June 01, 2015

Split, Croatia

Split seen from Marjan Hill.
Split seen from Marjan Hill.
The Church of St. Nicholas on Marjan Hill.
The Church of St. Nicholas on Marjan Hill.
Brač Island seen from Marjan Hill.
Brač Island seen from Marjan Hill.
The trail to the Church of St. Jerome, with Čiovo Island in the background.
The trail to the Church of St. Jerome, with Čiovo Island in the background.
Looking down at Kašjuni Beach.
Looking down at Kašjuni Beach.
Split, seen from west side of the harbor.
Split, seen from west side of the harbor.
Houses built on the rocks in Split.
Houses built on the rocks in Split.
The Prokurative ("Republic Square") in Split.
The Prokurative (“Republic Square”) in Split.

I woke up today around 09:30, showered, dressed, and then tried to figure out what to do with the day. The blonde German girl staying at the hostel was in a similar predicament; she had planned to go to Hvar with the German girl she had met in town (this other Fraulein was at the hostel the previous night after I had returned from dinner), but this other girl woke up too late and wrecked those plans. I too had considered going to Hvar, but didn’t want to spend 90 minutes or so on a ferry to get there, just to leave in a few hours on the last ferry back to Split. Discussing our options, we decided that we both wanted to go to the beach and that we should go together, to visit the beaches west of Split, in Marjan Park. So, we dressed for the beach and I packed my bag with a towel, my camera, etc. We then left the hostel after 11:00 and walked west to Marjan Hill. We followed the trail up the hill, to a restaurant. We then continued on and passed by the Church of St. Nicholas and many wild flowers, before moving further uphill to a highpoint with a radio tower. From this highpoint, we could see the islands nearby (Čiovo and Brač Islands) and the surrounding area. We continued on the road, talking almost the whole way. We then passed by the Church of St. Jerome and traveled down the road before finally (after an hour and a half of walking in the sun) coming to Kašjuni Beach. We then found a nice spot on the gravelly beach (sand is a rare thing on the Croatian coast), laid out our towels, stripped down to our swimwear, and laid out our bodies in the sun. After sunning my front-side for thirty minutes, I dipped inside the Adriatic Sea to cool down; after reemerging from the water, I let my backside get its share of the sun. We stayed out at the beach for about three hours, getting sun and swimming in the sea, before walking to a café next to the beach, where we ordered some refreshing drinks (I had a bitter lemon soda and a water). We then decided to check out another beach, so we dressed and walked east to Ježinac Beach. This beach was nowhere near as nice, but we laid out in the sun for a brief period anyway, to catch some more rays on our skin. After, a short while, we decided to return to Split and eat dinner (both of us were starving throughout most of the day). We walked east, reached the harbor, and followed the waterfront walkway north to the city. We then ate at the same restaurant I had eaten at two nights ago and I had a black cuttlefish risotto, water, and a half a liter of white table wine (that tasted of asparagus, citrus, honey, and raisins). The German girl also shared her vegetarian meal with me and I had gnocchi with tomato sauce and some spinach. After stuffing our stomachs full of food, we both returned to the hostel. After showering and getting dressed, I walked outside to the nearby supermarket and bought a bottle of Croatian red wine and some snacks. Back at the hostel, I opened the red wine (it was crafted from Plavac grapes and tasted of blackberries, pepper, and cherries; it was also very tannic), shared it with the French-Canadian guy staying there, and I talked with the French-Canadian and the German girl for a while. Later on, the German girl went to sleep, and I followed her example about an hour later; going to sleep after 23:00.

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