Split

Unfortunately our stay in Hvar had to end, and we boarded a midday ferry to Split for the afternoon before our overnight ferry over to Italy. I was looking forward to Split; Croatia's second largest city, its old town is built on/in/out of the ruins of Diocletian's palace. The Irishman, however, had eaten enough fish for a long while and was looking forward on to Italy.

Split harbor is not exactly the prettiest port; when we landed it was very much the grimy and dirty working port that one expects from, say, Naples, complete with the strange cast of characters. We quickly high-tailed it over to the main passenger ferry terminal to check in for our overnight ferry, and stow our bags at the left luggage office. We had a minor disaster when the ferry operator informed us that the super cheap deal I scored on our overnight passage was actually in two separate cabins - so I was stuck in cabin with four female bunks, and the Irishman was in a separate cabin with four male cabins. The Irishman was not pleased about this arrangement (to be honest, neither was I, but we saved at least £100), and we had to have a restorative gelato to calm down.

Post-gelato, we toured the Old Town. It was pretty touristy, I must say, but it is also pretty freaking cool. You wander through twisty and turning corridors and passageways that were once the hallways of a great palace. Every now and then, there are parts of the palace that are preserved, just sticking up out of the rubble. It's fascinating, but also a bit creepy; I wouldn't necessarily want to be trying to find my way out at night.



We also ventured out into the New Town of Split as well, which seems like a bustling little metropolis. We tried cevapi, a Croatian minced meat and spicy sauce street food, and had one last Ozujsko before heading over to the boat that would take us to our next country and adventure!