Luggage Tag...: Split

Showing posts with label Split. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Landed in Split

Trip date: May 2019

After 7 days cruising around the Croatian coast (links at the end of this post), my friend Aaron and I were dropped off at our hotels in Split. Well Aaron was dropped off at his hotel, I was let out at a parking lot just outside the walls to the old city. I was staying at Central Square Heritage Hotel which is right in the center of Old Town. Since cars aren't allowed in this area the hotel kindly sent someone from the front desk to help me with my luggage and walk me to the hotel. Very nice!

Although it wasn't ready when I arrived at 9am, room 310 turned out to have a very large king-bed, marble bathroom, and pretty view of the square below. The hotel had just opened when I was there so everything was spotless. And they have a lift for those with many bags, which I left with the front desk until later.

Split is the 2nd largest city in Croatia; we would be concentrating our time in the small, pedestrian-only old town area. Aaron and I met in the square for a self-guided walking tour of the well-preserved Roman ruins.

First up, Diocletian's Palace built in the 4th century AD for the Roman emperor by the same name. The palace is huge and takes up almost half of the old town. What was once a network of military housing are now private apartments, restaurants, and shops. It was a little confusing until we realized that the word "Palace" was referring to the entire area vs. a castle or actual palace.

From the Peristyle we cut through a nondescript ally in order to visit the Temple of Juniper, which dates from 305 AD! That is pretty incredible! The small temple has a beautifully ornate relief over the entrance, a Renaissance style barrel vault ceiling, and sarcophagi containing two of Split's Archbishops.

Following the narrow passages through the Palace, we made our way out the Golden Gate and past the giant statue of 10th century bishop Grgur Ninski.

Strolling along outside of the Palace walls, we passed numerous tourist stands selling typical souvenirs, but also came across a good sized produce market. Many vendors thrust out samples of local fruits and vegetables, including this loquat which I had never tasted before.

As it started to drizzle, we cut back inside the walls and bought tickets to tour the underground cellars. There were not many people in most of the areas, and the vaulted cellars were damp and dark. Actually a bit creepy!!

All this before lunch! We were starved so made our way to Konoba Fetivi which had been recommended to us for fresh fish. The interior is a little kooky, but our meal was another one for the top of our list. We chose a selection of fresh fish to be grilled, paired with a rich soup, inexpensive wine, and dessert. Highly recommend!

We finished our tour of Diocletian's Palace in the beautiful cathedral, which had been closed earlier in the day. Lots of marble and gold; I especially loved these ornate hanging lamps (or are they incense burners?) which were found throughout.

When I arrived back to the Central Square Hotel, my bags and some love bird towels were waiting for me in my room. I took a quick nap with the windows open, snoozing to the relaxing sounds of people having coffee and conversations in the square below.

Split doesn't have a good classic cocktail bar, that I could find anyway, but Aaron and I checked out two places that had been recommended before dinner. Sanctuary looked like a dive bar but actually served up a decent martini. However people were smoking inside, and the outside tables were full so we only stayed for one round.

Antique had a lovely setting right on the waterfront but the drinks were actively bad. I-sent-mine-back kind of bad. The weather had cleared up and it was a gorgeous evening as we walked along to our dinner destination, Corto Maltese.

This was another recommendation and was a great spot. We had a short wait for a table outside and had a couple of delicious small plates. Afterwards I left Aaron at a gelato stand he was excited to try out, and wandered around in the warm night.

The first thing I came across was a small area, not a park, more like a public shrub area, where a large number of stray cats were gathered. The locals brought cans of cat food here and left them open for the cats. Very cute, and sweet!

Next I encountered a fireworks display! There had been a music stage set up earlier by the waterfront, and now I noticed banners which read in Croatian "It's my country" so I assume it was some patriotic celebration.

As I wandered into the Peristyle there were a lot of people sitting around on the ancient stones listening to a guitar player. I joined, ordered a glass of wine from the waiter who was circulating, and spent the next 45 minutes listening and people watching. The streets were practically empty by the time I made my way back to my hotel and went to bed. It had been a very fun, and very full, day!

The next morning, Aaron and I took a day trip to nearby Trogir. More on that in an upcoming post as I would end up spending a night in the quaint town as well. But we returned to Split for lunch and had an outstanding meal at Villa Spiza. We were lucky enough to get a little table outside where started with some local cheese, fresh bread, and glasses of wine. I had a decadent pasta with minced pork, black truffles, and cream for my main and a nap for dessert!

