Blogs from Split, Dalmatia, Croatia, Europe - page 3

Our next stop turned in to a longer one as we stayed five nights near the city of Split. What kept here this long was a combination of an interesting place to visit, great stores for provisioning and two days of storms moving through. We had a great hook and even met some people at anchor here so we were not in a rush. We arrived at the anchorage before noon so it gave us time that first day to take the dinghy ashore and get acquainted with the town and what it has to offer. We have the Rick Steves Croatia guidebook and we already had a bit of information on what we would be seeing and figured that the next day we would follow his walking tour. While walking around there were plenty of ... read more

Nachdem wir nochmal zwei Stunden durch das wunderschöne bergige Hinterland Dalmatiens gefahren sind erreichen wir Split, die zweitgrößte Stadt Kroatiens. Unser Campingplatz in Stobrec vor den Toren der Stadt ist gemütlich und sauber und hat einen eigenen Zugang zum Kiesstrand in einer ruhigen Bucht und tatsächlich ist es halbwegs trocken und ziemlich warm als wir ankommen. Und so verbringen wir hier drei entspannte Tage mit Spaziergängen im Ort, den Füßen immer mal wieder im Meer oder zumindest im Liegestuhl auf dem Campingplatz. Leider erwischt Dennis irgendeine fiese Magen-Darm-Seuche, sodass er leider einige Zeit im Bett verbringt, aber zwischendrin rafft er sich immer wieder auf, um das wenn auch nicht durchgehend sonnige, so zumindest ziemlich trockene Wetter hier zu genießen. Einen Nachmittag fahren wir dann auch mit dem Bus in die Altstadt von Split und sind total ... read more

Leaving Mostar was almost sad, because we had enjoyed the compact city as a group and on our own. We headed into the hills, where towns or villages lined the road for a considerable distance. Rain was falling for the whole drive. I noticed none of the un-recovered bombed houses we had seen on our way to Sarajevo from Mostar. The border crossing into Croatia was old hat to us by now. Our driver, Paul today, gathered our passports (his on top) and presented them to an official inside, first the Bosnian booth and then the Croatian booth. We continued on through the mountains. The vegetation of low trees and tall bushes was later described to us as “Mediterranean bush”. Our first stop was at the Blue Lake, where we looked far down into an ancient ... read more

Our arrival into CDG was smooth. I used to not care for CDG airport, but have become good at navigating it. We easily made it over to the Croatia Airlines flight to Split with plenty of time to spare. It was good to see the Air Baltic flight to Riga in the same terminal. This was our 4th flight on Croatia Airlines, and I really like the service. This was Croatia flight 475, an A-319 aircraft. It was a smooth 2 hours over to Split, and after the quick arrival formalities, we were on the bus to Split. We had booked a nice Airbnb right on the waterfront, and it was easy to find. We changed and headed out for some lunch. My wife had researched several places and one of them was Toto's Burger Bar. ... read more

The last few days have been quite busy so today is a day without driving or city sightseeing. We walk along the Split seafront to the enormous Marjan Forest Park, stopping for an al fresco breakfast on a picnic bench on the prom. It’s almost like being back in Bournemouth, except it’s a sunny 28 degrees. We visit the former home of Ivan Mestrovic where plenty of his sculptures are on display. A game the old man likes to play with sculptures: to stand next to it mimicking the pose. Either Mestrovic had some very flexible friends or else a vivid imagination. He also appears to have had an aversion for wearing clothes. We wander round the villa admiring his work, stop for a drink in the little café overlooking the sea, then continue to the ... read more