Croatia: Split

My reaction to Split was a bit ambiguous.  When I saw Diocletian's castle wrapped around the base with street stalls, I sighed - yet another historical landmark turned into commercial crap - and this is supposed to be the jewel in the crown!  One couldn't see the castle walls because of the shops around it - I was so mad I forgot to take a picture of the ugly mess!  The entire arcade above the old stone foundations were filled with shops selling everything from fridge magnets to diamonds.

What you see in the photos below are the vaulted basement halls of Diocletian's Palace, reputedly the best preserved and most complete palace from Roman times.  The underground halls were identical in layout to the emperor's residence above and walking through them gave us an idea of what it would have been like "upstairs".  What impressed me most was the "dressed" stone blocks - perfectly cut and aligned.

This domed ceiling made the chamber a great place for oratory - acoustics are amazing.

These perfectly cut , mortarless, stones and door jams reminded me of very similar structures created by Inca stonecutters that we saw in Peru last year.  The Incas lived at least a thousand years after the Romans.  Take a look at the similarity between the two and the clearly superior workmanship of the Incas.

Diocletian's Palace basement (Roman)

Cusco's Temple of the Sun (Incan) 

Note the rough-cut stones above the mortarless stone blocks and the residential houses built on top of this historic structure

The innards of the castle were impressive but when one came out to the restored courtyard, it felt like a film set.  For a moment, it almost seemed surreal.  One could almost see Romans lounging around the courtyard and I wasn't seeing things when a couple of Roman soldiers actually came out in full dress complete with spears and armour.

Peristyle - the monumental court with its own Roman soldiers and 3500 year old Egyptian sphynx

Dramatic domed entrance to the emperor's quarters with great acoustics for the Dalmatian klapa - a cappella singers of soulful Dalmatian songs 

Beside the courtyard is the Cathedral of St. Domnius.  This was originally Diocletian's mausoleum, which explains its odd ugly structure - it is a one-room cathedral!   But what irony - Diocletian was notorious for the persecution of Christians and now his memorial commemorates Christians!  More attractive beside it is the awesome bell tower with its 183 steep steps - the view at the top was definitely worth the sore knees.   You get to see this gorgeous seaside town with its red roofs against the clear blue sky and the sparkling waters of the Adriatic - far from the madding crowd.  All the commercialism was 200 feet down - somehow it didn't seem so bad.  And what's wrong with shops anyway - I found a hat for myself in one of the alley shops.  Ignore the fact that it was made in Thailand - it looked good on me!

All the way to the top of the bell tower

Worth the climb! 

What's not to love about it?!

Looking down onto the courtyard from the tower

Split looked great away from the street market

Stumbling upon the lovely cloisters of the Franciscan monastery 

Roasting corn at the street corner

Believe it or not, this is a shopping street!

The historic town hall is now an Art Museum

Quaint clock and bell towers everywhere

The well-preserved east gate

And amazing seafood (for the story please visit Foodsparks)

I may be back!

Late Fall in Wilket Creek Park

We missed the height of the fall colours by a couple of weeks at least but time and again, my photographer friend and I have found that the lack of fresh bright colours actually forced us to look harder and in unusual places for photo opportunities.   We didn't have masses of reds and oranges to show but in the end, we found the subtler colours of late fall - it's really all about light.

Croatia: Hvar

We were lucky - the weather was perfect for a late September cruise on the Adriatic - temperature in the mid-twenties, clear blue skies and the sea was calm.  The Azamara Quest was small with only 600 guests - once you've tried this size of cruise ship, there is no way anyone would want to go back on the big boats ever again.

But all that aside, our first destination in Hvar, Croatia was the best stop on the 7 day cruise. The town was small, quaint, quiet and very clean - the people dignified, the service staff helpful. The waters were so clear you can see all the way to the bottom.  And it has the best squid we tasted in the two weeks we were in Croatia and Italy. It's the little island paradise of Croatia - my only hope is that it stays that way.

We explored on our own and wandered into the narrow winding streets that led up to the old fortress. It was not a difficult walk and gave us glimpses of everyday life in the town.  

View from the quay

The Arsenal - this is now a theatre on the second floor

The expansive square

One of the prettiest buildings in the square - housing a pharmacy

View as we hiked up the hill towards the fort

One of many steps

The fort and the old walls of the city

Enchanting!

  

It is one of the more attractive forts we have visited - brings to mind El Morro in Cuba

Even higher up - the view is worth the hike to the fort!

St. Francis praying hard in front of the monastery bearing his name

                                Cloisters inside the San Francisco Monastery

A roasting lamb made us wish we were having dinner there but we had to go to the concert

Cool shops

Cobbled walks - no problem!

Is this going to be a pet or dinner?

Best squid ever and risotto for afternoon snack

Incredibly clear waters

This is supposed to be one of the town attractions - if you can find it.  It is called the Palace - well, it used to be one.  It took us all day to find it because we were not told that it is now a hotel!

Dusk in the harbour

Sunset in Hvar


Finally, the highlight of the day - a concert by cellist Ana Rucner, the dynamic Croatian musician whose performance made this such a unique experience.  Take a look at a short clip of her show, and a show it definitely is...

Ana Rucner Concert