Later in the afternoon I took advantage of the great weather and strolled along the waterfront. Split really is a lovely city, especially during the shoulder season, before all the crowds.

Aaron and I met at Madero Gin Bar, which sounded promising but was incredibly disappointing. However our final dinner in town at Bokeria, where we had to book days in advance, was another winner.

We met early the next morning, I bought a few meat stuffed phyllo pastries called burek, and we walked about 15 minutes to the ferry dock. We were headed to Dubrovnik on the fast ferry!

All Split photos here.

Wednesday, February 26, 2020

Every Yacht Charter Must End

Trip date: May 2019

Day 6 of our chartered cruise; we left Hvar under sunny blue skies, for the island of Vis. This was after truffled scrambled eggs and mimosas of course! Our destination was about 2 hours away and the weather was perfect to hoist the sails and let the wind carry us along.

This was the first time we had been able to actually sail for any real amount of time. It was great! You could see Roko visibly relax in the warm weather, it had been stressful for him to have a charter in not great weather. And he was tired of being cold!

We sailed into a small, pretty cove on the other side of Vis and anchored to a buoy. It was quiet and warm and we sunbathed on the trampoline with glasses of chilled white wine and snacks of local cheese. My plan to swim changed when I dipped a toe in the water, but we had a great time lounging in the sun.

There is mooring in both Vis town and in Kut, which is just a mile down the shore. Roko decided that the chop would be a bit less in Kut and glided the Sundance into another front row spot. Kut is also the oldest town on the island, having been built by the Venetians in the 17th century, and is super cute with just a few restaurants and a grocery.

Aaron and I left to explore the waterfront in the brilliant sunshine; it was just a 20 minutes walk to Vis. The town may look familiar to some as it was the portrayed as the Greek village in Mama Mia II. We didn't sing or dance but we did stop and enjoy an Aperol Spritz while taking in the gorgeous day and checking out the yachts in the marina.

We continued our walk out to the Prirova peninsula where we visited the 16th century church of St Jeronim (also in MMII) and it's scenic cemetery that gives all residents wonderful views of the sea.

We made our way back to Kut and had a little happy hour with a view of our yacht before heading out to dinner. It had been a lovely and relaxing day in the sun!

Roko arranged our evening excursion to a winery and restaurant called Roki's. They had a van pick the 3 of us up and drive the 15 minutes inland where we were greeted warmly since Roko knows them personally. The specialty here, besides the wine, is peka which is a dish of meat and vegetables, cooked "under the bell" or under a lid. It's a dish you need to order in advance as it takes a while.

Peka is also a very traditional dish, made in homes across the country, and served for family meals. The most common meats are veal, lamb, or octopus. We had ordered both a lamb and a vegetable peka and were shown the outdoor grill where the dishes were being cooked by covering the lids with hot coals.

Having checked on our peka, we had a quick visit to the winery before being sat for dinner. The dining room is casual, with wooden tables and checkered table clothes, very cozy. We had an appetizer of cured anchovies, tuna, olives, and a tuna paté. Then the vegetable and lamb pekas. Entirely too much food!

Aaron thought the lamb was too greasy, but I thought it was great. The potatoes on the bottom soaked up the juice and were delicious. As we found in Hvar, everything in Vis was cash only!

The next morning we sailed 2 ½ hours to the island of Solta, our 4th and last island of our charter. Roko gave us two different options on where to moor, one was supposed to be great for swimming, but the weather was calling for rain so we opted for the more sheltered marina at Maslinica.

It was a pretty rough sail over; Aaron and I opted to stay inside at the kitchen table for the first time. We had wi-fi onboard the Sundance so we spent the morning catching up on emails and doing some research for the nights we would spend in Split when our cruise was over. It was steadily raining with no signs of letting up when we arrived in the tiny harbor. We even watched an outdoor wedding take place, everyone with their umbrellas up, from the shelter of our yacht.

We tried to brave the weather, and set out for a little walk around the harbor. It was very wet!! And we were the only people out. We made a quick loop and headed back for lunch onboard the catamaran and an afternoon of cards and dominos. At least we had plenty of time to pack :/

We chose Sampjer Restaurant for our last dinner with Roko. A van picked us and some others up at a specified location at the marina. The restaurant sits at the top of a hill, with lovely views of the surrounding islands. We even caught a bit of sunset.

