Beautiful and Sad

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I feel I owe Split to write a few words.
I had really been looking forward to staying here and I had heard that there where good options for a cheap room in private accomondation.
I am amazed by the beauty of Croatia's next largest city. It surely deserves to be on the UNESCO-list. The inner city with Diocletian's Palace is remarkable.

But still I feel sad about being here. Some might have to do with the fact that most of the inner city is being renovated. You can't even view the golden gate and the palace is also covered with wood and plastic. But it also and maybe even more relate to all the poor people you meet. Only few are begging for money and for the blind eye it can therefor seem as a rich city, but if you take an extra look you will first discover the dusins of women at the busstation screaming zimmer, camre, sobe, rooms and you will see how tired they are. Some of them are smeeling badly, some of them are sitting down looking like they could sleep for a week.

First as I exited the bus several women where already showing there signs and pictures. I almost got run down. I decided after several conciderations about my agreement with a youth hostel in the area to stay with one woman who was a little younger than the rest and nicer dressed and more clean in her appearence. After now living in her place for two nights I feel lucky that it is not me who has to stand almost begging people to follow me. She arrives at the busstation to catch the first bus. She stands there all day in 35 degrees C untill the last bus, unless she is lucky and can get some people. Then she decides to after showing them the house to go home to herself and get some food and then a while relaxing on the beach untill she starts again, attracting peoples attention. And she is lucky, because she is younger and more fit in english she has better chances of catching peoples interest, whereas some of the others stand there for days hoping for a bit of luck. It feels so sad, the hopelessness you find in their eyes after a long day. These women are just a part of the picture I would like to draw of Split. When you come to the center you find that you can not see the place for just tourists and shops. So many fancy shops are to be found in the center area, so even London would feel ashamed. Everything from Coco and Dior to Mango, Benetton and Topshop. And it feels wrong. First to meet these women at the busstation and then afterwards being drawn in by all the famous brands like Diesel, Lewis...etc. Then you walk a little outside the center in direction of the busstation. Here a big market fills up all the space. The center of the market square and what also seem to be the old part is selling fruits and vegetables, meet, delicatese and whatever a true lifeenjoyer could fancy. This is Split, this is what Split can offer. Here you mainly see locals shopping for the day. But around it you find something looking like le grand bazar. Streets full of touristic stands, where any teenage-daughter can drive her mother mad over the one fake gucchi bag after the other. Sunglasses that break after two days, Luis Vuitton brands in hidious designs and Croatian football scarfs are shown everywhere. And in between the stands you will often here a old woman yelling "cigarettes, cigarettes, marlboroooo light". These are the woman that do not own a place big enough to accomondate people. They have found another way of living, another prove of surviving on tourism.
I have thought much about what the tourism has ment for the postwar Split and I can not find the answer easy. Split was not terribly destroyed doing the civilwar, but the economics had relatively big problems and Split is still trying to come again. But unimployment, unstabile economy...etc. is what they have to deal with today. Here tourism comes in. Split is now surviving on the great tourist industry and isn't that good. Such a beatifull city with so friendly people. But it is also sad. Because what comes from the tourist industry is as I before pictured. An overcrowded city where the charm that must have been visible once with the fantastic settings and the beautiful inner city is starting to fade and all you see for your eyes are tourists and souvenir shops. And in between you might meet the real Split if you look properly. And you wont find what you looked for. Because behind the smile of tourist industry stands the old woman trying to survive on renting out her private rooms. Rooms that should have been for her grandchildren and for her own retirement.
So do me the favour if ever you stop by Split because it is surely worth a visit, to go to the busstation and find a private accomondation. And if you are not running on a to low budget then don't lower the price too much. You might find out that there is much more charm in living in a private place with real history, then in a beach resort with 4 star hotels!
Enough for today!
Anna

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Photos

daytime view over Split seafront
Split seafront

a seafront square
square in Split wtih view over the Adriatic Sea

view over split seaside
split seaside

Diocletian's palace
Central Split

Comments

[Marina]

thank you!
Thank you so much for your rendition of of what the "real" Croatia is all about. I was born in Split, and then lived in Canada for pretty much my whole life. Moved back to Croatia a few months a go...as they say, you can take the girl out of Croatia, but you can't take Croatia out of the girl ;-) I truly am scared for the future of this amazing country due to "foreign" interest, tourism, etc. Like a double edge sword I guess, you need industry to survice, but in turn the industry will ruin the country. I have much more to say about this, but I guess this is neither the time or the place ;-) Thanks again for your insightful comments.