Evening hike to the Fortress

As we approached the harbor, we could see the fortress sitting above the town - I think it was calling our names to climb the hill.  Our sunset hike was a great choice to visit this fortress that was almost 400 years (~1200-1600) in the making - slow and steady wins the race - this puppy isn't coming down anytime soon.  Very well kept, complete with church, medieval prison, and hosts of living quarters.

Fortress on the hill

View of the city at sunset

Islands off the coast with heavy boat traffic

Busy harbor

Anne with a great view from the cannon slot

Small church on the way down

Star Sighting

The island of Hvar is another storybook Croatian town - beautiful, historical, bringing great weather and service!  And, of course - the beautiful people.  Anne spotted Robert Herjavec (of Shark Tank, and incredibly successful in business) and Kym Johnson - wickedly talented dancer on Dancing with the Stars.    Robert Herjavec was born in a town not far from the island of Hvar...this yacht is their mode of transportation through the islands.

This gem of a yacht rents for $200K a week, plus expenses.  5 bedrooms.  Yep, we looked it up. :)

Hvar - another gem on the Dalmatian Coast

We took a catamaran to the Island of Hvar - a one night stop on our way to Dubrovnik. What a beautiful city, very picturesque.   Below are 1. a panoramic shot from the window in our room and 2. the view from the other side of the harbor.  We're headed out for a hike up the hill to the old fortress...to work off the fabulous food and wine that Croatians love to create!

Roman Clocks

The majority of Split was built by the Romans, so there are many traditional Roman features including the clocks.  View out our hotel window below shows the main clock tower at the other side and as you zoom in, you can see it is a 24 hour clock with Roman numerals.  We were told on our tour it does not adjust for daylight savings time (duh), but otherwise keeps perfect time.  We are still confused by the long second hand though.  This picture was shot at 7 am on the dot...see here the shorter hour hand clearly shows 7, but the minute hand sure looks like it's at 16 minutes after given the roman numerals.  We will just continue to rely on our cell phones!

Morning Walking Tour

Our walking tour with Marco was a hit - he is in his 20s and just received his tour guide license - and brought a fresh and cheeky perspective to life in Split - where education and healthcare is "free," but at a cost; the young want to leave for life in growth opportunities; and everyone knows everyone's business.  We learned about the history of the romans, followed by 1000 years of being ruled by foreigners (French, Venetians, Italians to name a few) - and recently independence has brought a true sense of pride.  The Bosnian border is just a few steps away, which is why boat travel is necessary for our next stop - otherwise we would need to go through Bosnia to get back to Croatia, along the same coast.   There are just a few shots below of the tour.  The first is the market - and it is massive going on for several city blocks - with the most appealing fruits and vegetables; the second is one of four gates into the city;  the third photo is another music group, singing acapella - beautiful; and finally, the clock tower. 

Split is one more reason we love Croatia!

We improvised our travel plans when the weather took a hard turn on our second day in Plitvice, with heavy thunderstorms, so we decided to head to the seaside village of Split a day early - we've been pretty blessed to have been able to alter our plans on short notice.  We've been piecing together things about Croatia, and love this country that we know so little about.  These are things we have come to know: warmth and hospitality, and its issues are not healthcare or immigration, but emigration  -  the "yutes" are leaving for Australia, Germany, Norway - to make a better life, free from the 'old people' who do nothing but talk about the war; we've also enjoyed terrific food but what we have really loved aside from the people is the music - it's everywhere.  When we were in Motovun, the dinner was accompanied by an old soul with a saxophone; in Plitvice, we were entertained by a guitarist playing folk music, and a classic pianist in our park hotel lobby; and here in Split - no different, every corner delivers a new serenade - whether it's rock and soul, or traditional Croatian music.  We love the spirit and joy in the few places we've visited in Croatia, but we are also mindful that to live here brings with it a constant reminder of yesterday.

 

So a bit about this town - it's beautiful!  Our hotel sits in the middle of the old town area built in ~300 AD.  Below are some photos from an early walk around the city this morning.  We'll share more from our walking tour later.

 

 

 

Spectacular Natural Wonder

Plitvice Lakes National Park - we vote it best national park we've ever visited, with 16 terraced lakes and an incredible maze of planked walkways bringing us up close and personal with these natural beauties.  The water is crystal clear, but even more breathtaking is the forested area that surrounds each of these lakes.  The park, just a few miles from the Bosnian border, was home to the 1990s war between Croatia and Yugoslavia - and on the drive from Pula to Plitvice, bombed out buildings and bullet ridden barns were easily seen from the two lane highway that took us through otherwise beautiful little towns and lush forests.  The park is very well managed, with electric boats and trams to transport from various lakes and trails back to the park hotels - and even with the well designed transport system, we still logged 10 miles of hiking.  True joy!  Enlarge the below photos to get a better glimpse of what this gem of a park has to offer, which really doesn't do it justice.