Split 28th to 30th July

My cousin Jan arrived today by local bus 37. She had encountered the same fellow I had at the bus stop who offered her a taxi. She had taken the airport trolley out of the airport area and this fellow insinuated she would get into trouble. A guard who was coming to get the bus turned up and took the trolley back for her and was very helpful so the other guy stopped bothering her. When that fellow approached me I just told him I was getting the bus and walked off. The benefit of having a backpack! 

That night Jan and I explored Split, restaurants (Jan looks at all the menus and what people are eating to get an idea about whether they are good or not) shops (they had a sale on swimsuits for half price and they were great for $30) and some of the sights too. We went up the cathedral tower and were rewarded with a fabulous view of the city.

 Split old town Diocletian square

 The place was buzzing and we eventually ate at a restaurant on the promenade up by all the most fabulous yachts. The food was delicious and the yachts were gorgeous. We looked them up as some were chartered and they cost a mere €440,000.00 a week to rent. As we wandered home we passed by the Diocletian palace square again and it was packed with people listening to music and dancing. There was a real festive feeling in the air. 

The Cathedral square and dancers

The next day we were supposed to tour the blue and green caves, Stavinia Cove, Hvar and then to Pakleni islands. Unfortunately the weather turned so windy that we were unable to enter any of the caves or the cove. We were very disappointed even though the boat journey was exciting. It was so rough we felt like we were riding a roller coaster! We managed a swim in one of the sheltered bays but Jan cut her foot on the rocks. On our return to Split we asked for a refund for the caves as that was the most important reason for us choosing the tour. They said they would let us know and we geared up for a battle. We walked home through the market where Jan bought some reef shoes for the next swim. She wanted pink originally but became distracted by the green, white, black and flouro  orange before settling on the pink! The sales-women was very bemused.  

That night we did the restaurant trawl again until we settled on a place that looked interesting. Jan wanted to try the Aperol Spritz that was on special and is one of her favourite drinks. When the waiter presented us with the drink Jan noticed that it was flat. I haven't had it before so I had no idea what it was supposed to taste like, though I wasn't impressed with the flavour. Jan calls the waiter and tells him it is flat and she thinks they have not used any Prosecco. The waiter gets in a huff and replaces the drinks saying it is the first complaint in 20 days(probably meant years). I thought it must have been a 20 day old opened Prosecco and that was why it was flat, but didn't say so!  We were going to leave but this nice Italain couple sat down and we got talking so decided to stay however the waiter practically ignored us while lavishing attention on the other couple. The Italian woman could see the bar and she told Jan she saw them make other Aperol Spritz drinks with water not sparkling water and Prosecco! We should have left but the Italians were such good company it compensated for the poor service but it was disappointing. Then to compound our less than perfect day I pulled the hair dryer out of the bathroom cabinet and shattered the glass shelf. It was a disconcerting day.

When we met the boss of the tour company Angelo the next morning, he was very accommodating and returned almost half the cost with complete graciousness. We were impressed. It has been a bad summer because the weather has been unusually changeable so these tour people are feeling the impact. 

On our way to the ferry we went to the fresh food market to get fruit and pastries. It had the most wonderful array of high quality fruit and vegetables. We bought delicious peaches like I haven't tasted for years. sweet and full of flavour and juice.

Proof that food less transported tastes best.

We had booked the catamaran to Hvar for 11:30 and as one ferry had already been cancelled I was anxious to get on the next one before any further cancellations. The weather quietened down and our ride was very uneventful and comfortable. The ferry was a huge catamaran.