Dinner and service were good and it was nice to have them drive us up and down since it was chilly out. We were a bit sad that this was the end of our trip, even if the weather hadn't always cooperated, as it had been a blast.

We sailed into Split the next morning, for an 8:30am disembarkment. Many charters come back and spend the last night in the Split marina but Aaron and I were going to be staying in the city for a couple of days so we talked them into doing a morning drop off.

Roko made a quick stop to gas Sundance up for the next charter. Then we put the buoys out one last time (Aaron and my official job during the charter), tipped Roko, and said our final goodbye. Sail Croatia arranged a transfer for us to our hotels in Split. And with that we were back to land.

I would highly recommend Sail Croatia if you are looking to charter a boat in Croatia. Our entire experience was top notch!!

All photos from the Dalmatian Coast cruise here.

Monday, February 10, 2020

Dalmatian Coast Yachties

Trip date: May 2019

I was on my way to Split to meet my friend Aaron and board our 40' chartered catamaran for a week sailing through the Croatian Islands. To say I was excited was an understatement! But it wasn't all smooth sailing to start.

Our catamaran Sundance was chartered from Sail Croatia and originally we had 3 of the 4 cabins filled, which left 1 for the captain. Sadly one of my friends had to cancel just weeks before the trip due to a family emergency so it was Aaron, our captain Roko, and myself. The yacht was quite roomy and our luggage had a cabin of its own.

I had read Aaron's arrival time at the Split airport wrong and he ended up having to wait for over an hour for me to drive in from the Plitviče Lakes. We finally connected with our transfer driver, found the crew at the ACI Marina in Split, and left around 3pm for Milna on the island of Brač. Unfortunately we had very bad weather, rain and wind, so it was a good thing that our first sail was a short one. We had an excellent spot at the marina in Milna and settled in.

First up, grocery shopping at the tiny little market right on the waterfront. Next up, Aperol Spritz to encourage sunnier skies. We had a good dinner that evening at Palma, our captain's pick, of grilled fish with truffle ravioli. And finished the night with some drinks back on the boat.

We awoke the next morning to find that the weather was going to be keeping us, and all the other yachts, in Milna for another night. It wasn't raining but the surf was just too rough. Milna is very cute but also very small so we took Roko's recommendation and rented a car to explore the island. He had it delivered to the marina and drove us all around for the day.

We started at Galicija restaurant for a lunch of grilled lamb and roast potatoes, simple yet delicious. Then we headed over the island to the Museum of Olive Oil. Cute but nothing worth going out of your way for. Roko drove us to the very top of the island, normally the site for amazing views, but we were completely socked in with clouds. We headed to the cute town of Bol for a wine tasting at Stina Vina, which was great! And finally stopped to view Golden Horn beach, which changes its shape depending on the surf, before heading back across the island to Milna. It was a fun day and we were happy to get to explore the island.

And when we got back to the Sundance, there was some sunshine just in time for happy hour drinks on board! We took advantage of the nice weather and had an absolutely delicious pizza outside on the waterfront at Pizzeria Villa for dinner. We'd talk about this perfect pie a few times along the way!

The next morning the weather had cleared so we set sail for Starigrad on the island of Hvar. It was a lovely 2 ½ hour sail with mimosas in hand. We arrived at the marina just in time for lunch, so Aaron and I went off to grab a bite and explore.

My fried squid, salad, and rosé, with views of the water made for a very good lunch at Simple Cafe. Afterward we wandered the narrow stone allys and did a little shopping. Za Pod Zub deli was a great stop for buying an assortment of local cheeses, meats, and olives for aperos back on the boat. They also sell some very cute gift items.

The day had been warm but cloudy, but now the sun came out. So we headed back to the boat, made up some drinks, and relaxed on the trampoline while watching the sunset.

On these chartered yachts the skipper expects to be fed breakfast and lunch onboard; we purchased groceries and told Roko to help himself to whatever he wanted. It's customary to invite your skipper out for dinner or to pay for them to go out. Roko had friends in each port so sometimes he dined with us, and other times he went on his own. On this night he was meeting friends but he recommended we try Batana for dinner that night and called to make us reservations.

Aaron and I split a steak and an order of truffle pasta; both were excellent! I'd highly recommend this cute spot if you find yourself in Starigrad!

Nightcaps and gin rummy were had sitting outside on the stern of our boat. Ah, that yachting life!

The next morning we would sail into Hvar town!

All photos from the Dalmatian Coast cruise here.