where Susan and I popped into the cafe/bakery for cappuccinos and burek for breakfast, and then boarded our 10 am bus to Trogir. This was the same type of nice long distance bus we previously took, and we had a comfortable just over an hour trip. When we arrived in Trogir we stored our luggage in the bus depot,
then walked a short distance to a cafe as we were early for our 12 noon walking tour. The others had coffee but Susan and I had Aperol Spritzes -they were really good. 11:15 am isn’t too early for an Aperol Spritz is it? I don’t think so!😁
We met our local guide Maja, who gave us a really excellent 1.5 hour walking tour of the old city of Trogir. The old city is very compact, set on a tiny island linked by bridges to the mainland and to the next island, full of mazelike narrow streets. Trogir was founded in the 3rd C BCE by the Greeks, and was purchased by the Venetians in 1409 (the inhabitants of Trogir weren’t happy about that, so the Venetians bombarded the town into submission). The old city is full of beautiful buildings from the 13th and 15th C, and in 1997 it was made a UNESCO world heritage site. We started at the north city gate, and wandered through the old city, to the south city gate, and onto the Fortress, then back to our starting point, passing many beautiful Venetian, Romanesque, and Renaissance buildings. The star of the city is
St. Lawrence’s Cathedral and its adjoining bell tower.
After the walking tour we had a little bit of free time, so we popped into a Pandora shop (conveniently located on the main square) and I bought Šibenik button for my bracelet (I couldn’t find one in Šibenik, so I was really happy to find one here. I’m wearing it on a chain right now. Thanks Lois for being on the watch for me for a Šibenik button!). It is not made by Pandora, but fits the bracelets. The owner of the shop makes them by hand so they are all slightly different.
We had passed a place that sells a type of almond cookie that are a speciality of Trogir, called “rafiol“, during the walking tour, so we found the shop after and bought a few (they are yummy).
Of course I really wanted to climb the bell tower that is connected to St. Lawrence Cathedral, and we had just enough time to do it, so Jade and I paid the small entry fee to the Cathedral and climbed up the crazy narrow marble (with no railing) first set of stairs, then continued up to the top.
It was lots of fun climbing the slightly vertigo inducing stairs, and admiring the views over the old city. There was netting around the openings on the top level, but people had obviously snipped a bit here and there so there were small openings, perfect for photos. I reached my iphone through the openings to take photos, hoping I wouldn‘t drop it! We made our way down the stairs, then went into the Cathedral and the Baptistery. St. Lawrence‘s Cathedral is a three-naved Venetian cathedral, built between the 13th and 15th C. The elaborate portal was carved by Master Radovan in 1240, in grand Romanesque style (Maja gave us a very detailed explanation of the portal). The Bapistery was sculpted by Andrija Aleśi. I especially liked the painted wooden cross suspended from the ceiling In the Cathedral.
Jade and I met Susan back at a cafe in the square where she was waiting for us, and we made our way back to the bus station, picking up a gelato on the way (lemon for me and salted caramel for Susan). We said our good-byes to John and Jenny, who were continuing with travels in Croatia on their own before
heading back to the States. The rest of us (Susan and I, Lois and Jim, Jade, and our trip leader Tamara) picked up our luggage that we had stored at the bus station, and were picked up in a mini-van for our trip back to Split, which took around 1/2 hour. We were dropped off at the bus station in Split, and we said our good-byes to everyone (as our Intrepid Croatian trip is over), and we bought our bus tickets for the airport shuttle tomorrow.
Susan and I walked back to Hotel Slavija, and shared a beer we picked up on the way back from the bus station, and then I started work on the blog (I’m so happy to have good wifi here!). Later we went for dinner at Fig. We had also eaten at Fig in Hvar, which we really enjoyed, so I wanted to come back in Split. We started with cocktails - I had a really delicious “Fig Sour” and Susan had an Aperol Spritz. To continue the fig theme, I had the fig and farm cheese flatbread (poached figs, farm cheese, walnuts, fig jam, and arugula), which I really enjoyed. Susan had the
Saint Lawrence Cathedral Portal
Carved by Master Radovan in 1240veggie korma (we had shared it in Hvar, along with a salad). We accompanied dinner with a few glasses of house white, and it was a really lovely last evening in Croatia.
After dinner we went to a chocolate shop called “Nadalina” recommended by Zigi, and picked up some chocolate (we got “dried figs and sweet wine”, orange, and “Adriatic sea salt” flavours). It is dark chocolate and very yummy. Ross and Beth, we will enjoy it with you in Italy, maybe with some red wine!
See you in Lecce, Italy!
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Storm
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Man quite the adventure you two! So happy for you💗👍😍😁