Next stop is Split and it is beautiful, again, we can’t get enough of Croatia. We head for Diocletian’s Palace now a lovely walled town filled to the brim with narrow streets and buildings crossing over the airspace above.Tourist attractions go hand in hand with the run down homes of the locals who live here.
Unusually for us we took a Penny Tour and were so glad we did. We were treated to a fantastic tour with a lovely young man who was one of the best guides we have had so far. He gave us a great run down on the old days of the Diocletian’s Palace, the Port, the emperor’s cabbage gardens and even dropped in a few Game of Thrones references, some scenes from season three were filmed here, to our delight!
He also gave us some insight into how the GFC has affected Croatians. The palace that we toured is now the place of many apartments, shops and tourist sites. Some of these are rented out to tourists during the peak summer season and some are lived in by locals year round. The easy way to tell which is which is by how decrepit they look, it seems the locals are struggling. As for jobs, most of the money comes during the peak summer season when the tourists descend. When the weather cools down so does tourism and most people have to find any work they can elsewhere or use the time to study at university.
It seems that people need to be where the work is. We found later when driving through some remote parts of Croatia, many houses and properties abandoned. Unlike along the coast or around the big cities where the jobs and tourism are.
Back to Split! Once again just walking and exploring was the order of the day. We were really tired and decided to head into the modern part of town to a shopping center to see a movie in English, perfect for a few hours shut down and rest, we saw Grace of Monaco. Later on we found a spot near to Klis Fortress, more Game of Thrones, with a spectacular view over Split by night. The view just as good by day, gazing over Split to the ocean as we had our breakfast. Quick stop at the fortress in the morning before heading on to Dubrovnik.
Along our way we had to go into Bosnia, with strict border check, and then out into Croatia again. We can say we visited another country but we really only passed through! We were going to venture further in but a recent major flooding warning kept us to the coast, maybe another time.
About half way between Bosnia and Dubrovnik we found an amazing camping spot, one of our favorites so far! An old road off the new one, hidden from the road by trees and a large bank and open to the ocean view on our side, stunning! We could have stayed there for weeks!
We arrived in Kings Landing…Oh I mean Dubrovnik very excited to see some more Game of Thrones sets as well as all the old town had to offer. Upon entering a large gate through the ancient city walls we were greeted with a sign that showed all the points where Dubrovnik was hit during the recent Yugoslav Wars. It was hit hard and we would see a photograph exhibition later that day that put it all into perspective. Crazy and sad to think that conflicts such as this are still going on in the world today.
We bought a Dubrovnik card that gave us access to the walk around the ancient city walls and a few museums as well as the Rector’s Palace. So up onto the walls we went. It started to rain, though luckily not too heavy, but the view was gorgeous anyway. Looking out to islands, forts and across the rooftops of the old town. Our museum visits went as usual, trying to take in as much information as possible and ultimately getting gallery fatigue, although enjoying it anyway.
The streets were bustling especially the main Place Thoroughfare that we took on the way to Rector’s Palace. Here we saw a collection of rare glass, some parts of the palace set up as they once were when lived in and the war photographs. Very interesting.
Our time in Dubrovnik finished with ice-cream while wandering the port of the old town watching the boat tour employees haggling over the latest tourist to walk by, delicious. What could be better than an ocean view and ice-cream?
After a big day and ready for a rest we made for our favourite camp spot again. This time we were witness to a coastal storm, watching the lightning over the mountains inland and then over the island out to sea, very different to the crystal clear sky we had the evening before but just as spectacular.
We decided that we don’t have enough time left this trip to do Greece and the rest of what we want to see in Europe, a hard decision to make. Had to be Greece left out.
The long drive back up along the coast towards Budapest was just as beautiful on the way up as it was on the way down. Amazing how different something can look from a different angle! The long drive was broken by another stop in Split, another movie in English (X-Men, hello Hugh) and another camping stop near Plitvicka Lakes National Park before crossing the border into Hungary. More stories to come!
Photos can be found on Facebook in the album CROATIA
Here We Come World 