Split

Everyone that has ever looked at a holiday brochure will have seen a picture of Split. Medieval walls, a long straight esplanade with palm trees, bars, cafes, sun umberellas. 

Our apartment is in a residential block. Ugly from the outside there are lots of these blocks just out of the centre of town. Built for functionality to house people. Inside they are big, family sized apartments. Built solidly and made to last, you cannot hear your neighbours! Ours had been divided into a large one bedroomed apartment and a smaller studio. We have the one bedroom apartment. It feels huge after our crazy quirky Sibenik studio. The bedroom has two single beds, the lounge has a big double bed all made up with crisp cotten sheets. Blissfully cool after the searing heat from outside. And there is a washing machine! :-) Sorry to bang on about washing machines but when you travel light in hot countries, a washing machine is like winning the pools. Our host is lovely, this was her family home so she knows all there is to know about the area. Maps are consulted and areas to be visited noted. There is a little square outside the door with a small supermarket, bakery, pharmacy etc. Also fruit and veg stalls with local producers selling their produce. Some stalls are run by little old ladies or men selling their garden excess. All set up on wobbly little tables there are wonky cucumbers, knobbly tomatoes, peppers all smelling wonderful in the sun. There are always jars of thick glossy honey, all shades from very pale to almost brown depending on what the bees have feasted on. And jars of preserved veg and fruits for the store cupboard. Love it! It brings out my `inner squirrel`, storing away in times of plenty for the cold months to come. One old man has some carefully packed vineleaves for sale. Perfect for stuffing with rice and baking slowly with a drizzle of olive oil, or wrapping around a homemade goats cheese. Must remember to tell Ruth she can use the vineleaves at home for cooking, although they will be past their best now. Its best to do it when the leaves are young and tender.

We walked a lot in Split. Mainly trying to find a recommended fish restaurant, which we never found. We ended up on the main esplanade where, to be honest, what was on offer was predictable tourist fare. Pizza, pasta, burger, calamari, greek salad or seabass floating in oil. Dissapointing. Maybe given more time we could have found some little hidden gems amongst the fast food joints. Split is bustling with tourists. There is still `charm` there hidden under the sun hat and flipflop shops, but it is getting lost. Worse still, on our walk to the ferry port in the morning, the debris from the night befores late night revellers is all too apparent. The cleaning teams were out early (its 6.30) sweeping up the the fast food wrappers and broken beer bottles. There are still a few stragglers coming home from the club (or whereever they have spent the night). I wont be sad to leave Split, it is just not my cup of tea.

On our last evening I text ahead to our host in Dubrovnik to let him know arrival times. Slightly concerned as he rang me to say he would meet me at a totaly different address to what I had booked. Rang booking.com who spoke to him in Croatian and reconfirmed the original address......mmmmm,  dont sleep easy.

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