Epic European Cycle : 2015-10-05 : To Split

Trip Log Trip List Calendar

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Travel
Type Name Service Provider Origin Destination Cost Notes Actions
Bus Plitvice to Split Prijevoz Knezevic Plitvice Lakes Split $72.00 9:30-13:50
Activity
Type Name Description Service Provider Cost Kms To Date Total Notes Actions
Sight See Diocletian's Palace Cellars $8.00 Only the west side of the basements were open so we couldn't go in the east side. Bummer.
Accommodation
Type Name Service Provider Confirmation Location Cost Notes Actions
Pension Guesthouse Palace Inn Booking.com Split $149.00 2 nights
Carrarina poljana 1/2 21000 Split
Amazing location inside Diocletian's Palace, and it's convenient to the bus depot, too. Eugen and Yerko are both exceptionally knowledgeable and helpful and both speak excellent English. WiFi was strong and reliable.


Trip Log

Notes Actions
Another good day to not be on the bikes. It started raining about halfway back to Zadar. When we reached Zadar water was pouring off the bus, running in the street, and standing up to 6" deep in some low areas of the roads. It rained all the way to Split. When we got off the bus it was just spitting a little, and then it cleared right up for us to find our place (you know... the PALACE), and explore Varoš (the medieval neighborhood to the west of the palace), and Diocletian's Palace cellars.
From Brent: Before we got there everything I knew about Split I'd learned from a limerick. It turns out that Split has a pretty good Old Town (Stari Grad) too. It's Diaclesian's Palace. The Roman Emperor, Diaclesian, had it built for his retirement; a walled fortress about 600 X 700 feet. Half was for him and half was for his staff, servants and guards. It's a pretty impressive place and, once again, Rhonda got us a great room inside the walls. A lot of the old Roman stuff is ruined but there is also a lot of it still standing. There's a stone sphinx, the size of a couch, that Diaclesian had brought from Egypt to decorate one of his temples. It's estimated to be 3500 years old and still sitting where he left it.

After the Romans left the new tenants (fleeing an invasion from the north) moved in and used the city as a fort until the invaders went away and then outgrew the place. The city spilled out the north side to an area called Varos and a more typical Stari Grad was built there, partly by pulling building materials out of the Palace's north wall and partly by building into it. Too bad. And a bit north of Varos (I'm only talking a couple of hundred yards) is a very large park the occupies a high ridge and has the sea on 3 sides. There are ancient maps that show this area in about 400 AD, marked 'No hunting or cutting of trees.' So this place has been a park for about 1600 years. Of course the place isn't totally undeveloped. Marshal Tito had his summer house built here when he was in charge of Yugoslavia.

Split is more touristy and more expensive than Zadar.


Photos

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