Croatia part 1 - Split

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Our apartment in Split was very nice - we had really good wifi AND cable tv!! Chilled out for a couple of hours after check in and freshened up, before heading out. Was rainy and overcast, but still warm in this beautiful coastal city 😊 Got ourselves a Lonely Planet phrasebook and a decent map, so we're set! Georgia found us somewhere to eat via the Trip Advisor app (which has served us well thus far) - gorgeous little oil bar (called Uje) that specialises in varieties of Croatian made olive oil and serves tapas style dishes that feature the yummy oils. Very, very nice!! Did a bit of shopping then just bummed around - back to the Korta restaurant (which is right outside our door) for a light dinner. Settled in our room early, but not really an early night - kinda ended up wishing we didn't have the cable tv...couldn't stop watching movies!! Slow start to the day on Friday - needed a sleep in after our crappy night's sleep on the ferry. Our accommodation gave us a discount voucher for breakfast at a nearby restaurant - only 40 Kuna each (about €5) for bacon, eggs, sausage, bread, orange juice, coffee AND chocolate pancakes!! Walked around shopping all day...even though we're supposed to be thinking about not adding too much weight to our backpacks - it's hard when there's so many pretty things!! Split is supposed to be the world capital of women's shoes and amazingly, neither of us bought any...yet (we're back here for one night after our Island Hopper sailing tour). Walked along the waterfront and found a nice place for dinner (Brasserie on Seven). For the first time in a while, we decided against getting entree (as well as main) - we can never eat it all anyway. Also got served lovely fresh bread!! Might sound like an insignificant treat, but a lot of the bread we've been given the last couple of weeks (excluding the villa) has been a bit on the stale side. A delicious steak each and two carafes of Rose, whilst overlooking the lovely harbour - cannot complain about that!! Only disturbance was two little boys running riot around the restaurant and pretending to shoot each other (with bang bang sounds and all) - both Georgia and I were 'shot' as well! Normally I would let something like that annoy me, but I'm on holidays and have decided to just let the kids be kids. Besides, I'm about to become an Aunty (for the first time....exciting!!), so I probably should start getting used to the mayhem. I really wasn't hungry but had to go desert - they had this amazing ice cream creation called Chocoholic Anonymous that I had to try. Left me so uncomfortably full!!
Back to the room, more movies, then bed. Had to be up early Saturday for checkout, pack our things (again) and get some breakfast (at a place called Tiffany's). Then off to find the Busabout boat for our 7 night sailing tour. Unfortunately, the weather isn't looking too flash for the next couple of days 😞 Fingers crossed it improves!! Looks like most of our group is made up of Aussies, then we have a couple of Kiwis and Yanks. All aboard and on our way by 1pm - Georgia and I have a tiny two berth cabin to ourselves. Communal toilet and shower facilities - no surprises there. Our hosts introduced themselves over lunch and told us a bit about local culture, then we all sat on the top deck and enjoyed some drinks, while we sailed to our first destination. The bar runs a tab up for each cabin, which we have to pay at the end of the week - could be dangerous... We arrived at Hvar port about 6pm where we disembarked and listened to one of the hosts (Jen - very thick Scottish accent) tell us what there was to do. Currently eating pizza for dinner, somewhere in the small town centre. Have to meet back onboard at 9:30pm, when they'll take us out somewhere for a boogie and some more drinks. So far everyone seems really nice! Good mix of males to females. Best part is that I'm already finding it really relaxing!! Don't have to pick up my backpack for 7 days, nor do I have to catch a train, or get up early for checkout 😊 😊 😊

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