Oct 16, 2012 - Split

Woke to rain! Last night scouted out the closest laundry (both down to our last pair of underwear!), so packed the dirty clothes, grabbed the umbrellas and took off to do laundry! Even on vacation, it's the simple things that can be delightful! Deposited the clean clothes back in the room and took off for lunch, a restaurant that Zoran had recommended ..a bit of a hike, but good food. More mussels! Then it was time to check out Diocletian's Palace, built in 312 AD. Very interesting place. Many of the walls have been destroyed over the...

Oct 15, 2012 - Going to Split

Went to bed last night with a plan to go to the laundromat at 9 when it opened while we waited our car which was supposed to be delivered at 12:30. Rain, thunder, and lightning overnight and still raining in the morning. Plan B - call the car rental agency and ask them to deliver the car at 10 and do our laundry in Split. No can do - the car is being driven down from Split and can't be delivered any earlier. Back to Plan A. The laundry does not open at 9 as posted. We wait until 9:30 (not raining, blazing sun with no shade) and then go back...

Oct 8, 2012 - Croatia Sailing Kastel

Sailing on the Adriatic coast off Croatia was a boys trip. One of my relo's organised for me to join him and 4 of his mates on a weeks sailing on the adriatic. They hired a 44ft yacht and we spent a week travelling from Kastel just north of Split down through the southern Croation islands of Birac, Korcula, Mljet, Lastovo and Hvar almost down to Dobrovnic. We managed to catch the very last of the summer on the Adriatic with plenty of sun but unfortunately not much wind for any reasonable sailing. That does not mean to say there were no...

Sep 30, 2012 - Splittin' Split

After spending a fantastic day and night in Plitvice National Park, we got in our car for the last time and headed southwest, away from the mountains and to the coastal city, and bustling port, of Split. This was never a "must see" stop on our agenda, rather, the most convenient and logical jumping-off point to begin our trek down the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia. As we drove we passed a number of cemeteries and noticed the numerous relatively recent tombstones, a sobering reminder that only 20 years ago this beautiful, peaceful landscape was...

Sep 18, 2012 - the wonders of the world continue

We left the charming island of Hvar behind this morning on a high speed catamaran ferry to Split, where a large part of the port is a UNESCO world heritage site. Once again, many pars of the old city are pedestrian areas, paved in marble paving stones with clever drainage systems built in for rain. It is still hot here but the ocean breezes are so refreshing. We found our way to our hostel, design Goli Bosi, which is quite a surprise,tucked into an ld department store. Rose has her ed in the loft! We wandered happily through the...

Sep 16, 2012 - Perfect Sunny Day in Split

Woke up to a glorious day filled with bright sunshine and blue sky. Our city guide spent the morning telling us all about the castle and why it was built as the retirement home for the Roman Emperor Diocletian. Another person who knew how to live. It is quite the place. It is more than 600 feet long and even though it has gone through WWII bombings and some of its stones used by the people to build other things, it is amazing. Those Romans knew how to build. The Emperor had black granite sphinx brought from Egypt and put them in this...

Sep 15, 2012 - Beautiful Croatia

So many beautiful sights today. Everyone needs to travel to Croatia. What a beautiful country. I thought the Julian Alps with Lake Bled was enough but then we got to the National Park and with the benefit of rain we were blessed with waterfalls like nothing I have ever seen. It was incredible. We had a wonderful room at the Lodge in the Park. Our room had a balcony, two bathrooms, a soaking tub and a huge bed. We slept like a king and queen. After a wonderful breakfast, we set off on our hike through the park and after raining all night,...

Sep 14, 2012 - Arrival at Split

Hi All We have made it to Split, Croatia at long last. It only took 33 hours of travel time. You have to love living the other side of the world....sometimes! The flight was long but we managed it. Chris managed about 6 hours sleep Shaun about 3 with many power naps during movies. Well tomorrow Saturday we pick up the boat. Had a lovely local dinner tonight- local fishes their specialty. As you may of seen from the pic's, it is raining heavy at times so we are hoping it will stop over night. Till our next post TTFN Me& Him

Sep 7, 2012 - By bus from Split to Dubrovnik

Arrived in Split at 8:00 in the morning and had a reasonable good sleep even though the train stopped many times and a lot of turns. The bus for Dubrovnik left at 9:00 and it was full. Many young back-packers from all over the world my seat companion was Germany and spoke fluent English as most young Germans do. The view along the Adriatic Sea was spectacular and we followed the coastline all the way. There were hundreds of turns and the speed was high and too fast for some of more elderly travellers - not me, I am a fatalist after all! The...

Sep 6, 2012 - My birthday in Zagreb

The day did not start out well. I was up early to catch the train to Zagreb, Croatia. I had lots of time and had the buffet breakfast and the desk had ordered a taxi for me. Well , the taxi never showed up and finally the desk clerk asked a neighbour to take me to the station in his car. Alas, we were one minute late and I just saw the end of the train disappear. I had to wait three hours for the next train. I arrived well in Zagreb and left my luggage at the station and left with a map to explore the city. There were lots of old...

Sep 4, 2012 - Split, Croatia and Islands Solta and Brac

I spent the day on the water. Took a cruise on a home built replica of the Santa Maria. It was 10 feet shorter then the original. But 10 additional feet would have still been such a small ship to "sail the ocean blue". We motored to two nearby islands. Solta and Brac (pronounced with a /ch/ at the end). The captain cooked excellent fish and grilled vegetables for our lunch and we had a long swim off shore from Brac in the Adriatic. I enjoyed the day with 2 British couples vacationing in Split. Back in Split we enjoyed a late afternoon...

Sep 3, 2012 - Exploring the city of Split, Croatia

I've walked all day and covered miles of this city and climbed the many steps to Marjan Mountain for the scenic view. There are religious hermit caves, ancient temples, and even some kind of zoo located in the forests there, that I'll have to investigate later as my day was ending and so was my energy. Diocletian ruled longer then any other Roman Emperor, for over 20 years. He is the only one who retired from being an Emperor. Rome asked him to return and he declined. He also called for the last great Christian persecution, even though he...