We booked a total of two and a half weeks at our new apartment in Split! We are trying to travel more slowly than we did this spring, so that means we need to stay put a bit more! Fortunately, we are traveling with a lot less STUFF this time around, which should make transfers easier when we do move.
Thursday
Thursday we decided we would explore Old Town Split. Split as a city grew up around the ruins of Roman Emperor Diocletian’s retirement palace. As other regional groups moved into the area, they took over the remaining structures and made them their own. It’s really fascinating to walk through the old palace — you can see glimpses of what it used to be, with so many different layers of additions and changes throughout the centuries.
We started by walking down to the Riva — the main waterfront promenade for the port of Split. We followed the Rick Steve’s walking tour and walked through some of the old cellars, into the Peristyle — a massive courtyard with granite columns from Egypt and Diocletian’s mausoleum.
The mausoleum was later converted into a Catholic cathedral, the oldest Catholic cathedral in it’s original structure. The irony is Diocletian persecuted and martyred Christians and now his mausoleum is the resting place of Saint Domnius (who was martyred with a mill stone and thrown into the sea. The alter piece was incredibly ornate and beautiful.
We also walked to Jupiter’s Temple, where Diocletian defined himself as the son of Jupiter. From the temple there was a beautiful view of the Venetian bell tower. The bell tower was built years later by the Venetians when they controlled the vast majority of sea trade on the Adriatic Sea.
We stopped for lunch at Portofino and had a tasty Italian inspired meal. I was hoping we could visit the massive green market (farmers market) today, but by the time we got there most of the vendors were already gone. I did purchase a bag of zucchini but I didn’t really know what I was looking for.
We crossed Old Town and passed the location of the fish market, but that was also closed for the day. I’ll have to make a point of getting up and going one morning to check it out and have the best selection.
Ice cream was next on the agenda — from Luka. Kamy and I had nutella, white chocolate, and raspberry ice cream, Caden chose watermelon, and Keller chose a light pudding dessert instead. We visited with two ladies from California who suggested another ice cream place in Dubrovnik. We’ve bookmarked the shop for when we get down there!
We wandered back home, ate dinner, and went to bed. We are getting more adjusted to the time zone difference, but we still have a bit more to do.
Friday
Everyone slept in today! I set my alarm for a reasonable hour and kept checking on the kids, but they were still sleeping each time I got up. Eventually they woke up — at 11am!
Meanwhile I did some laundry and then hung the clothes to dry out the window. It’s a whole different experience trying to hang laundry on fixed lines on the 10th floor! There was a bit of vertigo and I tried really really hard not to drop anything! Fortunately I only lost one clothespin to gravity …
Instead of breakfast we did brunch with Daddy and then headed to the beach! The weather is supposed to cool of next week, so we need to get in all the beach time we can while it is still warm. =) We know how much Kamy and Caden love the water!
This time we went to the most popular beach in Split — Bacvice Beach. It is the sandiest beach in the area with a very gradual grade so it stays shallow for the long time. Kamy and Caden made some new friends too! Simon and Sarah are other homeschool kids originally from the US but currently living in Croatia. Everyone got along wonderfully and a fun time was had by all. Keller and I visited with their parents for a while and were given several tips for what to do and what to eat in Split.
Caden spent most of his time digging in the sand and creating paths for the fresh water to reach the sea. Kamy and Sarah built a big sand tower with dripped mud. While they didn’t reach their goal — as tall as Kamy or Sarah — they did have fun and it certainly kept them entertained.
The kids were so glad to have some space to themselves, the chance to get dirty and have a project, and to play with other kids. They’ve had a harder time coming across other English speaking children since we landed.
The beach is so fun!
We grabbed an Uber back to the apartment, ate dinner, and called it a night. The kids weren’t super tired but we had a big day planned for Saturday and needed to get a good night’s sleep.
Saturday
Today we went to Krka National Park! Keller arranged for a rental car for the day, so he was up early to walk to the office for the car. Once everyone was up and ready to go, we drove to the local shopping mall. We were on the hunt for snorkeling gear. The water at the falls is very clear and we were hoping we could see some fish. We DID manage to find some masks and snorkels (discounted for the end of the season, no less!) and then hit the road.
Thanks to a GPS mistake, instead of heading to the Lozovac entrance, we ended up near the Visovac Monastery. Oops! A very helpful staff member suggested we drive further up the National Park to Roski Slap, instead of turning around back to Lozovac — it was closer and was much less crowded. The view was spectacular though!
Once we got to Roski Slap, we bought our tickets, changed into swim suits, and walked down to the water fall area. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get very close to the largest waterfalls in this area, but the kids were able to get in the water. It was chilly!
The kids tried out the snorkels and messed around in the water for a while too!
We ate our picnic lunch in the shade, went back to the car to put on real shoes for hiking, and then set off to explore the area.
