Day 14: Return to Split

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By Christi

Today was our last full day on the boat, heading from Bol to Split. After breakfast, we stopped for a short swimming break, and by 11am we reached Split.

Aldo offered to give us a walking tour of the old city, which we accepted. He started by showing us sculpted metal replicas of the old vs current Split, which we hadn't payed much attention to last week when we were here. He also explained the history of Diocletian's palace and pointed out stone noteworthy features like the Roman pillars and the Egyptian sphinx. At the Golden Gate, he pointed out that there is actually accommodation available - we checked later, it costs about R1500 to sleep in a room in the wall of the golden gate. We also walked past the statue of Grugr Ninski (whose toe we rubbed last week to ensure our return to Split) and Aldo showed us the lines on the statue where it was stuck back together after previously being chopped up and buried. Aldo also told us how passionate the Croats (and especially those in Split) are about their soccer. Apparently they have only had two public protests in recent years, and both were related to soccer.

We returned to the boat for a last lunch - gnocchi with a tasty meat sauce - and then did some souvenir shopping while waiting for it to cool down a bit.

Around 16h we headed to Marjan hill. This is a park next to Split that was developed in Diocletian's time as a place for residents to relax. We climbed the many stairs to get to the cafe at the top, and admired the view over Split and the harbour while catching our breath. We continued along a gentle incline, past three little churches and a rock face where some hermits had lived in small caves.

We were really tired by the time we reached the bottom of the hill again. It also stays light so long that it's easy to think it's still afternoon while it is near 8pm! We got some pizza slices for supper, which we ate on a bench near the harbour (a good spot for people watching!), and then some donuts and pancakes from stalls nearby as dessert. Last night of sleeping on the boat! Tomorrow a new adventure awaits...

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