Split

18/09/2008
We finally arrived in Split at 6am, feeling like we had a night on the tiles - hungover and furry mouthed. We arrived at Dioclecijan Apartments to find door locked and no key. After some deliberation we decided we would call Thomas at 7 am as he said he had little children and did not want to be up at 6am.
We went back to a park we had passed and settled on a bench, We noticed we had a couple of other "roomies"who had spent the night. One woke up, got a surprise to see us sitting there, then very neatly folded up his bed and sleeping gear and packed it away between a wall and the bench he had been sleeping on. Must be a regular!
Come 7am I rang Thomas - who I obviously woke up... and explained we were locked out and couldn't get to our key. He said the other tennant must have locked the door. He didn't live on the premises and drove over to let us in. Our room was very small and we were quite disappointed which must have been obvious by the expression on our faces. He obligingly offered us an upgrade to a much bigger apartment when the other tenants leave later in the day and "Shirley" has cleaned it. We could use the current room to have a sleep for a few hours. Of course we accepted... he deserves a gold kangaroo!!
At 10am we were absolutely starving as we hadn't eaten since the rolls we took to eat on the bus. The "Black Cat Bistro" was just across the road and served an english breakfast, which was more than substantial.
We ambled off to Diocletian's Palace which is the centre of the old town and about 5 minutes walk from our "sobe" (room/accomodation in Croatian). The Roman Emperor Diocletian built this enormous retirement palace which sits on the harbour in the heart of Split. Huge sections of the palace still exist which have been modified by medieval and modern developers. There is plenty to see and lots of atmosphere wandering around the palace, various temples, cathedrals and the market of course.
We fronted the tourist office to pick up a map and see what information they had. They weren't very helpful - so we did our own self guided tour to get orientated using our book.
We then went to the ferry office (planning our escape once again!) - they weren't very helpful either! Can't book, turn up on the day and hope you get a ticket. What a pain! We were thinking of staying overnight in Hvar but ferries seem a bit iffy so may go straight on to Korcula.
Went back to our sobe and found "Shirley" was actually Thomas, just finishing the cleaning so we swapped rooms. This is a nice apartment lots of room with cooking, facilities and will sleep a couple of extra people.
There is a yacht regatta on so this afternoon we watched the races on the harbour for awhile and UNESCO getting ready fo the "Year of the children" event tomorrow - they were getting frustrated with the tourists - like us - walking through the area, while they were trying to lay out letters but it was not cordoned off.
Seeing breakfast was so nice, we went back to the "Black Cat"for dinner and that did not disappoint either - Lasgne and Tiki Masarla. Then headed down town for a gelato. Had an early night and slept like logs.

17/09/2008
This morning we caught the local bus to Pula. An interesting ride, as we pulled into all the little villages along the way and got a glimpse of everyday life of the people.
Our audio guide tour of the amphitheatre said it was built the same time as the Colloseum but is in better condition . It is a fully intact mini Colosseum which is pretty impressive. The night before Il Divo were being filmed for a DVD in the amphitheatre and the equipment was still there. The roady was packing up and was getting quite frustrated with the locals who weren't taking much notice of his instructions on how the lighting was to be packed and hauling it about there own way.
After the amphitheatre we strolled the circular Old Town which has a roman arch entryway constructed by a woman which was unusual for those times. Michaelangelo lived in Pula for a time and believed it to be the most beautiful roman arch he had seen. We were lucky enough to find a mosaic floor which we beat the tourist groups to - we had it to ourselves.
We got back to Rovinj and I organised by phone our next lot of accomodation in Split with my new best friend, Thomas who sounded very happy to hear from me but not so happy we were arriving at 6am, so is going to leave a door unlocked and the key strategically placed.
The afternoon we spent sauntering around town and enjoyed a coffee at a cafe overlooking the harbour and watched the antics going on between a restaurateur and chef next door. We have learnt not to ask for anything fancy just white coffee and you will get a nice cupaccino.

7pm we were on the bus to Split. Even though it was dark the trip was very spectacular as we travelled the coast road often on a high precipice overlooking well lit coastal towns. It gave the impression you were soaring overhead like an eagle, looking down on a fairyland. It was absolutely breathtaking. I would love to re-live the experience in daylight.
We slept sparodically and would wake to another interesting sight - like an industrial complex at the end of a valley or when we stopped at a town. It was a local bus run so there were lots of stops.
On the bus our el-cheapo fleecy jackets were so versatile, turning int a comfy pillow. After some experimentation, I zipped mine up, then rolled it into a sausage shape and wrapped it around my neck so when my head dropped over to one side I had a cosy cushion. It turned out to be most comfortable.
I awoke a couple of times to find this helmeted head next to me... Bob had pulled half of his over his face to stop the light shining into his eyes.... looked very strange but did the trick!

