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We were up and at 'em by 9 am for breakfast. It was a typical continental breakfast from the hotel: breads, cheeses, meats, eggs, yogurt, fruit and juices. Damian was right on time at 9:30 to take us to our Split tour guide. This is where we said good-bye to Damian.
Our new guide was great, but not one of us can think of her name; therefore, she will forever be known as Kaitlyn (after Kaitlyn Jenner). I think you know where we are going with this. Our guide was wonderful, funny, and knowledgeable. She walked us through the ruins of the Roman Emperor Diocletian. Split was his retirement home that was built from 305 BC to 295 BC. It was another hot day, but we were there early and weaving through the small streets of this palace. She explained the structures and showed us the original Roman architecture and where the newer structures were built by the Christians during the 13th and 14th centuries. The entire area is for site-seeing and commerce. There are shops and coffee places around every corner, plus the ancient ruins. The grounds have 4 gates/facades: one on the east, west, north and south. We
covered all of them and even underground. We walked under the palace where all the human waste and garbage was deposited from holes they made through the floors. It took hundreds of years for the area to fill up. Sadly, some poor student-archeologists were probably stuck being the ones to go through all their crap, literally. In one area it was the soldiers' bath house, another area was a crypt, and two other areas were traps. Attackers would try and enter the palace through the north and south gates, but the guards and soldiers would close the gates on them, trapping them into a small area and then pelting them with weapons from the top of the structure.
Kaitlyn made sure we saw everything this place had to offer. One shop she took us into was a truffle oil and brandy shop. We sipped a drink and then were able to sample amazing olive oils and truffle oils. So delicious. We made our way back to tour the oldest Catholic church in the world. It is still a working church and even Pope John Paul II had visited it. After we left the church and watched the "King and
Queen" come out and wave to the crowds (they do this every day at noon), Kaitlyn said her goodbyes and we were on our own. I think we know what happens when we are left on our own. Beer-Thirty! We walked back through the ruins to the promenade which faced the Adriatic Sea. It was a beautiful view of the water lined with tons of outdoor seating for drinking and eating. So we spent some time relaxing and drinking the local beer. Why not? That's what our waiter said, so we kept drinking!
It was late afternoon and the town was getting hotter, so we decided it was time to head home. We walked back through the ruins to the farmers' market that is just outside the inner walls of the palace. We loaded up on fruit, cheese, and meat for our boat trip. We also hit a grocery store to get a few other items since we are leaving at 9:30 the next morning. We headed back to the palace for dinner and followed it up with some beers on the central area listening to music. Split was a wonderful surprise to us and we are having a
great time. But we are all really anticipating being on a sail boat for the next few days! The Dalmatian Coast awaits!!!
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