2geonomads

Wednesday 21st May 2014

Another beautiful day and it’s Danish pastries and strudel from the bakery below our flat for breakfast.

A fairly short walk to the bus station where we pick up a mini bus to take us from Split to Trogir, about 20 kilometres west along the coast from Split. Shannon, Maureen ‘s son had been full of praise for this small town and it certainly lives up to expectations. The Old Town is concentrated on a small island accessed by a by a road bridge and also a small footbridge.  It has a wonderful ambience, with it’s many narrow cobbled streets and alleyways and last but definitely not least its soaring Gothic cathedral.

As always on such excursions our first stop is for a caffeine heart-starter so we stop off at a small open-air cafe in the centre.  We must be the coffee-drinkers quartet from hell with our various idiosyncrasies . I like my cappuccino hot and strong, Maureen wants it as weak as possible with the coffee bean only making a brief contact with her cup, Gail always orders double espresso with an extra jug of hot water on the side to avoid being served the dreaded ‘ Americano’ slop. John is almost normal, ordering either cappuccino or macchiato, with varying degrees of success. One can only hope that the baristas and waiters in the Balkans are not big Facebook users or unionised as we might be facing a boycott!

Leaving behind another stressed-out waitress we continue our stroll around this appealing old town and John goes on his usual solo walkabout, as is his wont. We buy some lunch and stop for a break in a pleasant park near the water and lo and behold the prodigal son returns after about an hour wondering what all the fuss is about.  John’s friends will be familiar with his walkabout tendencies and G and I just assume that he will come back like a homing pigeon. M is a little less sanguine about it and gives him a mild lecture, all to no avail I suspect. Old habits die hard and the one good thing is that I appear to one of  the few travelling companions who can walk at John’s pace when we set off on hikes without the girls.

An uneventful trip back to Split on the bus but it is fascinating to see a few people try to get on at the bus stops along the way without paying a fare. Fortunately, the driver is very vigilant and the potential fare-dodgers are quickly brought into line.

Back in Split we stop off at the restaurant Maslina, recommended in Rick Steves’ guidebook , for a drink and decide to come back for dinner in the evening.

The girls make a quick visit to the Guess shop and John nips into a barber near our flat on Marmontova Street for a trim. The old barber clearly knows his stuff and John comes out looking very smart.

Maslina offers good quality food at affordable prices and our waiter , who has lived 12 years in New Zealand, is all efficiency  and charm.

Rather than go straight back to the flat we talk a walk along the Riva esplanade , stopping for coffee/Baileys along the way. It really is a beautiful city and comes out on top in virtually respect in comparison with the capital Zagreb.

We will leave Croatia tomorrow with very fond memories of this beautiful country and with only one glaring black mark- why do Croatians persist in disfiguring monuments, buildings, with graffiti . We have never encountered graffiti pollution at this level before and clearly the authorities turn a blind eye to this activity.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret.