So where did we leave off yesterday? Oh yes, we mentioned we were going to leave Croatia for Croatia today, and we did.
A thin strip of Bosnia and Herzegovina stretches to the Adriatic Sea, bisecting the country of Croatia. To get from Dubrovnik to Split we had to leave Croatia, cross the border into Bosnia (not just crossing, but actually going through passport control), drive about 20 miles, and then pass back into Croatia, again going through passport control.
Our bus stopped in Bosnia so we could buy a coffee and maybe visit the small convenience store/souvenir shop. We were quite excited as we were going to buy Bosnia souvenirs for those who’d requested specific things from our trip, thinking how surprised they would be since we didn’t mention Bosnia as one of the countries we were visiting.
Here’s a peek at Bosnia – Herzegovina:
Oh snap… that looks just like the rest of the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia…
Well, here’s the funny part – they only sold souvenirs that said Croatia!! We found one magnet that was specific to Bosnia & Herzegovina and elected to not purchase it. We did buy snacks therefore we have proof (in the form of our credit card statement) that we were in Bosnia. Needless to say, adding another country was pretty exciting!
We continued the drive to Split, following the Adriatic Sea coast with short portions of inland driving. Here is a representative sample of what you’ll see on the coast of Croatia (the Dalmatian Coast):
Basically, all of the development is relatively vertical right off / at the edge of the coast.
We did pass through a beautiful, lush plain that is mostly agriculture, mainly tangerines and olives. We saw one vineyard, possibly a rice paddy, and who knows what else being grown.
Upon arriving in Split we had a late lunch and then met our local guide for a tour of what makes Split famous… Diocletian’s Palace.
Super quick history lesson – Diocletian is from Croatia, decided to become a Roman Emperor, killed a whole bunch of people to achieve the goal, and was obviously not a good person.
He became the Emperor of Rome, ruled, kept killing a bunch of peeps, got peeps pretty riled up at him, decided it would be best for his health to abdicate, becoming the first Roman Emperor to abdicate voluntarily.
He then built a giant palace (shown above), to which he moved and lived for the 11 years before he died. This palace is what became the core of Split, Croatia.
The bottom level of the palace is filled with kiosks that are mostly souvenir-type shops (and palace is a loose term as it’s not been restored to it’s former glory). After passing by the shops we took a quick tour of some of the rooms of the palace.
Until the 1950’s the bottom floor of the palace (somewhat of a basement) was undiscovered as it was used for a waste/septic tank centuries ago. Those living on the main floor of the palace cut holes in the floor to drop waste into the abyss, thinking it was being carried out to the Adriatic Sea. Fast forward centuries later and what was likely an unusual archaeological dig through petrified waste, and an entire unknown floor of the palace was uncovered!
Oh yeah….did we mention this was yet another place that GoT was filmed?? Seasons 4 and 5 had filmings in the palace.
Here’s some pics of the palace (both sub-structure and above):
This picture below is of a private residence (that refuses to sell or let the subsurface be excavated – and thus is founded on petrified poop and trash) that is starting to settle / sink / lean to the left because the foundations are as noted above.
Split turned out to be pretty interesting, and was definitely a fun exploration.
To wrap up the night, we had an outing at a family-run restaurant in a nearby fishing village. There we were plied with good food and drinks, but more entertainingly… with a pair of live musicians that were quite a riot. (And they induced many of our compatriots into being quite a riot as well…)
Well, off to bed, as it will be an early morning as we head inland to the Plitvice Lakes national park…