Let's Make Like a Banana and Split!

Split at Night

August 22 -- Today was a full day of traveling.  We woke up in Plitvice to catch the 9:45 bus to Split.  Luckily, after securing our typical European breakfast, some kind of pastry or strudel, we went to the bus station only to find that there was an 8:45 bus to Zadar that was running late and hadn't yet arrived.  We quickly changed our plans and hopped on the bus, hoping to catch a connecting bus to Split in Zadar.  We were joined by a 56-year-old retired teacher from "Tazy" (Tasmania).  He was really strange.  We left Plitvice at 9:15 and we finally arrived in Split at 3:45.  Unlike Zagreb, our hostel in Split is fantastic...and air conditioned!

Split is the second largest city in Croatia, home to 350,000 people.  It's right on the coast and part of the region of Dalmatia.  To get to Split, we had to cross the mountains and went through the longest tunnel I've ever been in.  We were legitimately underground for 10 minutes straight!  Coming out of that tunnel was like entering a different world.  The architecture changed.  The plant life changed.  Even the look of the people changed.

Our first night in Split we didn't do too much.  The hallmark of the city is the Diocletian Palace, a large fortified Roman palace built by one of its emperors as a retirement home.  We checked into our hostel and then walked inside the Palace walls as well as walked down the Riva, or main promenade in the city.  We stopped for a great seafood dinner at a real dive.  It came highly recommended but doesn't even have a sign outside and only has a handwritten menu.  I had some mussels and Kati had some shrimp/prawns with risotto...with the heads still on (She sucked them out), both of which were fantastic.

Split is an incredible place.  It's completely different from anywhere we've been to date.  After a nice night of walking around the town for a while, we decided to pick up a Dalmatian bottle of wine and relax.

Interesting Fact: research shows that the Zinfandel grape originated in Croatia.  While there is no Zinfandel grape here, the "grandfather" of the California Zin is still a very popular Dalmatian wine.  Zinfandel is said to be the descendant of the Plavac Mali grape, so we decided to see how it compared.  The Plavac Mali is a very nice, smooth, and tempered wine.  It definitely lacks a full body (kind of like a Zin) and tastes a little watered down, but it's definitely a nice summer red.  I'll write more about Dalmatian wines as we try them.