Month: November 2018

Sunday, November 4

One of the best rated coffee shops in Split is located at the Gallery of Fine Arts so this allowed us to kill two birds with one stone.  It was a sunny morning so we sat out on the veranda and ordered two cappuccinos.  We quickly deduced that they were serving Frank brand coffee – a brand we had first encountered in Zagreb – and is sold all over Croatia.  Our rating: better than average.

The museum’s web site says that their collections start in the 14th century and span to the present day.  From what we saw there is a 14-15th century collection and then it skips to the late 19th century.  If there was art in the intervening period then we missed it.

Entry to the museum is through a courtyard where several modern works are displayed.  There’s a series of five brightly colored eclipses made from wire and there’s a large sculpture of an overhand knot made from stranded metal.  Tickets can be purchased in the entrance foyer.  The cost of entry was 40 KN / $6.10 per person.  Credit cards are accepted.

Inside there is a large room with a few exhibits but it’s mostly a conduit to the rest of the museum.  Downstairs we found a large room containing modern art from Croatian artists.  One of the most entertaining pieces was a video of a scuba diver performing housework while underwater by Ja Domacica from 1997.  The diver was attempting to iron clothes and sweep floors .  It ran on a five minute loop and was entitled, “I, The Housewife”.

(A Frame from I, The Housewife by Ja Domacica, 1997)

The collections continued upstairs with works from the medieval period.  The works were mostly icons depicting The Madonna and Child.  There was one engraving by Albrecht Durer from 1514 that stood out from the rest of the pieces.

On the other side of the floor there were works from the late 19th century through the early 20th century.  There were quite a few interesting pieces including several sculptures by Ivan Mestrovic.  There was only one piece of Naive Art but it was by an artist we really like: Ivan Lackovic Croata.  It was entitled, “Forget-Me-Nots in a Vase”.

(Divan by Vlaho Bukovac, 1905)

We wound up spending about two hours in the museum and thoroughly enjoyed what it had to offer.  We consider that the price of admission was a little high but then everything in Split seems to cost more than we think it should.

Distance walked: 2.0 miles

Monday, November 5

The forecast was for rain all day long.  We went out in the morning for some groceries but stayed in the rest of the day and did chores and binge watched Netflix  The weather forecast turned out to be wrong and it really didn’t rain that much.  Shocking!

Distance walked: 1.3 miles

Tuesday, November 6

Deborah was tired and wanted to wash her hair (and do some other personal maintenance that I’m not allowed to mention) so I arranged to play some tennis.  One of Split’s favorite sons is tennis star Goran Ivanisevic.  He was born here and learned to play tennis at TK Tennis which is on the North side of town about 1.5 miles from our apartment.

I arranged to meet a coach at 9:00 am and planned to hit for an hour.  I arrived about an hour early and enjoyed watching some of the coaches putting juniors through their paces.  The coach had booked me on court five but it was nowhere to be found.  Finally I asked one of the maintenance personnel and he pointed to the large stadium off to the side.  Yes, I was going to be hitting on the stadium court.  I was hoping for a large crowd.

As was expected the court was red clay.  This is the surface that most Europeans grow up on.  The coach wanted to know if I was interested in a lesson but I said I just wanted to hit the ball and have some fun.  He seemed surprised when I charged the net several times in the first few minutes.  “You like to play serve and volley?” he asked.  I just laughed.  That’s not typical for clay court players.  The cost for one hour of court time and a coach came to 200 KN / $32.00.

For lunch we had a couple of slices of pizza from a stand.  Afterwards we went over to an office supply store to print some bus tickets.  We had printed our tickets from Split to Mostar there a few days ago and the lady in the shop told us that we were going to love Mostar.  Today we printed our tickets from Mostar to Sarajevo.  She commented that Sarajevo was a wonderful town and that we had to try the cevapi.  We told her that we’ve been eating cevapi since we hit Croatia over a month ago but she said that they were best in Sarajevo.  We’ll let you know.  The cost to print our tickets was 2 KN / $0.33 per page.

In the afternoon we went to see the Ivan Meštrović Gallery.  Meštrović was born in 1883 in what is today the Eastern part of Croatia.  He was a sculptor, architect and writer.  In 1955 he took the post of professor at Notre Dame University and lived there until his death in 1962.  From 1931 to 1939 Meštrović lived in Split in a villa that he designed and had built.  The villa was gifted to the town in 1952 on the condition that it be turned into a museum.

The villa is West of the center of Split on a road that follows the sea coast.  The walk from our apartment took about 15-20 minutes.  Near the curb is a small hut that serves as a gift shop and ticket office.  Tickets cost 40 KN / $6.10 per person.  Credit cards are accepted.

To get to the villa you walk up a grand staircase that ends in a large parklike setting with walking paths leading to a dozen or so large sculptures.  To get into the house you must climb another grand staircase and that leads to a large open foyer with wings on either side.

