You've got to get here once in your life!

Saturday morning we left Split for the 3 hour drive to Dubrovnik.  We made a false start along the coastal highway but realised this was going to be a long, backed up route.  We headed inland to the A1 and off we went- driving at our granny pace of 140km's/hour!  We were on this highway for about an hour and then we had to exit and start the winding road to the coast.  We had many mountains to pass to get there.  We passed through so many little towns - all selling fruit and veggies along the side of the road.  About an hour into the winding roads we approached the Bosnian Border- passports ready we approached- they could care less- they just waved us through!  We drove the roughly 10km stretch through Bosnia and were waved back in to Croatia in no time at all.
As we approached Dubrovnik the temperature was rising and we got into town at about 2pm and 32C.
We had no trouble finding our apartment (if you believe me then you are a sucker- we only found it thanks to the maps app!)  There was no parking so Frank parked illegally and we ran up to great Goga at the apartment.  She walked down and directed Frank to a spot outside our place- think we will not need the car here!
Oh what a lovely apartment - very spacious and all the luxuries - if not more- of home!  We settled in and then were off in search of lunch.  It is always a bit of a challenge finding food when you are hungry, but we settled on a pizzeria inside the walls of the old town.

View from our apartment

The beach  

The Stadum- main street in town

Guess what time it is?

 There are a lot of English Speaking tourists here- Aussies, Americans, British- even said hi to a fellow Canadian or 2!
After lunch we had a little amble around and then back to the apartment and beach time, at the beach across the street- a SAND one too. ( I believe the sand is imported?!) They swam for a while and then headed back.  The girls were exhausted but we really wanted to see the town.  They wanted to just chill and watch a movie.  So Frank and I headed off in search of the Buza bar (as seen on Rick Steve's Dubrovnik!)  We had a little searching but did find this hole in the wall (not a bad hole in the wall, but literally a hole in the old city wall that we walked through into this bar).  It is a bar that is looking out over the ocean, while perched on the cliffs of this old city- what a setting.  We had a drink or 2 and took it all in.  The music selection was wonderful too- so relaxing and not too crowded (until the noisy Italian men showed up!!)  We then took a little stroll in the old city all lit up at night- too beautiful for words.  This city is very much like Venice- only so clean, and defiantly not as crowded- I love this city.

Trogir

Friday and our last day in Split- I had said this was the day I would like to visit Trogir. A little town about 20 minutes north of us that is an entire Unesco Heritage site.  Unesco sites visited so far:

Paris- banks of the Seine
Venice
Plitvice Lakes
Diocletians Palace
Trogir

we have vistited more than there are in Canada all together (maybe?)- there is only one in BC on the Queen Charlottes.
Trogir is a walled "city" that is pedestrian only.  We drove over the bridge onto the island- we had to circumnavigate the walls and ended up finding parking one island over on Ciovo.  We approached Trogir via the Riva - promenade and made our way to the main gate.

We wandered in and started exploring this great little treasure- all kinds of alleys and streets. 

   Lunch was calling and so of we headed in search of a place to eat- we ended up back on the Riva and found a place overlooking that water.  Frank and I had a salad- it was so good!!  We watched tons of large sailing vessels loading up and it appeared they will take off from here for some island hopping. island hopping.com I just checked it out- this is the way to see the islands- anyone who is coming here to Croatia I recommend this site- wish I had seen it before.

We were off to explore after lunch- first up was the Karmelengo Fortress, a very rustic fortress that we climbed up to the top of- a great view was to be had.  Then down and we went to the convent of St. Nicholas- it was wonderful peaceful place- there was no-one else there so we had a nice quiet visit. We also found some tortoises in the garden- we counted 5 and a tiny baby one- they were very "cute" and had the girls captivated for quite some time.

After the convent we made our way to the centre and stopped for an ice cream along the way (of course), and we were at the loggia and clock tower- a big shelter where the criminals were tried in the 1400's! All over there are signs that this was part of Venice- the winged lions (a symbol of Venetians power) are in many buildings, as well the "feel" of Venice too.
Frank bought a beer at this point, but they poured it for him so we had to sit and join him- "I guess I will have a coffee if I have to!" We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the streets and little stores- a really wonderful place to get lost.  We left around 5 pretty exhausted - it was in the low 30's today and we felt the heat for sure.

