This morning we dropped anchor offshore of Split, Croatia. Tendering operations began around 8am, and Libby and I were ashore by 9:00. On the tender, we met a couple of nice people from Texas… one of whom was also disappointed about missing San Marino (she’s also interested in hitting 100 countries, current count = 68). In any case, they too are going to try to get to Slovenia somehow tomorrow.
The tender dropped us off at a pier in the middle of the historic city center of Split, directly opposite Diocletian’s Palace. Unlike the ruins of antiquity that we have seen at many ports on the cruise, Diocletian’s Palace has been used, maintained, and ‘modernized’ over the centuries. As a result, it’s something of a hodgepodge of architectural styles and periods. For example, Diocletian’s mausoleum was turned into the city’s cathedral. And, in an ironic twist, the bishop–who Diocletian had executed while persecuting Christians–now rests there (while Diocletian’s own remains are nowhere to be found).
After doing Rick Steves’ suggested self-guided walking tour of Split, we spent a couple of additional hours just exploring the historic city center and Riva (waterfront). We’d hoped to hit one or more of the town’s art museums, but being Monday most were closed.
We returned to the ship in the early afternoon for lunch. We ate in the main dining room today. Service was a bit slow (not that we were in a rush), but the food was decent or better. After lunch, we took a nap… which was a treat.
Tonight is formal night #2, which probably means the Lido again or just room service. We had zero interest in doing the ‘formal night’ thing, because really that’s just an added hassle for a vacation such as this one.
Tomorrow is Trieste and (hopefully) Slovenia!
I’ll end with a picture of Split — this is the cathedral located in Diocletian’s Palace:
