Since leaving university and actually earning enough money to live I wanted to see some more of the world. Nothing fancy like a year off travelling around the world (although I would if I could afford it!) but just a little holiday abroad once in a while to tick off a few countries on my 'to go to' list. All of my holidays except one as a child were in Britain so my list is long. For at least two summers I've said I'm going but then something happens which has meant I can't unless I go on my own (boring)
This year I finally escaped! An early morning at the end of May and some cheap flights later I've arrived in Croatia with my old university housemate Tansley (Tansley McFransley, Fransley, Mr T, Mr Tea, Teatotal, G&T and as many others as I can think of)
The flight took us to Split, the city we were going to stay for two days before getting the ferry to one of the islands. The city is big but its heart is an old palace which later turned into a trading point with winding alleys alongside a cathedral and belltower. A large 'city' wall with an entrance on each side still shows you where the palace is/was…I'd make a rubbish travel writer. Anyway, there's this old square section of the city that the rich guy with the palace used to live.
When we looked online before we went I was surprised to find a little flat to stay in actually within the palace walls. I understood it better when we arrived. If the palace was in London it'd be shut off and you'd have to pay £10 to get in to visit it. In Split it is still living and breathing with cafes, restaurants, apartments and shops occupying the old buildings.
Annoyingly the first thing it did when we arrived in the country was rain. This wasn't a good start to my amazing first proper holiday! At least we were on a bus though and it'd stopped by the time we had to drag our massive backpackers bags (hand luggage only to save money and time) through the old town to get to our little apartment.
It turned out the palace is rather small…we walked past all of the sights I had obsessively printed maps out for before we'd even arrived at the apartment. Walking from one side of the palace to the other took about 2 minutes. Never mind, I was on holiday! Tansley was being wimpy and tired from having left my flat in London at 2am so he went to sleep while I read my book and waited out the grey sky.
We avoided looking properly at all the sights yet again when we went to have dinner that night. It was a place described as being like a 'granny's front room' in the travel guide we took with us. Obviously it was the place to go! It was filled with weird little ornaments and stuffed fish on plaques and the tables were old Singer sewing tables.
Chucked in the deep end with a Croatian menu, with the help of a lovely waiter we both ordered some kind of seafood risotto. I love fish but when faced with prawns and langoustine mostly-vegetarian Tansley and uncultured me didn't really know what to do. My food education comes from watching Come Dine With Me and they don't show you how to eat weird little creatures with shells and legs all over the place! There's probably some simple little trick to do it perfectly but we just hacked away with our knives and forks and hoped for the best. Tansley seemed to get the knack of it after a while and I pretended to as well…accidentally crunching away at the shells and smiling away like I knew what I was doing. The bits I managed to eat were tasty but I had to give up after a while. The actual risotto was the best I'd ever had though so it wasn't a complete disaster!
The next day it was pouring with rain so we had a lie-in before venturing out. Throughout the holiday we actually had really good luck with the weather. The rain seemed to stop every time we stepped outside. We toured the sights properly this time, taking longer so I could take far too many photos. There was a mean looking statue called Gregorius of Nin that was my favourite. For the life of me I can't remember what he was about…something to do with language possibly…Anyway, he had these amazing long gangly fingers and his big toe was a shiny gold from where everyone rubs it for good luck.
The next day it was pouring with rain so we had a lie-in before venturing out. Throughout the holiday we actually had really good luck with the weather. The rain seemed to stop every time we stepped outside. We toured the sights properly this time, taking longer so I could take far too many photos. There was a mean looking statue called Gregorius of Nin that was my favourite. For the life of me I can't remember what he was about…something to do with language possibly…Anyway, he had these amazing long gangly fingers and his big toe was a shiny gold from where everyone rubs it for good luck.
We also went up the belltower of the Cathedral of St Domnius. In theory I'm not afraid of heights…but walking up a wobbly metal staircase with open sides wasn't exactly pleasurable. Luckily the bells didn't ring as we went past them because I'm sure my automatic reaction would either have been to jump out of the tower or sit on the stairs and never move again. The view of the city was amazing though and the sun came out just as we reached the top. That was the beginning of the real holiday.
Sounds like 'cultured fun'. Hope it didn't leave you with a Split personality.
ReplyDeleteIt's the way I tell them you know.
Oh no! My sides have Split from laughing.