Croatia Day 5

Relaxing For A Day

I had the alarm set for 5:15 this morning but when it went off I hit the stop button and decided I was too tired to finish my blog and I would just lay there until the girl’s alarm was set to go off at 6:00 AM, at least so I thought. As I lay there, I heard the church bell ring once for the half hour at 5:30 but the next thing I knew I was hearing the bell ring just one time again. Trying to figure out why it rang only once for what I thought should be 5:45 (and remembering I had heard it ring three times previously for quarter of), I grabbed my phone only to see that it was 6:30. “Oh sh*t,” I hollered….our ferry was leaving at 7:00 and the dock was a solid 12 minute walk.

So…I am sure you can imagine what the next ten minutes were like… thank goodness we all had packed most of our things the night before because the mad dash stuffing our backpacks and trying to get out the door (literally and figuratively) was a bit of a scene!

Thankfully we made it so we arrived in Split around 8:30 and headed straight to breakfast, enjoying a lovely meal in a beautiful restaurant which had been highly recommended (even if we felt a bit out of place looking like backpackers), and it did not disappoint.

We were happy to receive an email from our apartment that it would be ready to check in at 10:30 instead of the 3:00 they had originally told me. Today was another very hot day and we were happy to relax in the AC for a bit before venturing out. The apartment, as I had researched, was in a perfect location, right on the edge of the ancient Diocletian’s Palace. The “palace” (resembling more a fortress) was built for the aforementioned Roman emperor at the turn of the 4th century as his retirement residence and was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979.

Making our way out, the streets were packed with tourists and really made it difficult to enjoy much. We did manage to get off the beaten path a bit and make our way into the absolute maze of passages that make up the area but all the people were a bit overwhelming.

Underground Chambers that are now like a bizarre

We opted to stop for a cold drink and a lite bite for the girls before we decided that crowds and heat weren’t worth the frustrations so we returned to the apartment where both girls fell fast asleep for a few hours.

By the time they woke, it was a few minutes before our dinner reservation, but they insisted on making it, so I went ahead and checked us in before they were quick to follow.

Our meal at Portofino was excellent! The girls split a goat cheese salad and I began with a monkfish carpaccio that was to die for. This was followed by a shrimp and crab risotto for me, and a shared bowl of fettuccini with lobster and truffle for the ladies. We were too stuffed for desert but I know we would have enjoyed it as well.

Following dinner, Noella returned to the apartment to go to bed early while Jenny and I walked along the Riva, checking out the mega – mega yachts and back to the apartment winding our way though the streets just talking.