We drove back to Split and the Hajduk Split stadium as when we were there the other day they had said that the new store was opening on Friday night at 6pm and Frank was looking for a nice shirt.  We arrived as the grand opening was happening - we went into the store along with all the media!! Some guy asked if he could take mine and Danica's photo- maybe we will be in the paper tomorrow.  Also there were a few members of the team in store- pretty crazy stuff.  We bought and left!
Back home we had sendvičis for dinner (sandwiches!) and now we pack and off tomorrow.

It's a scorcher!

Thursday July 18th, and we were headed to the island of Brac today.  We drove to the ferry which is a 2 min drive and got into the line up for the ferry to Supetar- ran in to buy our tickets and then the ferry loaded.  There is no real order here, the foot passengers, cars and everyone all load a the same time up the same ramp - a little scary.  The round trip ferry with car and 4 passengers was only $90- not too bad.

Lots of grapes on Brac.

Gorgeous Zlatni Rat.

Road to Hana??

Leaving Split behind.

We sat up on the deck and enjoyed the 50 minute ferry ride to the island of Brac- a warm breeze blowing and enjoying the beautiful blue Adriatic ocean.  We arrived in Supertar and headed off to the other side of the island and Zlatni Rat- an amazing looking beach that we had read about.  I have to say the landscape has surprised me- I really did not expect these huge mountain ranges so close to the coast in Split and the island is one huge mountain- to get to the other side we had to drive over the mountain and so a 30 km drive took about 50mins, in some spots I felt like I was back on the road to Hana with all the switch backs.  The drivers- have I mentioned how crazy they are?  Even if you are going as fast as you can with a car in front of you, the will sit on your tail and overtake whenever they can- even on blind corners- crazy (mostly it is people in mercs and vw's!!)   Also the island is covered in white rock, olive groves and vineyards- apparently the white stone from here was used to build the White House as well as Diocletians palace.
Arriving in the town of Bol, we found our way to the beach- it was crowded but beautiful. The beach is shaped like a big horn coming out out of the land and has 2 sides to the beach. On our decent down to the beach we noticed a little area hidden by rocks that appeared to be the nudist beach- we avoided that and headed to a nice area and planted our towels.  The girls were straight into the water and i sat about watching for a while.  Well it seemed maybe the nudist beach was full as to our right people started stripping down- the girls got an eyeful.  Not sure why the people who feel they should go naked are the ones who really shouldn't - yuck!!!  I dipped my foot in the ocean to test to the water and it seemed a lot warmer than Brela beach had been- so in I went and floated around for a while.  There seems to be a much higher salt content in the water as when you get out you are coated in a fine layer of salt!

Zlatni Rat.

Trees line the beach- so nice and cool.

After 4 hours on the beach- it was hot, about 30C, we packed up and had to have an ice cream of course!  Then we made our way back to the other side and back to Supetar.  We parked and took a stroll around this quaint little town- what a great place- a little like Rovinji.  We spent a while and then went to the ferry line up to catch the 8:45pm ferry back to Split.  The sunset was a red ball of fire- too stunning for words. Then we were on the ferry and back to Split!  Another amazing day.

Quaint Supetar.

Approaching Split.

Split

Another gorgeous day on the coast- today was the day to explore Split.
First we headed to the stadium where Hadjuk Split play- Frank wanted to see it.

Then we parked the car back at the apartment and walked into town- about a 15 minute walk.
We were on the Riva in no time.  We entered Diocletian's palace and went to the underground section for the tour.  Pretty amazing that this castle and it's insides have been standing since 293AD!! There were wet patches all over the area and we found out that because there are houses and shops built all amongst the walls outside, and the plumbing is not that great- every time someone showers the water drains into this underground and takes a few hours to sink in!  Coming back out from the underground of this massive palace.  (Diocletian was a Roman Emperor btw, who built this palace as his retirement house- he was the only emperor to retire and not be killed or die on the throne!)