Rovinj - Croatia

16/09/2008
Rovinj is a very pretty seaside resort town - a little like Venice on a hill. The houses are delightfully ancient and crumbly. The marble cobblestones worn smooth over time are precariously slippery and with the added obstacle of dodging the unexpected moped and motor bike make the going tough for the intrepid pedestrian.
There are a variety of shops and market stalls where the vendors will happily part you from your money. The fruit is sensational so we bought some to munch on while doing our self guided walking tour and took lots of photos.
We joined the many pilgrims and made our way up the steep slippery, winding streets to the basilica of St Euphemia to view the relics (just a wax dummy if you ask me.)
Euphemia was a Christian girl of 15 who refused to convert to pagan worship. So she was tortured on a wheel and then thrown to the lions which refused to eat her. The Romans killed her anyway and her remains were later rescued by Christians. To cut a long story short somehow the relics floated in a large marble sarcophagus all the way to Rovinj and a young boy with 2 calves succeeded in dragging it all the way up the hill to where it is today. Interesting story... if you believe it or not is another thing!
Entertainment is on again in the town tonight. The locals really enjoy a local band with lots of yahooing and whooping along.
We had dinner overlooking the waterfront at an Italian/Bavarian restaurant. There are 3 very similar restaurants all in a row looking for business. Watching the behind the scenes action and our waiters popping up in the restaurant next door was a surprise and obvious they were all the one business.

Travelling to Rovinj

15/09/2008
We went back to the market to pick up some goodies to make our lunch to eat on the bus to Rovinj.
We got to the bus stop and found the bus was already there, although the sign did not say Rovinj. Bob asked the driver if he was going to Rovinj. His expression said it all "another dumb tourist to make my day" sighed and tapped the sign in the window and said "next bus!!" .... okay!
We didn't expect seat allocations on the bus and plonked ourselves in the any old seat. 4 girls wanted to sit together so we had to move. Then a german couple wanted our seats claiming seat allocation. I was slower to move as there was a queue in the aisle by this time. The German man rudely prodded me and motioned to get out of his seat. I pointed at the queue and said he would have to wait until there was room for me to move. Finally, the penny dropped and stopped poking me. I thought it would be pretty obvious what the hold up was. After the musical chairs we ended up with best seats on the bus as our "allocation" was the front with panoramic views of the countryside.
This bus trip was not boring at all as there is so much to see. Beautiful countryside and when we reached the coast the views were spectacular. Each town along the coast was like a part of the French Riviera.
We arrived in Rovinj just after 7pm to gatecrash on the local festivities by the harbour. The locals were enjoying wine and food while watching the school children on stage perform various songs and dances. The atmosphere was very euphoric.
I rang our landlady who said it would take about 10-15 minute walk to our apartment and she would be waiting.... Of course we got lost. Several locals asked if they could help but did not know the address or our landlady who we were seeking. The old town has very windy streets and alley ways, slippery too with cobblestones of marble. Eventually we thought we had the right street and and an old lady arrived at the address with her shopping who we assumed, this was Miranda. Bob was explaining we were the new lodgers and she got a bit of a shock when we followed her up the stairs... Anyway, we had the wrong address. We thought we had found our navigating error but became more and more disorientated and were just about at our wits end when quite by chance a lady said "Yes you have found me at last".... and our landlady wasn't old at all!
We have a little ground floor apartment with a view of the cobbled narrow street with a kitchenette - a bit like a B&B without the breakfast. Our landlady told us we had arrived at a good time as the celebrations were because tomorrow is St Euphemia's day, which is a big thing in Rovinj. Tomorrow morning the church is opened early and people can go and visit St Euphemia as her relics are opened with much fanfare for public viewing. We might notice a lot of people going past in the morning.... Well, yes we did. It sounded like they were coming into our room actually. At the same time it was amazing staying in this place and it really gave you the feeling that you were part of it all and was not disappointing in the least. The bed was not the best as it was a fold out single lounge which had been made to look like a double but actually half of it was the base. We rummaged around in a cupboard and found some spare mattresses so managed to make it more comfortable.