Most of the rooms have been converted into galleries where sculptures are presented.  Only the dining room retains its original furniture and decorations.  Most of what you will see are sculptures made from bronze, stone, wood or plaster.  There were a few paintings and some drawings strewn about but they did not hold much interest for us.  One of the galleries upstairs showed a 20 film about his life and work.  It was very informative and showcased many works that were not in the gallery.  We came to realize that we’d seen several of his works already during our time in Zagreb.  We learned that some of his pieces are on permanent exhibit at the National Galleries in Washington, DC and, not surprisingly, can also be found in Indiana.

(Pieta)

We spent about 1.5 hours at the museum.  Our tickets also entitled us to visit another building that he donated.  It was about 200 meters down the street.  When we got there we found a 15th century villa perched atop a cliff overlooking the ocean.  We entered into an open colonnade containing a large sculpture and walked around the outside and enjoyed the view.  The villa contains a long rectangular church that Meštrović had decorated.  All along the walls are carved wooden panels that tell the story of the life of Jesus Christ.  At the far end is an altar above which is a large wooden crucifix.  The works were completed over a span of 30 years.  It was a truly impressive chapel housed in a magnificent villa.  We’re now officially fans of his work.

(Baptism in the Jordan)

Distance walked: 8.8 miles

Friday, November 2

Today marks a full year since we started our European travels.  We left the United States on November 1, and arrived in Rome on November 2.  To celebrate this momentous occasion we did absolutely nothing.  We stayed in all day, ate some more sandwiches from Kantun Paulina and binge watched Netflix.  We have plans to continue our travels until March at which time we’ll be returning to the US for a few months.  It’s likely that we’ll continue our travels after that but at this time we have no idea where we’ll go.  We’re open to suggestions 😀.

Distance walked: 0.06 miles

Saturday, November 3

We visited the nearby town of Trogir.  It’s a small town that’s about 30 minutes North of Split.  The entire old town has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

As usual it took a little digging but we eventually found that we could take the 37 bus.  The bus starts at a station a little over a mile from our apartment and finishes its run in Trogir.  This is the same bus that will take you to Split’s airport.  The cost of a single round trip ticket was 33 KN / $5.00 per person.  Cash only.

The old town is just a small dollop of earth connected to the mainland via a narrow bridge on one side and another bridge on the other side which connects to a much larger island.  The streets are narrow and winding and paved with large blocks of travertine that have been worn smooth with time.  It looks exactly like you would expect a medieval town to look.  It’s a blast to explore the labyrinth of alleys and courtyards to try and discover what’s around each bend.

The Trogir bus station is on the mainland adjacent to the connecting bridge.  When you disembark you’re immediately struck by the sight of a small island with a large church / bell tower.  It’s absolutely gorgeous.  We crossed the bridge and entered through the Old North Gate and wended our way to the main square which has been renamed in honor of Pope John Paul II.  The main attraction there is the Cathedral of Saint Laurence.  Construction on the current building began in 1213 after the Saracenes destroyed the previous church in 1123.  Cost of entry was 25 KN / $4.50 per person.  No photography was permitted.

Entry to the church is through a beautifully carved stone portico.  The main walls of the interior are mostly plain stone blocks which contrasts nicely with the baldachin made of highly colored marble.  On the left side is the highlight of the church: The Chapel of Bishop John Trogiriski which dates from the 15th century.  The chapel is grand, with a carved barrel vaulted ceiling, rows of statues and an intricately decorated sarcophagus in the middle.

(The Chapel of Bishop John Trogiriski)

There is a door in the back of the church that leads to the treasury, which is included in your ticket.  There were a large number of medieval reliquaries made of silver on display.  We also saw several illuminated books and scores that were in excellent condition.

Outside of the church, but still under the portico, we entered a small baptistery that was made from intricately carved stones.  There was an altar at one end and a baptismal fount in the center.  The room was somewhat round and seemed highly reminiscent of pagan temples.  It was constructed in 1467.

Our ticket also gave us access to the church’s bell tower.  It’s one of the tallest buildings in the town and can be seen from just about anywhere.  To get to the top we had to traverse several different sets of stairs.  The first one was a narrow circular staircase which led to a set of tall, broad stone steps which was followed by a set of tall metal steps.  The final climb was via a narrow metal ladder which allowed for very little head room.  Climbing with a backpack and a camera was a bit of a challenge.

The view from the top was a magnificent panorama.  We could see all of the old town, the island and several nearby marinas.  It was a Saturday but surprisingly there were almost no boats in the water.

The main square held several other buildings of interest: The Cipiko Palace, Saint Sebastian Church and Clock Tower, a tourist information center housed in the old city hall / Duke’s Palace and a 16th century loggia which had many uses over the years including as a public space, a court room, a market and a pulpit for the Duke.  The loggia has a lovely carved table and benches made from marble and is covered with a wooden roof painted with flowers.

