Coincidentally, two guys Luke works with had gone to Croatia a month before we did. They gave us some tips and pointers for our trip. We were pleasantly surprised with the little town, and really enjoyed ourselves as we had heard some mixed reviews. We both easily agreed we could have spent a week in this little place, mostly to use it as a base for exploring other areas, but we just enjoyed the town itself.
After our boat ride, we still didn't get to do much because it was late, and we were hungry. We went back to our hotel to change and found dinner at FIFE which ended up being amazing and so cheap! For about 158HRK ($23), we stuffed ourselves with way too much food and drinks. This place was like eating in America - way too much food, good service, and inexpensive. After dinner, we were so tired from an early morning and a long day, so we went back to the hotel for the night.
On Thursday, we woke up ready for our only full day in Split! We took major advantage of it and did everything we could. We headed first for Diocletian's Palace which was basically an old town surrounded by walls. It was fun to wander in the narrow pedestrian streets and get lost. The Roman palace became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. The palace is not very big, so it was easy to hit the edge of the wall and wander outside the walls for a bit.
{literally inside the palace walls}
We decided to head on up the main tower to get some views of the city. It was a good climb up, but there was a nice breeze at the top. I almost had a heart attack though when a guy decided to stand outside of the little windows... I couldn't look, it freaked me out too much!
Making our way back down, we headed to Marjan Hill. We had seen a flag pole while up in the tower, so that was our goal. We had some wonderful views along the way, but we realized that the flag pole was way too far away so we gave up on that idea. We took the walk down the back side of the hill along a street and got views on both sides which was nice.
Exercise is rewarded with food and drinks so we went back into the Palace for lunch at Korta. Luke loved his octopus salad so much he took a picture of it! That's pretty huge because he makes fun of anyone that takes pictures of their food. I am pretty sure he is licking his computer screen right now as he reads this...
After eating, we headed for the beach. But it was so crowded, we just took a walk along the water, got too many glimpses of people wearing not enough clothes, and sat along the water front for a few drinks.
After drinks, we needed to clean up from the heat that was beaming down on us all day, so we got a few road beers and went back to the hotel for a few minutes. And hunger struck us again, so we did a first for our travels and returned to FIFE. I always hear of people who go back to the same restaurant while traveling and I never understood why, but this one made complete sense! Funny story: We sat at a picnic table with an old Italian couple and Luke was so thrilled to use his limited Italian on them. I have never seen him so proud of himself :-) After dinner, we wandered around a little bit more in the Palace stopping off for a few more drinks before heading back for the night.
Since we were able to take a little nap on the way back, we had a bit of energy for the evening. We got back around 5:30pm, cleaned up, then headed out for one last night of Split wandering. We had dinner just inside the Palace at Mazzgoon which was really good but more than twice as expensive as FIFE (but let's be honest here, it was still only half the price of a normal meal Britain). We found some bars outside of the palace, and just enjoyed out last evening.
On Saturday morning, we headed to the bus station to get on our 11:45am bus to Dubrovnik. Although we did not get to do everything we wanted while in Split, we had a wonderful time, and are highly considering going back this year. Croatia has easily become one of our favorite countries!
We had enough time while in Split to do a day trip. Luke really wanted to visit the Plitvice National Park but that was a bit too far away for our liking. It was possible, but we really didn't want to do a 14 hours day trip. After asking around and doing a bit of research, Krka National Park was going to be enough excitement. The main purpose of our visit was to see the waterfalls at Skradinski buk, and I figured it was best and easiest to go with a tour group. I chose the "Swimming Beneath Krka Waterfalls" tour with Opcija Tours, but there were a few others that seemed just as good. To be honest, I can't remember why I chose this company, and if I am going to be really honest, I probably chose this one due to the price.
We departed around 8:45am with a group of about 20 other people from all over Europe. Luke and I were so impressed with our tour guide as he spoke every single language in our group - Croatian, English, German, Spanish, Russian, and Italian - and I am willing to bet he speaks several more. Impressive! The tour guide chatted with us a bit, learning a few things about our country and where we come from. We had a beautiful coastal view for a good part of the journey.
On our way to Krka, we stopped in Sibenik for a little city tour. Sibenik is the only city on Adriatic founded by the Croatians. It was a very small and quiet town, and is the home to a UNESCO World Heritage site, St James Cathedral. We visited the cathedral which was under some major preservation work.
Our tour guide told us a bit about the town and let us go wander alone for a few minutes before departing again. Luke and I decided to venture up the stairs where we were told we could get a great view from the fort. Unfortunately, we couldn't find the fort and too many walls blocked our view, so those stairs ended up being extra exercise.
Moving along, the bus arrived to Krka National Park a short time later. As it is a National Park, there was an entrance fee to get in, but it was included in our tour, so it made things very easy. I have heard that it can be a bit difficult to visit the park on your own, so that was the purpose of the tour. We hopped out of the bus and followed a waterway to the park map. I thought the little waterfall here was really pretty, but boy was I in for a surprise!
Our guide explained a few things to us about the pathways and the best ways to navigate. He said we could follow him if we wanted or go by ourselves. He gave us a meeting time and set us free. The only free toilets were at this location, so we made good use of those before walking on. We saw a large group of people huddle by some trees, so we meandered over there for a spectacular view!
The guide made the recommendation to walk clock-wise around the pathways meaning we would go down lots of steps immediately, and the loop back around would be a slight uphill climb. Taking the stairs down wasn't an easy task though as lots of groups were going up and the path wasn't very wide. But it gave us an excuse to go looking over edges at more views of the waterfalls. And at least we were going down rather than up!
At the bottom of the steps, we came to a small bridge over the water which was packed with people taking pictures. One side had a calm pool of crystal clear water with a few people swimming. The other side had the waterfall and lots of people walking very very slowly in the water.
We set our things down to go for a swim... this is why we are in Croatia after all. As soon as we got ten feet in, we realized why everyone was walking so slowly - the water was gushing and it was impossible to walk without holding on to the giant rocks that lay on lake bottom. Any misstep would send you ten feet away. We had some awkward moments with strangers a few times as either they misjudged their step or we did and ended up, well, "dancing" with them in the water. We plopped down on a rock to hold on and sat to enjoy the view of the waterfalls.
Being a little paranoid about our things not being watching by anyone we trust, we decided to get out of the water. We laid in the sun for a while, had a beer and some lunch, then decided to make the gradual trek back to the top of the waterfalls.
The wooden walkway was like a real life waterworld. It was very cool! Water surrounded us for the majority of the walk back. We came across a few small waterfalls and also had more views of the major ones. We eventually caught up with the rest of our tour group. And of course, the journey back home required a little nap in the bus.
I can't say the actual tour was that great, but those waterfalls were AMAZING and totally worth the day! I couldn't believe how much water was gushing over those cliffs... and I still don't understand where it all comes from (even though that was explained to me). It was just so much water! I would love to see more waterfalls in my lifetime, but of course I have a mental list of more to see at some point :-) Luke just doesn't know it yet.
RANDOM FACT:
In the summer, the rate of flow at Skradinski buk is around 18 cubic meters (4,755 gallons) per second, and in the winter it is around 43 cubic meters (11,359 gallons).
