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Froggy Land
Myles is the prince of Froggy Land Good morning Friends and Family and Happy Mother's Day!
We spent the majority of today just walking around old town Split and exploring our home for the next few days. We woke up around 10:00 and I wanted to get coffee. So Myles slept in a little bit while I headed out in search of caffeine. As we had just arrived in the city the night before I wasn't sure where to go. Many of the streets here are like a maze, so I kept to the outskirts close to our apartment. After exploring for a little bit I came across a bakery with fresh chocolate croissants. I bought one for each Myles and I. I was having a hard time finding coffee to go, so I bought some canned espresso and headed back to the apartment. Have I mentioned the stairs, because they are horrible. 4 flights later I finally made it, winded and starving 😊 The croissants were lovely. Most def the best I have ever had in my life. They were flaky and warm. Chewy and soft, but so chocolaty.
After our Croissants we got ready and went downstairs (again) to explore. We had done some
research on places we wished to visit and one of those places was called Froggy Land. If you know me at all, you know that when I was a child my favorite animal was a frog. In fact I started a "club" when I was in the 4th grade for all lovers of Fun, Frogs, and Recycling (also known as the FFR). Froggy Land is located just outside of the palace complex. It is basically a museum for taxidermy frogs that are set up in different positions to create a diorama scene. We weren't allowed to take pictures, but you can find their website here: https://froggyland.net/ Visiting Froggy Land was a unique experience to say the least. It was hilarious and very odd.
Next we went in search of lunch. On our way to lunch we found a bar that we had heard about on another travel blog so we decided to stop in for a drink. The bar was called Shooters, because they only serve themed shots. If you can't decide what sounds right for you, there is an option to spin a wheel with shots listed on it and take whatever shot it landed on. Myles and
I both did this and ended up with some pretty yummy shots. After the bar we went to lunch. While looking for Froggy Land and just generally exploring we came across a narrow street with an eclectic restaurant along the side of the passageway. Safinga (Sphinx in English) had a limited menu with mainly Pasta, Risotto, burgers, and some salads. Where as the food menu was limited the cocktail menu was rather extensive. Myles ordered a gin and tonic, I got a lemoncello spritz and we both ordered pasta. The drinks were nice, but the pasta was lovely. It was obviously made fresh with great ingredients (thick Croatian Prosciutto and wild asparagus). I have never had hand made fresh pasta before and I can say now that the texture is unlike anything I have had in the past. So yummy! We were also lucky enough to find a bar/art gallery that we had heard about in another blog called Academia Club Ghetto. It wasn't open so early in the day, but we vowed to return later that night.
After lunch we returned to the apartment to relax a bit and enjoy the weather on our roof top balcony. Since
we were both still exhausted we decided to take a nap. When we woke up we decided to walk around some more and just explore the city. It feels so surreal being in Europe. I fell like I have spent my whole life seeing pictures of ancient cobblestone streets and roman architecture, but it is indescribable to see it in real life. It is so crazy to me that the people who live here just live in Unesco World Heritage sites like it is no big deal. There are Roman columns just outside of bookstores, and 2,000 year old palaces that are now apartments. Everywhere you go everything is 1700-500 years old and stunning. simply walking around is like visiting a living museum.
Because it was so late when we decided to grab dinner, there were not many places (there weren't fancy fancy) that were open. We settled on a small restaurant called Fig. We knew going into the restaurant that it would not be the most authentic Croatian food but everything looked great so we gave it a try. We are so glad that we did. The food was delish. Collectively we ordered some fig toast with goat
Cheers
To our first full day in Croatia cheese, Pulled pork with traditional Croatian bread, and some fried potatoes. When looking at the menu we remarked that all the food had a Mexican flair to it. At one point we were greeted by the owner Jeff. He came to our table to see where we were from as he moved to Croatia about 10 years ago from San Bernadino. We spent the next 45 minutes talking to Jeff about Croatia and Mexican food and California. It was so neat to meet someone from back home who has transplanted here. Along with the great company, the food was amazing. The chimchirri potatoes were one of the best things we have eaten so far. Also, I forgot to mention I drank some lovely local Croatian beer. It was a very smooth porter that went very well with all the tasty Croatia Mexican fusion food.
After dinner we looked around for something to do, it was about 10:30pm and so we went back to Shooters bar to drink a few more creative shots. We made friends with the bartender (Ante. Pronounced like Auntie), as we were the only patrons for the majority of our time spent at the bar. Ante
was awesome. Myles and I had been really wanting to try the national liquor of Croatia called rakija or travarica. It is traditionally made in small batches by Croatians in their own homes. it is flavored with different herbs, spices, and fruits. Ante did a tasting for us of 6 different kinds so we could see what we liked best. All of them were pretty intense with a few of them being more flavorful. I look forward to having some in the more traditional way once we get to Hvar. Small batch, before a meal, with a dried fig on the side.
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