(Saint Sebastian Church / Clock / Loggia)

We continued to walk all over the town and passed many smaller churches.  Almost all were closed.  At the furtherest end we found the Fortress Kamerlengo.  The fortress was built shortly after 1420 when the town became part of the Venetian Empire.  It’s use was strictly for defense.  For a fee of 25 KN / $4.50 you can enter and walk about.  There isn’t anything to see on the inside but you can get a great view if you climb the parapets.  We only admired it from the outside.

(Fortress Kamerlengo)

A good part of the south side of the town is taken up by slips for moderately sized cruise ships.  We had a pizza for lunch at one of the cafes overlooking these docks and the water.  There are quite a few cats that stroll the area and are happy to buddy up to customers.  We saw several sitting in people’s laps while they ate.

We also walked the second bridge to the large island to the south.  This is a mostly residential district with a few medium sized hotels.  There is a large marina there with many yachts for hire.  It’s probably very busy in the summertime but when we were there the marina was a ghost town.

Before leaving we had cake and coffee at Dovan, a nice cafe nestled in a small square.  I had a cake made from three layers of different types of chocolate ganache and Deborah had peanut butter mouse covered with caramel and nuts.  Both were really quite good.

(Cake and Coffee)

If you want to know more about the town here’s an interesting site that we found: Trogir.

Distance walked: 7.7 miles

Wednesday, October 31

Happy Halloween!  We decided to celebrate the holiday by searching for dragons – or at least the Mother of Dragons.  We visited the fortress in the town of Klis which, if you are a fan of Game of Thrones (and let’s face it, who isn’t), you might recognize as the location used for The Free City of Meereen.

Klis is just a few miles distant from Split.  There are several pricey tours that will take you there but we figured we could see it on our own for a lot less money.  We knew that there was a city bus that went there but trying to find schedule and pricing information was a bit of a challenge.  Eventually we found three different busses went there and that one of them, the number 22 bus, was close to our apartment.  You can purchase tickets on the bus but then you will have to pay almost double the normal fare.  As in most cities the tobacco shops sell tickets but we couldn’t find one that sold tickets to the zone we wanted to go to.  Fortunately the place where the number 22 bus stops is a terminus that had a ticket counter.  The cost of a round trip ticket was 22 KN / $3.75 per person.

According to the schedule the bus was expected to arrive at 10:20 am.  At 10:40 am I walked over to the ticket counter to enquire…

Do you know when the bus to Klis should arrive?

The schedule is posted outside.

The schedule says it should have been here 20 minutes ago.

That’s the time it leaves from Klis to come here.

I was confused.  I know how to read a bus schedule.  Why would they post only the return trips?  I’d never seen that before.  It still wasn’t clear what time the bus was supposed to depart Split and it was obvious to me that the clerk was not going to be helpful.  My plan: have Deborah go over and talk to her.  She’s often better at relating to people than I am.  Deborah’s response: let’s just wait a few minutes.

As usual, Deborah was right.  A few minutes later the bus arrived and we headed off to Klis.  The route was through a series of narrow, winding, hilly roads and along some sheer drops.  It was hard to watch in some places.  Along the way, across a large valley, we spotted a fortress on a high hill flying a Croatian flag.  We just knew that was where we were headed.  It looked like it was going to be a long, uphill walk.

The bus took us directly to the base of the fortress and the few people who were on the bus all got off.  It was the last stop.  There was a schedule posted over a bench and it was the same schedule we’d seen in Split.  We had no idea what time we could get a bus going back but that was a problem for another time.  It was just a short walk to the entry way.  We were giddy with joy.  We were on the lookout for places that we’d seen in Game of Thrones.

Entry was 40 KN / $6.25 per person.  Aside from the few people who had been on the bus, no doubt also fans, we had the place to ourselves.

The fortress sits on top of a large, narrow hill.  There are magnificent panoramic views all the way around.  On two sides you can see the Dinaric Alps and on the others you can see the city of Split and the ocean beyond.

The site that the fortress sits upon has been inhabited since prehistoric times. The first fortress was build by the Romans.  Since then it has been rebuilt and expanded many times.  Starting in the 9th century it became the seat of the Duke of Mislav in the Dutchy of Croatia.  The fortress is noted for its defense against the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century which lasted two and a half decades.  The fortress finally fell to the Turks in 1537.

Our tour began with a climb up a long ramp that lead to the main level.  This ramp was instantly recognized as it was featured in several episodes of Game of Thrones.  We walked East and explored the walls and a barbican.  Then we moved West and walked the entire length.  We found an old cannon that was facing South towards Split.  This was a remnant from the Austro-Hungarian period.

