Side trip to Split, September 12

Awoke to bright sunlight and the prospect of another simply beautiful day. Bon and I had planned on doing our own little breakfast so we walked to the local bakery near the bridge, picked up some fresh bread/rolls, naturally some schnechts (old German saying for bakery-anyone from Milwaukee will know this word) as well as some fresh fruit and then got to cutting and arranging and set a lovely table on the balcony. Our boys were duly impressed. This is the way to live, linger over coffee watching the sail boats waft in and out of the bay. But we did have to get ourselves up and out as we were going to Split today.

We went to the bus station (based upon our Fodor's research we had decided on the "fast bus", much like a Greyhound) bought tickets (21 Kn each-which at the time we were there was about $4) for the "coach" and then went to the area at the bus station they said the bus would be. We were happy we made this choice. The other buses would have made many stops and it is hard to know what the comfort level would have been on said ride. Several buses came and went where we were waiting before our bus showed up. One only had to show the ticket to the driver and he knew if you belonged on his bus or not. Once on the bus, very nice, comfortable seat and not crowded at all. We just sat where we wanted to on the ride there.

Once in Split it was quite easy to locate Diocletian's Palace as we were dropped right in front of it. Nice digs. We didn't think about asking where we had to catch the bus back to Trogir. We'd made a plan to meet up with our friends somewhere in the "center", but had telephones in case we could not find one another. The place was hopping, lots of tours groups and waiters bustling back and forth. It is really kind of cool, they have cushions set out on the stone walls and if you sit, the waiter arrives. Of course if you sit you are expected to order, which does seem fair to me. We ordered 4 coffees-what? Okay, coffees for Bon and I and the guys had beer (because when on vacation it is drink time somewhere in the universe). They bring a little board type thing to set your drinks on and you are good to go. We have noticed (and loved) that Europeans don't use plastic cups, they like the real thing. Found our friends and then off to explore.

This complex is immense. If Tom and I were to go back we would hire a private guide. There are shops all over, it is impossible to get a sense of the history of the place. We knew some of the background because we had done some reading beforehand. The other group of travelers were staying in this complex and they liked their places. We went to see the rooms (to use the facilities) and they were very nice. Narrow walk to the storefront that they were above and up several flights of stairs for one of the apartments. Since it is such close quarters (building-wise) they didn't have much of a view. The rooms were air conditioned though and they were glad for that. There also were computers in their rooms with Internet access. The gal that had the studio below them and ran the place was ready to pop a baby out at any moment!

We strolled around, witnessed the fish market, which was quite lively and then stopped and had a drink. Compared to off the beaten path places, cocktails were quite expensive here. We are spoiled already, cocktail hour just has not been breaking the bank. A little more strolling and then we went looking for a place that Tom T had scoped out earlier, for something to eat. We walked all the way to Marjan city park. This park offers a spectacular view of the sea and the Split promenade, “The Riva”. We actually had passed the restaurant and ended up at the park. We asked someone for directions to the place and they poo-poo'd the idea of going there. They recommended a place right on the promenade, do not remember the name, but I think it was the pizza place at the hotel right there on the promenade. We ate outdoors, it was the casual of the two restaurants that were there. We all had pizza. A few shared a pizza, the rest of us each had our own. They bill these as individual but they are huge. All were absolutely delicious. It did begin to sprinkle a little bit, but not a big deal. After that it was time to head towards the bus terminal to catch our bus back to Trogir. We had thought we would simply catch the bus back where we were dropped, but that wasn't the case. There were two distinctly different bus terminals so we had to figure that out. We did. Stopped at a gelato stand on the way because obviously an entire pizza was just not enough. Good-byes to our friends, a plan to catch up in Dubrovnik and we were on our way.

Got the bus with no trouble. Sat down and planned to close our eyes for the ride home. But there was a problem. Seems there were too many people and people were not in their assigned seats. Assigned seats? We didn't know we had assigned seats. I looked at our tickets and sure enough, we were supposed to be in seat 13 and seat 14. Luckily we were at the beginning and the jostling around didn't hamper us getting to our assigned seats and staying in them. Others, not so lucky. Many had to stand for the ride home. After all that we got back to Trogir safe and sound. Took a slow stroll through town, stopped at a grocery store and then headed to the balcony. All in all a very fun day. We were glad to have seen Split but were happy we had chosen to stay in Trogir. It is certainly a much smaller town but that is what we like. The town was lively at night and once back at our place we could hear the music from the harbor side bars. Hang out on the balcony until it is time for bed. Tomorrow we will find a beach....