Monday (Split)…

Welcome sun beams fell across the bed…the perfect alarm clock for an early start. Pastries from a nearby shop: cherry strudel and cheesy phyllo. Strolled along the Promenade, fresh and sunny this morning. Entered Diocletian’s Palace through the Brass Gate and into a cellar passage, lined with tacky gift stands.


The cellar route pops up in the center of the palace in front of our first stop today: Diocletian’s mausoleum, which is now the Cathedral of St. Dominus. The church is small, but has an impressive altar. Christian paintings and statuary share wall space with Roman carvings and stonework. Upstairs, the small church treasury. Enjoyed the irony of Freddie Mercury and Queen belting out “Somebody To Love” on the radio as we looked over sobering Catholic crucifixes and other iconic artifacts. Climbed narrow stone and them metal steps 200 feet above the cathedral into the bell tower. Impressive views of the palace and the city beyond. The Adriatic was an amazing blue with dramatic clouds above. Returning to earth…and into the earth…visited Diocletian’s crypt below the mausoleum…a small, brick-lined domey chamber with a well. Our final stop with our Cathedral ticket: the baptistery, formerly a Roman temple to Jupiter.


Stopped at the charming Figa cafe, with eclectic seating up and down the steps of a narrow street. A couple of cappuccinos well-worth the price for the fantastic people watching at this tiny crossroad. Two tiny black and white pugs popped out of Figa occasionally to greet guests and stake their territory.


Avoiding harsh midday lighting, we plunged into the lower levels of the Palace. For just 20kn, two portions are open to tour (to the west and east of the bronze gate just off the Riva). The west side is wide and open with thick columns topped with brick vaults. Interconnected square rooms with domed brick ceilings jutted off to the sides. Water dripped in dark corners.


The east side is still being excavated and restored, and this is strewn with Roman and medieval rubble. Some rooms are open to the sky, where buildings once stood. Two cats claimed a sunny spot near an ancient column. Water pooled from yesterday’s rain. Some rooms were set up as photo galleries, highlighting a series of international award-winning photographs. Apparently, award-winning means gross or depressing…or both. Glimpses of fluffy white clouds signaled time to return to street level.


Golden gate. Silver gate. Bronze gate. Iron gate. Fun to criss cross between them and find new corners to explore. Outside the golden gate, an imposing Venetian fortification. Did a mini bar crawl to relax and people watch. A beer at Luxor by the Peristyle. Crowds snapping pictures of men in Roman centurion outfits. (A flash of Monty Python makes me giggle.) Another beer at Fluid with an old, smooth Sade disc playing.


We caught some photos with the late afternoon glow. A guitar duo lured passers-by with British and American classics from Sting, the Beatles, and Simon and Garfunkel. Then back to Figa for dinner. Hearty risottos. A cheesy tortellini with prosciutto. Simple grilled sea bass let the quality fish shine through. A dense, fruit-cake-like “Split cake” for dessert.


Mojitos with a soothing club mix at Ghetto. Sat outside next to an ivy wall with white laundry drying above us.


One more evening (notably warmer) wandering quiet streets with more than 1600 years of footsteps before us.