Croatia's Coastline, Part 2 of 3

     As Vicki and I hopscotched down the coast of Croatia, we saw many restaurants and shops that sold "Dalmatia" food and souvenirs. This group of male singers sang traditional Dalmatian songs in an acoustically perfect place at the Diocletian Palace.

Click here to take a listen and see the palace's centuries old vestibule.

     So what is this Diocletian Palace? and what is Dalmatia? In antiquity times, Dalmatia was a tribe before the Croats and Romans arrived. And the palace located in Split was a retirement home built by the Roman Emperor Diocletian (who was a Dalmatian native born to a low status family) at the turn of the fourth century AD.

     The photo above shows what it may have looked like back then; a many-tiered complex. 

Google map satellite shows what this rectangular area looks like today (red pointer shows our apartment location). It's a huge seaside multi-tiered complex.

One of the many "gates" to this complex (above photo).

His retirement home complex is half the city of Split. Some in ruins, and some not.

The Peristyle architecture is very prominent in Split.

Not sure if this statue on a corner wall is old or not . . . . I thought it was cute.

Everywhere we walked, is part of the Diocletian's Palace complex. The cathedral . . .

. . . his collections of artifacts in separate buildings connected by courtyards.

Daytime view above, and night time view below of same courtyard. 

The evening lighting of the complex is beautiful.

And because Split is on a hill, the entire complex is multi-level with many stairs, many twists and turns.

Two days of exploring this huge multi-level many-faceted palace isn't time enough to see it all.

Many of these historic structures contain restaurants and shops, so walking around "the Palace" is like eating, shopping, and living in a museum. This is not a "do not touch" museum.

Close-up of above photo is below.

Electrical, cable, and phone lines are strewn everywhere to bring human daily life to these old structures. For an excellent blog post on how 3,000 permanent residents inside this palace complex are shaping the economy and tourist industry, click here.

View of the exterior perimeter of the complex (below photo), the top floor houses apartments, next to top floor houses restaurants (with outside patio overlooking at busy marina), the bottom floor next to the sea walkway houses more shops and restaurants.

Everywhere is antiquity dining. In the morning when there's not much human traffic, little golf-cart size vehicles deliver supplies and food through the little alleys.

Night-time view below of same building in above photo.

We took a city bus to nearby Trogir. Walking around Trogir's architecture and little alleys is like being a kid exploring a Venetian maze!

The succulents love these old masonry blocks. They grow wild here, getting a start inside a moist crack.

There are no Google maps here!

We took a peek inside the Kamerlengo Castle (below photo). I asked what they're building outside this castle, they said "fudbal" (soccer field). That's what I love about this place! Croatians are living, playing and eating inside, outside, and all around antiquity.

Coming up next, Dubrovnik Old Town. I've saved the best of Croatia's coastline for last. For Game of Thrones fans, you'll recognize this city. It's the main setting for the program's fictional city of King's Landing. No additional props or replica structures were necessary during filming. Just like Zadar and Split, Dubrovnik Old Town is real antiquities, inhabited by humans who have been living, eating and playing for centuries here . . . there are no open-close hours, no entrance tickets, it is a 24/7 community.

Croatia's Coastline, Part 1 of 3

The bulk of Croatia's tourist industry is along the Adriatic Sea -- it's across the pond from Italy. 

    Tourists from Germany, Slovenia, Austria, Italy, and Poland come here not just because of the beautiful sea but also because of the medieval cities along the coast. And, I should add, Croatia also has commercial nudist resorts catering to alittle over one million tourists annually. 

But Vicki and I didn't visit a nudist resort. We hopscotched our way down Croatia's coastline by bus during the last two weeks of September 2018 to visit medieval cities. Our first stop was Zadar. This was our view from our hostel bedroom's window.

It may seem like corny cheap entertainment, but the wide walkways, gorgeous Mediterranean-like weather, and crystal clear water along the coastline are divine!

The photo below is a daylight shot of the circular-shaped solar lights (it's not water where the folks are walking, it's solar panels absorbing the sunlight).

