Travel in the Time of COVID: Europe 2021

Croatia: Split

Getting here from Zagreb was supposed to be a 4 ½ hour bus ride. The bus was 45 minutes late leaving. And as the modern-looking bus struggled to crest the mountain passes, with “beeping” from the driver’s area suggesting we may have an issue, we limped along. At the only bathroom break on the route (2 ½ hours in), we saw the driver put water in the radiator. We made it into town an hour and fifteen minutes late. Luckily, the bus was only ¾ full, so John and I took turns sitting next to my guitar, which they would not put in the luggage below, otherwise, the 5 ¼ hour ride would have been like this:

Our AirBNB was five blocks from the bus station – the first right after the palace entrance, through a square, down a narrow alleyway, into an even narrower alleyway, and up 2 flights of steps – the first set made from a similar, marble looking stone as the streets (which get very slippery when wet). It’s beautiful and modern. Our hostess inherited the place from her grandfather, and spent wisely to make it appealing for holiday renters. It is 2 blocks from the waterfront shops and restaurants, and the shortcut to the green market is through the palace. After including taxes and cleaning fees, it cost about $70/night. We had been told that food costs were low here, so thought it would be a budget friendly area to rest for a few weeks. Food and wine, are very expensive here- at least the places we have found thus far. Wine is especially pricey, a 3 1/2oz (100ml) pour of a mediocre wine costs more than double what it did in Zagreb, and about 30% more than much better wine in Vienna. So, it looks like beer and water when dining out (which are only 20% more expensive). I will stop whining now. I’m on vacation. 

Split has been a waterfront playground since the time of Emperor Diocletian. His retirement palace makes up the central part of old town, and much has been preserved partly by being in use (and partly being preserved as a giant trash dump for a thousand years an forgotten).  

An apartment made from former barracks can be rented as an AirBNB today.

Our first full day was beautiful, clear skies and temps in the upper 70’s. Like Zagreb, they offer “Guru walks” – the free walking tour of the city. It turns out it’s a thing and happens in several cities – check guruwalks.com to see if a city you plan to visit offers one. Our guide – Roco – was another entertaining fellow, who walked us through the centuries of Split.

The city was named by the Greeks after a shrub, which was changed to Spalato in Roman times, and shortened by locals to Split. Like the rest of Croatia, its history is a mix of rulers and Kingdoms, and they add Venetians to their list. The western wall of the palace is gone because the Venetians took the stone to build part of St. Mark’s Square in Venice. 

The beaches are mainly pebble type, but there is a small sandy one in easy walking distance. We weren’t exactly sure how to get to it, so as we walked by the area to the bus station, a group of fit looking young men wearing swim trunks passed us. We followed them along the sidewalk, to an area next to the train tracks with a lot of grafitti, across the tracks to a well-used break in the fence – to the beach. There is a sidewalk area with benches, and convenient hooks mounted on the wall behind them. The sand is light and powdery, and covered with people on little blankets and mats, even in the off season. We found a spot to sit, and John jumped into the clear, cool water in the low 70’s (74.2 F according to Google).

The next beach over is pebbly, and both are lined with bars that offer “1 Liter cocktails” for 80-100 kuna ($12-$16). As you would imagine for that price, they are a lot of ice and fruit juice with very little alcohol. 

One of the nice current perks of a prolonged stay in Split – a free 72 hour Split Card – which gives free access to 4 museums, 50% off entry at another 4, and discounts on some excursions and sightseeing. Since day 3 and 4 were very rainy, it came in handy. Tucked into the palace, we visited the Split City Museum, that focused on the history and development of the town itself, and then the Ethnographic Museum, who’s very enthusiastic ticket office person gave us a good preview and what she thought we would find interesting. Of the three museums we visited, it was the best, with many regional costumes, and I learned about the yatagan – an Ottoman type sword that became popular in the Balkans, and how Croatian war dress was basically an outfit made to hide a huge stash of weapons.

On Thursday, we made it to the Natural History museum. The curator really likes tarantulas and scorpions – with an entire room made up of them in cages.

We also found out that Croatia does not yet recognize forensic entomology (the use of insects to help date time and location of death – the character of Hodgins in the TV series ‘Bones’ would be appalled). 

After the Natural History Museum, with the rain really coming down, we were debating what to do when we saw the free shuttle to the Mall of Split – and figured, what the heck. So did a lot of other folks. 

It was a mall with all the expected chains – H&M, Zara, shoe stores, but also a large Spar grocery store, a butcher shop, and a reasonably priced home goods store. It also housed a lot more coffee shops and cafés than a US Mall, and covered 4 levels. We became mall meanderers, and ended up eating lunch at the McDonalds. We caught the shuttle back after a couple of hours (and a bag of groceries) later. After we returned to the apartment, the skies really let loose, so we stayed in watching TV, mostly American shows from a few seasons ago – Sherlock, NCIS, etc. in English with Croatian subtitles, and chatted with our friends in Spain. In the evening, the rain finally let up, and we found a more local type restaurant for pizza and beer. 

The weather is predicted to improve over the next couple of days – the sun may even make an appearance Friday afternoon! 

PS – 

1. We felt an earthquake Wednesday night – 4.8 magnitude – so 10-15 seconds of the ground vibrating (just long enough to realize its an earthquake and start to wonder what to do), luckily, not strong enough to do any damage. 
2. If anyone in the Houston area can help us out – as a passive form of income, John put his car into Avail (a company where you can use your own car as a rental car) while we were away. There has been a recall on his Sonata (something to do with the turn signal lights), so we need to pick it up from Bush airport (IAH). If anyone knows someone in that area we can hire to drive it back to Galveston, please let me know!