The main court of the once palace is now a shopping area- with tons of neat stalls selling stuff for our tourist eyes. Walking through we came up the other side in front of the Cathedral of St Domnius and the bell tower on top.  We climbed the bell tower and has the most incredible view of the city from above.  These older cities don't have massive skyscrapers blocking your view and I like it!

Following the crowds we were in search of lunch- we found a little store serving sandwiches and sat down to observe the madding crowds as they went by.  Certainly not as many crowds as Paris or Venice - which is a good thing.  We wandered around some of the boutique store in square and then sat down for a coffee (it has been a long day- must have time for coffee!) Strolling back to the Riva we headed home.

it smells like sulpher down on the Riva!

On our way back, our noses were drawn to this chimney sending divine smoked smells into the air.  I popped in and it was the most incredible looking restaurant.  I booked a table for 9pm, just for Frank and me as the girls were too tired and said they rally wanted to just chill at home.
Frank took the girls to the beach for a swim and I headed to the store to pick up some dinner for them.
They had a great swim and claimed the water to be much warmer than the Brela beach water.
Frank and I headed out for our 9pm dinner at Dvor.  we arrived to the most gorgeous setting - candlelit  tables on the ocean, the trees overhead and smells that made any stomach long for dinner.
We ordered an appie of beef short rib risotto and before that arrived were given a tray of fresh smoked sausage and bread- so good.  For dinner we both had fish - I had sea bass and Frank's was called white fish- some of the English translations were funny! The atmosphere was great and I kept thinking I was in Malibu or some other elegant setting.  Then it was home and too bed as we were so full it took everything to roll ourselves the 300m home!

Beach Day!

Today we decided was going to be a beach day, but the beaches in Split are sooooo busy and not that inviting.  We had heard about the Makarska Riviera- about 50 km south of Split.  We headed out in search of a nice beach.  As soon as we were 10 mins south of Split it was unbelievable- the mountains on the left and this blue green ocean to our right- stunning.  There were areas where we could have been in the Okanagan as the terrain is very desert like and other turns we felt like we were in Southern California.

We came upon the Makarska Riviera and were high up in the mountains- we started the descent down and we were on this amazing stretch of beach.  We had to pay 80kuna for parking (not too bad- about $14!) Down to the beach we headed- we forgot that we had no towels!! There were little stands selling everything from fruit to flip flops on the beach, but they were pretty expensive.  Frank took a walk towards town and found a cheapish vendor and bought some towels.  We spread out and started soaking up the sun. The rays here don't seem as bad as in BC- we had run out of sunscreen in Venice and had bought some there so we lathered up.
Side note- they had nothing higher than 30 SPF in Venice and the sunscreen there was so expensive 18euros for a small tube ( about $22!)  They looked at me funny when I asked in they had anything higher and showed me a 5 SPF (what is the point of 5?).
Back at the beach- the girls headed straight for the water.  Luckily I had read that Croatian beaches are pebbly and had bought the girls water shoes as there is no sand here.  Then again there are no waves so it is kind of hard to have soft sand beaches if there are no waves.  I settled in to people watch- oh boy you see it all here- men in speedos, topless women and kids naked!

pigs on the spit in the parking lot!

surrounded by mountains and ponderosa pines.

After a few hours we headed up to a little beach shack and had a light lunch (hahaha- massive burgers, a foot long hot dog for Delaney and sausage sandwich for Frank that was ridiculous!!) I would love a salad- really i would. Strolling back to our towels we saw an ice cream stand- well okay lunch was big but not that big (!)  Ice cream is so cheap here it is hard not to have it all the time- a 2 scoop (BIG scoops) ice cream on a very fresh cone is about $2.50 max- one scoop just over a buck- it's like they are giving it away!
Back on the beach the girls convinced me to come in to the water- OMG it is so cold- it looks so inviting but brrrrr.  I had to swim in it as that makes another ocean/sea that I have dipped myself into.
After almost 6 hours on the beach- we had to drag the girls out of the water.  We headed back to Split drving towards a magnificent sunset.  We stopped in Omis on the way- a cute little town that had a river flowing down the middle and massive mountains surrounding it- high on the hill we could see a castle.  There are so many high up castles in the mountains- left overs form hundreds of years of war.
Back in Split we are now sitting in the apartment and chilling after our hard day at the beach.

Omis