During the night, those solar panels light up and flicker erratically. Someone posted a video of it, click here.

Yes it's cheap entertainment! But delighted tourists and kids made it very enjoyable! and the sea breeze was glorious too. But wait, there's more to this cheap entertainment . . . . the sea organ!

Nearby are steps down to the sea with rectangular holes (above) . . .  and a sidewalk with round holes (below).

The swells and waves along the concrete steps (wake from numerous watercraft) make sounds like a waterpipe. It's similar to whale vocalization. A videographer made a little movie clip about it, click here to see and hear it.

The architecture at Zadar is fascinating. For perspective, see the man in above photo? This is the first floor constructed during the 15th century, the top part (below) is 19th century construction.

Daytime view below . . .

and night-time view.

The old part of the city fortress wall and gate . . . 

Like most European cities, wars destroyed Zadar, they rebuilt, wars destroyed again, they rebuilt . . .

continued below . . . 

I often wonder how constant wars through numerous generations affect one's personality and outlook on life. What is the Croatian psyche?

During the day Vicki and I walked the numerous and delightful alleys . . . 

Stopping to admire fresh produce . . .

Eating dried figs, one of the best snack foods in the world! See how figs are sold with fresh fig leaves? It's the little touches that make a farmers' market fun :)

Visiting the old Cathedral of Saint Anastasia . . .

and peeking inside.

But best of all, eating at restaurants! This outside restaurant with umbrellas overlooks Roman ruins. At night, it's a busy place.

One early evening, we began dinner at a patio with a view of this building.

We spent an hour nursing our drinks until sunset, talking about our former husbands, our parents and our upbringing. See the wall in the background?

Ordered a seafood soup (crayfish looks like it's trying to get out of the bowl!) and an appetizer with sardines. The bread is always wonderful too. I went off my non-gluten diet in Europe.

 Waiters and waitresses by the way, won't give you a check until you ask for it. You can nurse a drink for an hour and sit at a table after you're done eating for another hour, just talking, and they won't present your check until you ask or nod for it. Vicki and I had the most enjoyable conversational dinners along the Croatian coast. The ambience, the food, the service, the weather, even the numerous tourists walking by our table was delightful. And after a wonderful dinner, a seaside stroll to go see and hear the sea organ and light-show . . . simple wonderful fun :)

Further down the coastline, Split is even more enjoyable than Zadar. 

We stayed in the middle of old town Split; our apartment with a kitchen is on the second floor inside door number ten (below, right).  Just finding that little door was an hour's long adventure.

All around us, are confusing mazes of alleys; we got wonderfully lost several times daily. Around the corner from our apartment is a busy noisy fish market, open every day from about 7 AM till 1 PM.

Fresh seafood, have no idea what some of the fish was . . . rays?

 I love sardines.

So I bought about two dozen sardines for about $1 USD, very cheap! Took them back to the apartment and immediately gutted them, removed the head, butterflied them, fried them in pumpkin seed oil. Sardines don't get any better than this, and it's all around the corner, every day except Sunday! I was in heaven :)

So later in the day, I walk over to the fish market, and this is what I see!

That space is rented to a nearby restaurant when the fish vendors leave! They change the props and scenery quicker than a Broadway play! Curtains are hung, paintings are hung along the wall; a romantic dining patio!

Vicki and I are loving those figs; fresh ones too.

     We took a 2-mile stroll through local neighborhoods; old structures remain, dilapidated sometimes, including this old slate roof that might be 300 years old.

Our destination was a "local" beach where residents hang out. The Adriatic Sea is crystal clear.

I took my snorkeling gear and snorkeled. Interesting fish and a few small reefs.

There were more sunbathers than snorkelers or swimmers.

Vicki watched sunbathers play a local game of Picigin. It's an interesting game for old and young folks (click here for explanation).

Could never eat too many grilled crispy sardines, bones and all . . . washed down with a black beer.

Too many wonderful outdoor places to eat . . . 

More Split adventures in my next post . . . .