Saturday 17 May. This morning we caught the 7.30am catamaran to Split for the 1 hour journey. We were quite surprised at how busy the ferry was with commuters, shoppers and tourists.
Split's busy harbour
Split is a busy city with a population of approximately 220,000, which is more than 4 times the population of Dubrovnik. It is also an extremely busy ferry terminal. Buses and trains also radiate from here in many directions. Hence it is stark contrast to the places we have visited so far. The streets and general environment are not as clean and litter free. To our surprise and great disappointment there is also a great deal of graffiti. It really has blighted the place. Even inside the walls of the Diocletian’s Palace haven’t been spared.To an outsider like me it spoils Split.
Diocletian’s Palace is what Split is all about in terms of historical interest
Diocletians Palace
and we spent several hours exploring it all and the alleyways and houses, shops and offices that have been built into and around its crumbling walls over the centuries. It is quite a sight. Next to the cathedral, also within the walls is the six storey Venetain campanile. We both started the climb to the top to see the views but I’m afraid I stopped short of the top. It wasn’t the height but the openess as the wind gusted through the arches and I found the metal stairway just clinging to the inside walls of the hollow structure a bit unnerving as I climbed higher and higher. The views, I am told were worth the climb and exposure!
The wide and lively Riva is another plus for Split. It is full of cafe-bars which at night are looked down upon by the ramshackle illuminated city walls. The cafe-bar culture is very much part and parcel of everyday life everywhere we have been so far. We like it!
Amongst all the graffiti words and drawings, none of which we could understand, one word in particular kept cropping up. We asked our friendly evening meal waitress what the word ‘Torcida’ meant and why it was used so much. She explained that ‘Torcida’ is the official name for the Supporters Club of Hajduk Split Football Club and was set up in 1950. This symbolism of Dalmation identity, although not condoned, is tolerated.
Sunday 18 May. Our accommodation here in Split is in a residential area about 5 minutes walk from the old city. We have the ground floor of a little terraced house, which reminded us of a hobbit house, and although booked as a room, we have a fridge and facilities for making drinks and somewhere to hang out our washing. It is a neighbourhood where the children play in the adjoining pedestrianised walkway and the local men gather at the end of our row to sit and chat and share a drink. After hanging out our washing we headed for the suburban bus station to catch a bus to the UNESCO listed old town of Trogir 20 km west of Split. It has lots of well preserved builldings, a cathedral and lots of narrow alleyways and squares. We spent a couple of hours here and walked around the outside of the walls along by the sea. Trogir old town is a small island linked to newer modern Trogir on the one side and the island of Ciovo on the other by bridge. Lovely as old Trogir is we felt that time and money are needed to be spent on the outside of town to smarten and tidy it up a bit. There was certainly more rubbish about here and the inevitable graffiti adorned the bus station.
After lunch we caught a bus back towards Split 
but got off at Kastel Stafilic, the first of several old villages collectively known as Kastella. We were able to walk along the seafront from one to the other despite the waves being blown across the shoreline footpath. It was a very nice walk and we then caught a bus back to Split for the remaining few kilometres. Our bus journey took us past much of the industrialised port of Split and unfortunately past some of its now derelict industrialised areas.
Our restaurant meal on the last night in Split was very poor and certainly not up to the standard expected so we complained and ended up not having to pay for our meal. You can’t win them all and we did not let it cloud our impression of what had been a very enjoyable stay in Split.
