Trogir

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Tuesday, 22 June 2010
Km so far: 2680

Still intermittently wet and Trogir has the feel of an English seaside resort, with the optimism of being on holiday and the reality if it being a bit cold and wet. Drove into Split for the morning which was a mistake; we could have gone by boat or bus and it is the sort of city where driving is difficult, congested narrow streets, very little in the way of useful signposting and scarce parking. More by good luck than good management we found a car park that was within a few minutes walk of Diocletian’s Palace, our main objective.

It is a fascinating and mixed up place, a sort of ancient semi-ruined area of temples and palaces, some Roman remains, others medieval and renaissance, all with a general air of dilapidation with weeds growing from every crack, yet bustling with real people who live there and countless stalls selling the usual Croatian souvenirs of blue and white stripy shirts, maritime bits and pieces and ‘Croata’ ties, hand made in silk but starting at €50. The Cathedral is a striking building and very ancient, but not big, about the size of an English provincial parish church and nowhere near the size of Salisbury or York Minster.

Back to Trogir for a proper look around in the afternoon. It is a lovely old place, as are the other Venetian towns we have visited, and in spite of the weather the atmosphere is wonderful and we enjoyed just wandering around people watching.

Had dinner indoors, trying some local specialties, proving that local specialties are not always a good idea. Still, the evening was finished off in a café on the ‘Riva’ (the waterfront) listening to a South American Salsa band and watching a couple dancing away who knew what they were doing; they must have had lessons.

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