We're splitting from Split.

I'm a great punster.

6.00 - C and I rise for a morning run. We intended to do 4 miles, but we got completely lost, and by the time we got back to the hotel, we had done over 6.  Oops.  It's still hot and way humid, but S assures us that as we take on the last half of our Croatian journey, the weather will cool off significantly.

8.45 - S and I are packed and clean. We grab a pastry on the way to tour the cathedral, baptistry, and crypt in Diocletian's Palace.  The place was packed with tourists on a port-o-call from a big cruise ship, so there were small groups of people following tour guides with strident voices. It made the entire experience in the cathedral a little disappointing. The highlight was the few minutes that we were totally alone in the crypt, but as we were leaving, S kept turning around to make sure that I hadn't turned into a zombie.  Mu-ha-ha.

After that, we did a little shopping for honeys - success!  We found rosemary, cherry, fig, peach, and raisin.

10.45 - check-out of the hotel, followed by a quick walk to catch our airport shuttle. Once at the airport, it took us a good while to get on the road. There was some mix-up with the rental car reservation, so we had to replace our first car (which was an economy and didn't fit all of our bags) with a full-size. Once we were on the road, the driving was fine, and we arrived at our pension at 3.30pm.

We checked in easily, dropped our bags, and headed out for lunch. C, E, and S got pizza, but I ordered a local meat pie speciality that I'd been seeing on menus since Dubrovnik.  I stuck to seafood before, but now that we're in land, I'm shifting to meat.  The meat was delicious! Lamb and beef, spiced, and filled with a little bit of cheese.  Yum!

The restaurant we ate at was also doubled as a ski equipment shop and what looks like it could only be a training hill.  Here's S in front of the shop (which was closed):

And C and I in front of the lift.

We wondered if perhaps the lift took skiers over the hill to another part of the mountain with more skiing, but a quick review of the trail map suggested otherwise:

After dinner, a quick drive around town to get our bearings, and then back to the pension for a chill night. I did some laundry, am going through emails, etc. We've been talking about a very early start tomorrow to beat the heat, so it might be an early night to bed for us all...

Solta

C & I got up to take a 6 mile run, and at 5.30am, it was already hot and humid. We were glad that last night, we decided to spend the day on the water, taking a day trip to nearby Trogir. Unfortunately, the boat to Trogir wasn't running today, so at the last minute, we booked a trip to Solta and the Blue Lagoon. The trip cost about $50/head and included lunch. At 9am, we boarded the boat and said goodbye to Split:

Goodbye to Split

 90 minutes later, we arrived in Solta, a sleepy island southwest of Split:

There wasn't much to do on the island, but we had three hours to kill, so we got a coffee, did some shopping, and went to the beach.  We found a shop that had some local-grown delicacies, and we bought some apple/rosemary marmelade and some honey bitters:

Then, we swam at the beach.  It was stunning. The bluest water I've ever seen.  Clean, clear, refreshing.  Awesome. The only downside was that you had to wear sandals in the water so that you didn't prick your feet on the sea urchins. Still, beat this: 

We swam this. Oh yes we did.

After lounging at Solta, we got back on the boat for a lunch of fish or chicken, and white wine. S had the chicken (two oily pieces, which she enjoyed), and I had the fish (six small grilled animals, which took a lot of time/effort to clean). While eating, we motored over to the Blue Lagoon, which, if you can believe it, topped the water at Solta. We moored the boat a few hundred feet offshore, and went swimming. C and I jumped off the top of the boat into the cool blue water, and we generally had a great time. S snapped this pic of E, C, and I near one of the abandoned islands.

Um, wow.

 Then, back to Split to get cleaned up and grab dinner. Along the way, I caught a few more shots of town:

Cathedral

The Riva (main promenade) full of diners.

Today was one of the best days ever. While it was sweltering in Split, we were comfortable onboard the boat.  Tomorrow, we leave Split and head north to the lakes. Excellent!

Split

Woke at 6 in Dubrovnik for a final run through the city with C.

At 8.30, Dino came and checked us out. We commiserated about the bad Croatian loss to Spain last night.

9.00am - we're on the move! Cab ride to the bus station.

10.00am - the bus to Split pulls out. 5 hours of twisty roads and bad a/c await.

3.00pm - we pull into Split and before we're even off the bus, we're accosted by an army of people shouting 'accomodation?' at us, as if we're likely to book a room with someone who verbally assaults a bus.

After arriving in Split, we find our hotel, start a batch of laundry, and wander the city for a few hours.

One of the main centerpieces of Split is Diocletian's Palace, the retirement home of an ancient Roman emperor that has now become a center of commercial excess. The basement of the Palace is a museum, so we wandered there.

After the palace, we wandered Split some more, discovering Sarah's house:

And two signs painted on a wall near a club, clearly meant to discourage what apparently is a common practice.

Dinner was excellent! Sarah had lasagna and I had sea bass. Dessert was tasty, and after-dinner drinks means that I have a drunk wife at home!  

Tomorrow, C & I will rise friggin' early to take a run before we all try to take a boat ride to a nearby island. Split hits 98 in the shade today, so we're anxious to get out on the water and away from the heat.