(Klis Fortress)

We moved up a level along another ramp to a large, flat area that was also featured in GOT.  Nearby we explored several old storage areas and climbed a tower that had been used by lookouts.  The area also had a chapel and two museums.  The first museum had a collection of weapons and clothes from medieval times.  The second contained artifacts from the Roman period consisting mostly of fragments from old buildings.  There was also an informational video in English and Croatian.

(A Scene from Game of Thrones)

Further West there was a room full of photos taken during filming of Game of Thrones.  They showed many of the scenes that were filmed at the fortress.

Finally we climbed to the highest level from which we had the best view of the surrounding areas.  Unfortunately, the air was a bit hazy so it was hard to get good photographs of the sea but we did get some great shots of the surrounding mountains.

(Leaving Meereen)

From the top level we noticed that the same bus that had brought us was still parked at the stop.  According to the schedule it was going to leave in ten minutes so we hurried back down and boarded just as it was about to leave.  In total we’d been at the fortress for about 1.5 hours.

On the way back to our apartment we stopped at Kantun Paulina for a couple more sandwiches to take home.  They seem to recognize us now and appear to load the sandwiches with even more fillings.  It was after 2:00 pm by the time we got back to our apartment.  The sandwiches had a short life.

Distance walked: 3.5 miles

Thursday, November 1

Today is All Saints Days – a national holiday in Croatia.  Many stores and attractions are closed.  We decided to do a little food shopping.

We headed over to the fish market for some tuna but only one stall was open and their tuna looked rather sad so we walked over to the produce market to see if we could fare any better.  About one third of the stalls were open.  We found some lettuce, onions, apples and some kind of cheese (we think it’s sheep cheese).

Then we headed over to the supermarket.  In the prepared section was saw some čevapi.  It occurred to us that we could make our own version of the sandwiches that we’d been eating so often so we bought them and some kajmak cheese.  We already had onion, ajvar and bread at home so we were all set.

When we got home we started binge watching “The Last Kingdom” and when noon rolled around we tried our hand at making Croatian sandwiches.  Our experiment turned out quite well.  We’re probably going to be eating this a lot more.

We also found a great new chocolate bar in the supermarket which is produced  by Milka, a popular brand of chocolates in Europe that you only occasionally see in the United States.  It’s the Oreo flavor.  It’s basically like eating a chocolate covered Oreo cookie – but much better than the ones you can buy in the supermarket.  Each 100 gram / 3.5 ounce bar costs 20 KN / $1.60.  We buy them four at a time.

Distance walked: 4.4 miles

Monday, October 29

It rained all day.  We just stayed in and binge-watched Marco Polo on Netflix and ate junk food all day.  It was one of the better things we’ve found on Netflix.  It’s a shame that they only produced two seasons.

Distance walked: 1.2 miles

Tuesday, October 30

We spent the morning at the Archeological Museum.  It chronicles the history of this region from prehistoric times through the middle ages.  The museum is known for its superior quality exhibits of ancient coins and inscriptions on stone tablets.

The interior is setup in chronological order.  The first interesting exhibits start during the 6-5th centuries BC showcasing Greek artifacts.  The collections included weapons and jewelry.  The Roman era collections contained a wide variety of artifacts.  One of the most unusual was an ancient breast pump made from glass.

(An Ancient Breast Pump)

The collection of coins was extremely fine.  They had a number of Greek coins and a set of Roman coins representing virtually every emperor.  The gold and silver coins were in amazingly good condition.

(Roman Imperial Coins)

Outside, all along the permitter of the garden, there was a colonnade that held  100s of objects made of stone.  Some had inscriptions in Greek but most were in Latin.  There were also some beautifully carved sarcophagi, mosaic floor fragments and sculptures.  Unfortunately, many were either unlabeled or mislabeled making it hard to fully appreciate them.

Cost of entry: 30 KN / $5.00 per person.

For lunch we picked up a couple of sandwiches at Kantun Paulina and ate them over by the waterfront.  Have we mentioned that we REALLY like these sandwiches?  The pigeons are obviously used to people feeding them and the longer we sat there the more showed up.  We saved them some bread and once we started throwing to them they became very aggressive.  Several flew up onto our legs and ate out of our hands.  Then others came and landed on the bench, our arms and heads.  We tried to shoo them away but they were determined.  It was like we had channeled, “The Birds”.

(Feeding the Birds)

After surviving our avian encounter we took a stroll around Diocletian’s Palace.  We discovered a small, ancient church called The Church of Saint Martin.  There was a fee of 5 KN / $0.85 to enter but since we could see the entire thing from the door we decided to save our money for more sandwiches (we do have our priorities 😉).  We did manage to snap a picture.

On our way home we stopped at an interesting  looking pastry shop.  We bought three different items in order to get a good feel for what they had to offer.  They were consumed after dinner.  They were simply ok and we probably won’t be going back there anytime soon.

Distance walked: 4.4 miles