Day 46 (Wednesday) Split

Doing the blog a bit late (and a bit weary!) after a big day - part in Split and part in Supetar on the island of Brac. Terrific day though - more surprises as usual.

Breakfast was the first surprise. The assistant manager at the "Palac Judita" is a guy by the name of Andreja - we'll have to tell you about Andreja when we get home but he is quite hilarious and as camp as...... - but very helpful and full of great travel advice and makes a terrific scrambled eggs! Good way to start the day.

Collected our free "Split Pass" ('cause we are here for more than 3 nights) and headed for the Cathedral - quite unusual as it is just the converted mausoleum of Diocletian - quite small. They have a treasury display which includes hand-written scriptures and chanting books from the 600's. They also have a bell tower so guess what - we climbed it!! Only 70 metres high but THE most scary tower we've climbed. The steps go outside for a bit and then are just a steel ladder which is inside the tower but the tower is quite open and the ladders hug the interior perimeter so there is not much between you and the outside nor the inside space. Numerous climbers decided to call it quits part of the way up - it WAS a bit off-putting! However, we survived and had a great view of Split from up there.

There had been a couple of showers in the morning but as the sky seemed to be clearing we went back to Andreja to see if an island trip was possible. He recommended Brac so we headed off and caught the 12.30 ferry to Supetar. Brac has apparently been listed as one of the 10 best islands in the world to live on and we could see why - it is absolutely beautiful. Checked in to the Info centre and they gave us a walking guide which we followed for the afternoon. Had just the most enjoyable a'noon - made all the better as we could see a massive cloud descend on Split while we enjoyed a fine afternoon!!

Caught the 6.00 ferry back to Split (it has to be the slowest ferry in the world!) but enjoyed a complete end to end rainbow and a beautiful sunset as well as coming into Split at nightfall with all the lights - how romantic can you get??? Fantastic travel agent.

Another great bonus this morning was listening to a quintet of male singers performing in the Diocletian dome - magnificent harmonies and just a magic sound (we bought the CD!). Split is really a beautiful spot and we're just loving it. We do the guided tour tomorrow. Another recommended local family restaurant dinner tonight - the food again just beautiful, Oh dear, there will need to be some discpline when we get home........

trivia: Diocletian was the only Roman Emperor to retire - he bacame sick so planned his retirement and commenced the palace here as a "retirement home" It was finished in 350AD exactly on time for him to retire here from Rome. Some Senators later tried to convince him to return to office but he refused.

Pictures:
*The Split fish markets
*half-way up the bell tower (looking down at the bells)
*our a'noon tea spot at Supetar ("Supetar" is Croatian for St Peter)