Keller spotted a hiking trail going up the mountain with a picturesque view, so we started there. About half way up I decided I would stop there and wait for them. My shoes didn’t have great tread and I didn’t want to push my luck. Keller and the kids climbed up another couple hundred feet. They had a stunning view!
They slowly and safely made their way down. Kamy decided it was a bit harder than she really was comfortable with, but Caden was Mr. Mountain Goat and had no trouble at all.
After climbing the side of the mountain, I was interested in climbing up to see the Ozidana Pecina cave. Archaeologists have discovered evidence of humans from 5000 BC in the cave. It was a LONG way up to the cave! 517 steps to the top, plus 4 more for good measure! 😉 There was quite a view from that high up though! We could see the “necklace” waterfalls that run through the narrow canyon. Unfortunately we hadn’t brought enough water with us on our hike and we were all very thirsty by the time we got to the top and then ultimately back down.
The view was very beautiful!
We hiked down the hill and to the little local hotel and restaurant. We bought two massive 1.5 liter bottles of water and recovered from our climbs! We were joking that cold water never tasted so good. =) It was really lovely sitting in the shade by the rushing water.
From there we took a short (and flat!) walking trail around by the necklace falls.
We then drove to the Lozovac entrance on the south side of the park, where we had intended to start all along! The drive took us through several small towns, with little bitty two way roads and many lovely vistas.
Here you can swim in the massive pools below a huge waterfall, Skradinski Buk! We were there later than we intended, but we hustled down the path to get there as soon as we could. The last shuttle bus up the hill would be leaving at 7pm and we definitely wanted to be on it! The walk down the hill was very rocky with large loose rocks, so we did not want to climb it in the dark.
We followed the boardwalk path through the park and ended by the beautiful waterfalls!
The kids and Keller got in the water, but I supervised from the shore. The water was pretty cold! They all tried out their masks and snorkels and Caden figured it out almost immediately. He liked chasing the fish in the shallows and trying to catch them. =)
After about 30 minutes in the water, they came out, mostly dried off, and we hiked back up to the shuttle pick up point for the ride back to the car. I wish we had more time at Skradinski Buk — it was beautiful and it would have been nice to move slower and enjoy the surroundings. Oh well! We got the general idea and I took some photos.
Back at the car, everyone changed back into regular clothes and we drove to nearby Sibenik for dinner. We ate at a little restaurant called Nostalgia. It only has outdoor seating and it was kind of cold with the wind! The food was tasty though and very local. We visited with our table neighbors and received some recommendations for what else to see in Croatia. It sounds like we will want to spend some time in Istria (northern peninsula in Croatia with a lot of Italian influence) after we leave Split. It comes highly recommended by numerous people we’ve encountered.
Both kids fell asleep on the drive back to Split. Keller dropped us off at the apartment and then returned the rental car. He didn’t want to have to get up first thing Sunday morning to return it before 9am. 😉
We would definitely be up for visiting Krka again and exploring more of the National Park. It’s beautiful!
Sunday
A cold front is supposed to come this next week, so we made a point of getting to the beach again today! Fall is on it’s way and I don’t know how many more opportunities we will have to swim in the sea.
We ate a late breakfast at the apartment before walking down to Old Town. We grabbed a light lunch from a little local hangout which we ate down on the Riva promenade. We walked by the excursion booths to see if we were interested in any of them, but the prices were a bit frightening. LOL. Instead we wandered back through Old Town and then grabbed an Uber to the beach.
Our Uber driver spoke excellent English and gave us several suggestions for where to eat traditional Dalmatian food, as well as where else we should explore in Croatia.
This time we went to a beach on the south side of Marjan Hill — Kasuni Beach. It was super busy! I was so glad we did not have to park a car. Drivers in Croatia will park anywhere they can squeeze in, including in the middle of the road if necessary!
The beach itself was nice. It was very much a pebble beach and there was no sand to be found. However, we walked down a ways past most of the sunbathers and found a spot we could stake out in the shade.
Both kids put on their snorkel gear and played in the water. Caden picked right where he left off at Krka and I worked with Kamy to teach her how to snorkel. She figured it out too! Both kids spent about two hours in the water — looking for fish and swimming up and down the coast. Caden was a bit shivery, but that didn’t stop his enjoyment of the water!
I attempted to find some tortillas at the grocery store on the way home, but unfortunately they were out of stock. Instead of eating dinner at home, we cleaned up from the beach and then went out to eat. We tried to eat at one of the recommended restaurants, but they were full when we got there. Instead we ate at Silk, a Thai restaurant. We were pretty impressed! It wasn’t ground breaking, but it was quite respectable and a bit of a surprise to us. Caden is always up for Pad Thai. 😉
After dinner we got some ice cream from Bili San and then walked down to the Riva to see it at night. Then we hiked back home.
