Day thirteen of our Mediterranean cruise vacation landed us in Split, Croatia. It turned out to be a rebound day after the Papillon cruise the day before. Some of the best shore excursions my wife and I and our new found friends from Australia were done on our own. This proved to be the case in Split. No need to pony up the $50 or so the cruise line charges to walk you around the town and visit the church.
As you enter the old town the first thing you see is the “farmers market” which had many local fruits, vegetables, and wines. As there were only 4 of us, walking through the tight isles wasn’t much of a problem, but were you on the ship excursion, no way you visited the market with your group of 30 or so.
After the market you headed into the church and bell tower. Admission to the Cathedral, a small temple, the Crypt, the Treasury and Bell Tower was only 6.50€. Once again, because there were only 4 of us, we were able to visit all the sights that admission granted us, as no way a large group could go into the Bell tower, or the Treasury.
I don’t drink wine or buy wine, but if I did buy wine I certainly would buy the Vranac Kvalitetno Suho Vino in the 5 liter plastic bottle from the outdoor market for only 50 Kunas, or a little under seven Euros.
I like a town that has a sign so that you can take a photo and identify where you were on a certain day.
Inside the crypt.
The dome inside the church.
View of the bell tower and Diocletian’s Palace.
The temple of Jupiter.
Once you have worked your way inside the bell tower, you have to decide how far up you want to climb the stairs which go all the way to the top. While the bell tower looks solid as a rock, the rusty metal stairs attached to the stone certainly didn’t give one the feeling of safety.
Group photo of Americans and Australians.
Narrow walkways are serviced by small and narrow vehicles.
The Roman soldiers passed through while we were there.
Roman guards taking a break outside the city walls.
When in Split, Croatia don’t forget to try one of the local beers, Pan.
