Surrendering to Split Splendor and Silliness

1 Comment Posted in: Croatia | By: Jami | August 12, 2013

Split began chilly and wet, I was upset as we were finally on the coast and by the beach and it was finally June (June 1st) damn it! I was done with the rain – No more bad weather – but by the end of our 3 1/2 days in Split we had so many great memories and so much fun to look back on that Split became one of our favorite stops in Europe.

We woke up from the apartment in Trojir, early to a cold and rainy morning. Not exactly desired now that we were south and on the water.
We dropped the car off at Split airport (not actually in Splitbut Trojir) and took the bus into Split. I remember all of the tourists arriving at the airport with flip flops, summer dresses with bikinis underneath and big floppy sun hats, all to be shivering cold at the low 50 degree/rainy weather. I sympathized as I thought by the time we got south our weather would change. When we got to Split, where buses and ferries met along the sea, the rain was coming down harder and we were wet. We decided to hold ourselves up for a couple hours to drink warm coffee and get on wifi at the closest cafe we saw. When the rain was a little lighter we grabbed our bags and made a dash to the hostel.

The whole city is paved with stone and marble, so in this case We had to be really careful not to slip on the wet marble as we saw other travelers spilling down. When we reached the hostel it was pouring again and we were soaked. As we checked in we were surrounded by travelers from 19 to tops 24 year olds. Everyone was hungover and it didn’t seem like the rain had bothered them so much since they just got up. “Oh brother” I thought, since this was a time when we would be sharing a dorm with 4 other roommates via bunks. This was the party hostel called the Booze and Snooze, it was what we ordered. We first decided on the snoozing and napped most of the day. We woke up late afternoon as the rain stopped and there were peaks of sun. We walked to the top of the Marjan Hill and looked out on this fantastic city setting and over a beautiful Adriatic Sea line. It was so peaceful. Aaron enjoyed a beer, me some local wine and then we went back to the hostel for our collective dinner.

Marian Hill

Beautiful views from the cafe

The whole hostel ventured out for dinner with our hostesses in front – one an Aussie, the other a young Bosnian girl. It was a good mix of Brits, Aussies, Canadians and Americans. We ordered rounds of 1/2 liter beers and most ordered some type of fish/seafood. They were huge plates, family style on one order. It was great to bond with our housemates, at our table of 25.

As we left we picked up more booze and headed back to the hostel to continue to pregame. We were there for a few hours and after the cops stopped by per neighbor complaints for a second time, it was time to head to Charlie’s backpackers bar, a bar below a sister hostel, equally as noisy and rowdy. Aaron (animation mode) picked up some Scottish men on the street decked out in kilts and brought them to the bar.
The bar is a small dive and most everyone there had been drinking for sometime. There is a net hanging from the ceiling for travelers alike to throw up whatever item they wish. As you can imagine panties and boxers were there, also some flags and some other random objects like beach toys. Post 1am we headed to the beach party club, a 15-20 min walk along the waterfront. We danced and danced with our hostel mates and new friends until 3 am. It was a blast. I was loving Split.

Dancing at Beach Party

Woke up for a free walking tour. Aaron and I were the only group to show up, so it ended up a private tour, which was great. Our guide was awesome and we were done in about an hour and a half. Split’s city center is really small, but actually it is by far the largest city on the Dalmation Coast, and the second largest city in all of Croatia. And it is OLD! Split is around 2,000 years old. We learned a lot about its history as this is where Roman emperor Diocletian made Split his vacation and eventual retirement home in AD 305 and was originally a founding Greek colony in the 6th century BC. And the Greek and Roman influences were everywhere and also still very well preserved, which is a truth the Splitians(?) are very proud of.

Alley ways through the city

Ancient Roman and Greek architecture at every turn

By our hostel

Open roof at entrance to the palace

The sphinx in front of the entrance of the palace

Post tour we walked up and down the Riva is palm tree lined and remines me a bit of Beverly Hills, picked up standard snack, ice cream and then through the ferry terminal where we booked our first Croatian island, Hvar.

Walking the shoreline

Ice cream, of course!

We kept walking across the sea line past some beaches and found a cafe to sit and relax and take in the sun. It wasn’t hot beach weather yet, but it felt great. We had a few beers in our seat swing, sat on some swimming/small boat docks and after headed upstairs to look onto a beautiful sunset and had a romantic dinner before heading back to our wild hostel. It was a beautiful day.

Paradise

My sun praise

That night we hit up the same spots and tried a few new but be it Sunday not much was going on. We ventured to the same bars and some others but it was pretty dead. I had more shots of my favorite honey rum at Charlie’s Backpackers, some beer but went home fairly early for split, a little past Midnight.

Split at night

The next day we decided to see the touristy sights on our own, a Split bucket list. But first I had to have my morning coffee and croissant at the famous cafe in the city center. Then up the bell tower which rang as we were going up, poor timing on our part. It has beautiful views of the city no doubt looking out to the ships to the high hills. Also it had some of most narrow and highest (step to step) staircases. I mean I dont have the longest legs, but I dont know how shorter people could get up there. Then the tomb, then the underground city. It was fascinating. We missed the fish market but saw and saw the remnants of the dead fish and we continued to walk through the city.

At Luxor

Famous cafe in the city center

Such tourists

Watch it!

Bell tower ringing

Bell tower views, spectacular

Tiny stairwells

Next, we decided to visit the nearby beaches. It wasn’t beach weather for me, but we did see some brave souls, possibly British and Irish girls who think 70 degrees is enough to sun bathe. We sat on the shore had some beers and played cards. It was fun and relaxing, though not comfortable. Note: Croatian beaches mostly all have stones, no sand. We walked back and watched some old Croatian men play baci, then went back to the hostel to go out.

Card playing on rocky beach

Rocks and pebbles everywhere!

The beach

This was our final night in Split and we mostly we replayed our same itinerary of the first night, starting with dining with our old and new hostel mates at the same place for dinner. Once again, my waiter order for me and once again we were a large party that stretched over a few tables in the back and then to Charlie’s, then to beach club. We danced the whole night. Aaron thought it might be funny to tell every patron coming in the beach club that no shirts were allowed and sure enough, i looked up to find men with their T-shirts in their hands and the girls in their bras or bathing suit tops. Walked home through the beautiful stone city from beach club around 4a after a bunch of dancing and silliness. The city was empty and peaceful and though I was excited for Hvar, I didn’t want our time here to end.