Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Split, Croatia

Monday we were at sea. It was a beautiful day and we welcomed a day of rest, with a little exercise walking laps in the top deck running track.

Yes, we were wearing our team colors.  The Seahawks had just lost, and the Sounders were playing that night.  We bought expensive shipboard Internet minutes so we could keep track. Oh, and that night, the Sounders won the Supporters Shield, awarded to the team with the best record for the season.  Now we are in the play offs, and back here in Seattle, we were at the stadium last night to see the Sounders advance to the Western Conference finals! 

 It was formal night.  This is about as dressed up as it gets for me.

Our first port of call was split, Croatia.
Here the Roman Emperor Diocletian build a retirement palace beginning in 293 AD. He lived in the palace until his death in 313.  During that time he began to brutally persecute Christians, especially several church leaders from this area. 

Because of it's defensible fortifications, the palace enclave remained a refuge against various tribes after the fall of the empire, and it became an important commercial port. 

We entered the city through an open air market, and then in through a gate in the old walled palace.




We visited St. Domnius Cathedral, originally Doicletian's Mausoleum. Poetic justice abounds as the church is now the final resting place of the bishop the Emperor had killed.

 We climbed the bell tower for great views of the city and managed some wicked stone steps before reaching the metal scaffolding. 





We prowled inside the walls, through alleys and shops, past old Roman walls.



 And down into the cellars that over the ages became filled with rubbish and have served as rich archaeological digging as they have been cleared out and restored.  Digging continues.


 We explored outside the walls and found the fish market.

 The Venetians were here at one point, and built this. 
 Cats became a common theme.  Feral cats were everywhere on our cruise stops.

 We lunched on local cheese, ham, bread and beer at a cafe near the harbor.  We luckily chose to sit under cover because the sky looked threatening, and yes, the rains came while we were enjoying our lunch.  That would be the end of the good weather for a while.


We sailed away in the late afternoon.  On to the next port.

12 comments:

  1. We loved Croatia when we were on our Mediterranean cruise. The old fortress city with its marble streets and narrow passageways was fascinating. We had trout in a little cafe out away from the city near a big lake. It is really a beautiful place with lots of ancient history.

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  2. How fortunate to see Croatia, especially at this time. Did you feel any political tension? Lovely architecture.

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  3. What wonderful pictures you have shared. The ability to travel is a real blessing.

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  4. Impressive! I also enjoyed looking at the flowers, as well as the architecture. And congratulations to the Sounders! :-)

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  5. I never watch soccer but just happened to catch the Sounders in the last few minutes as they won the game. Thought of you two.
    Such amazing history in these places and unusual architecture. What a thrill this must have been for you.

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  6. It's amazing that all the buildings wee made from stone. It's mind boggling as to how much work went into each building.

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  7. Hard to imagine life that long ago but they were good architects and their stuff lasted when it was cared for.
    It must be a popular cruise ship stop as there were many boats in one of the photos.

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  8. David and I visited Croatia in 1990. We saw Medugoria, Dubrovnik, and Zagreb. We had a good time.

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  9. It looks like such a beautiful and amazing place! I don't have the money to travel, but thanks to kind people like yourself who share their lovely photos of different places, I feel like I am visiting myself. So thank you very much for sharing.

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  10. Remember what I said about thinking alike? You and I even have very, very similar cruise dresses.

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