Its 2 years since we have been to Split .. interestingly known as and referred to as Spalato on the Italian ferry timetable. We had forgotten how beautiful it is…the hotel is only 400 meters from the ferry port, so a quick stroll through the old town…. Mr. Google’s blue dot lets us down but, my sniffer dog nose left right and right again brings us to the Diocletian’s Palace.
Diocletian’s Palace is an ancient palace built by the Roman emperor Diocletian at the turn of the fourth century AD, that today forms the centre of the city of Split
I know its here somewhere but we are surrounded by ruins and a solid wall….. PP’s spots a hidden staircase..she’s hot and sweaty…..yep here it is….when researching hotels I always tick the boxes..central location, near shops, 4 star + and air conditioned…before I have chance to open my mouth..she is up the stairs and in her normal quiet self effacing way into the reception of the Hotel Vestibul Palace ….YOU HAVE AIR CONDITIONING……
Our host Vladimir…. is outstanding…. certainly..you look hot, sit down…. have breakfast your your room will be ready shorty ..its only 8.00am. Centrally located…the hotel is in the Palace wall its like having a room in the middle on San Marco in Venice
Enjoyed a lovely breakfast served by Croatian Miss World and then our room is ready..PP was going to have a shower to cool down…but its 9.00am and the shops are open…off we go. We have only walked 200 meters and she been in 3 shops..so we agree to catch up later….Split has come alive in the past 2 years..coffee shops and art galleries every where.
Croatian ladies all seem to be beautiful, friendly and engaging where the young gents seem to be surly and aloof..trying to break down the barriers but the language is a challenge.
Met a German couple who spend sometime in Croatia and took Croatian language lesson before arriving, they were taught by a Serb…a total different language and the difference between towns and regions is significant , so I kept it to Hvala and Dobra and a an occasional Pivo molem and that should get me by.
Our sailing company indicated that our fellow travel companions on Andi would be Couple from USA, Germany and England and of course N from Holland who we sailed with last year. I have a pen picture in my mind English couple…Col Blimp from Essex, I could talk about Cricket, the USA couple who I would be able to leave them perplexed and confused…PP could look after the Germans with her Annesparento, and with N..the coffee would be too cold the room too hot the fish too dry and the salad too oily….
Just sipping my 4th espresso and watching the 250 kilo 1.5metre Russian walk past dressed all in white with enough gold bullion for a third work country and on each arm a 2 metre willowy blond wearing 12 inches stiletto and scantily clad would be overstating their attire ..I was more worried about their OHS and the risk of a trip slip and fall on those dangerous cobblestones…the Romans never took the into consideration that with their construction.
N arrived, out for dinner found a nice little place Trattoria Bajamont and down to the foreshore for the live concert..and on stage a touring cultural group from New Zealand….Ka mate…I love watching the pois in full flow..they were very good..I think the long winded introduction to each song in Maori was probably lost on the audience unless Croatian is somehow linked to Maori linguistically , the tour was in recognition of Croatian influence in NZ which goes back the 1880 when they were known as Dalmations and Hungarians and only recently as Croats,
I think it all falls under the cultural awareness umbrella of the Croatian phrase ju n ket.
More shopping in the morning and stumbled on the Hadjik Split football ground I gather from the graffiti on the wall “our town our country no poofs” that gay marriage is not under consideration in Croatia at the moment…….
Back to listen the hawks, tried to get a bet on but Hibberd claims it was an after post bet and we were already 10 goals ahead…. The beer is very nice.. however you need to be careful ordering because shrimps and prawns are interchangeable and can be big or small. So I went for the squid…well 4 squids arrived on the plate the size of the rubbish bid lid and I could have put saddles on them and run them in the 5th the race at Flemington….note to self be careful when ordering squid, calamari, prawns and shrimps….needed a couple more beers and then off to our sailing boat.
Down the road to the taxi rank and PP is shouting to me, she is a conversation with a gent driving a refrigerated fruit van….PP its not a taxi.
She is insistent that this is ok…2 Policia come out the bushes PP is trying to get me to load the luggage into the fruit truck…..I think is was a kidnap attempt by the Russian oligarch we met in Gabicce Mare who was pretending to be a Swiss banker.
The fruit truck driver scampers off PP is perplexed. I thought it was a taxi…..PP it was a white refrigerated van, you were probably going to transported to Saudi for the pleasure of a some young prince..why don’t we get a taxi from the taxi rank..that might be easier.
Arrived on Stobrec to meet our new traveling companions.
Sandra our hostess calls PP a girlllll
Col Blimp and wife are actually 2 nice young English gents……..one has green hair and I don’t think you would see them chanting in the outer at a Hadjik Split game…we had a long chat about antiques and the clubbing scene in Split, PP talked shopping and hair color, the couple from the USA are actually Canadian a English drama teacher and a systems analyst…can she talk eh…..she hasn’t stopped since we got on board…,I think they will be a lot of fun eh..and the Germans are German also a teacher and a sound engineer…. First night quiet but all into the routine…..
Whenever short of material PP always lends a hand.
A yacht came past looking to moor nearby, a few minutes later it is back again… no says PP emphatically and informatively it’s a different yacht the other one had a red light on the top this one has a green one.
No one said anything but there was a small giggle through the group on new friends familiar with sailing
Lighting red and green – port and starboard are nautical terms for left and right, respectively. … at night, the port side of a vessel is indicated with a red navigation light and the starboard side with green …same boat just different direction
and so the adventure begins…..