Split: A Party By the Adriatic
We woke up looking forward to a fascinating day in the city of Split. Split, located on Croatia’s Dalmatian Coast, is known for its beaches and the square fortress-like complex at its center around the Diocletian’s Palace, erected by the Roman emperor in the 4th century.
We had some idea of how fascinating a city it was two evenings back and now it was time to live it up for a full day. Fingers were crossed as the weather was expected to play truant as showers were forecast from noon. Luckily I was forced out of bed early while the clouds were still away as I had to withdraw some cash to pay our land lady.
As I walked out, the gorgeous Adriatic sea welcomed me under the blue skies. I withdrew the cash and headed for the promenade to get the first taste of the sun and the sea.
I walked in the promenade under the sun thinking let me enjoy till it lasts. While the sun was still shining and the sky blue, the sea seems to have not recovered from the rainfall the previous night and wore a shade of grey. Perhaps it had some idea of the impending rain coming at noon and hence was not showing its true colors yet. We quickly got ready and hit the ‘fortress’-like city center around the premises of the Diocletian Palace. It was at its best with the stone walls, the old green windows, narrow lanes and open air cafes.
The tourists were out with their backpacks and cameras and the place looked straight out of a retro film of the 1960s. The signature green windows appeared all over on a number of buildings. 
Of course we are hungry and we settle for a sumptuous cheese omelette breakfast at one of the open air cafes so typical in any European city. As we finish off our breakfast, the first drops of rain fall. There can be no control over the weather so we had to make the most of what we were offered. The place was just too buzzing for the weather to play any kind of spoilsport. The rain is not much yet so we carry on. We click a few more photos and then move on towards the center of the center.
And we reach the Diocletian’s Palace where a huge crowd has gathered. I wonder what is going on. A couple of days back in the late night this place was buzzing with music and dance. This time it was an enactment of a historical scenario of emperor appearing on the courtyard of the palace along with his guard. I could spot some royal armory and the typical red outfit of the guard. We now moved to the area around the palace and it was mostly ruins of the ancient Roman empire. Seldom have I found ruined structures so beautiful and appealing. The last time I found a ruined structure this beautiful was the Colosseum of Rome. In some of the buildings I could see clothes hanging. I wondered if actually people still lived there or these are maintained as heritage structures for people like us to take photographs. After another photo session, it was now a walk through the lanes.
One of these lanes there is a bar cum cafe on the steps, that we pass by. Of course, we are too full to stop by and eat anything so we move ahead. The wonderful journey through the lanes inside the castle continues.
Among other landmarks we spot the statue of Bishop Gregory of Nin at the Giardin park at one of the entrances to the palace premises.
Our next destination is the Marjan Hill where we get to see a magnificent birds-eye view of the city of Split. The way to go there was explained to us by our land lady earlier which we followed. A short walk away from the palace premises took us to another lane which led to some steps indicating to us that we are moving up a slope en route to the hill top. 
We take these steps upwards towards Marjan hill. The rain starts to fall. Luckily we were prepared as we purchased an umbrella from one of the souvenir shops in the city center. The steps provided another gorgeous view of the narrow lanes with stoned buildings, transporting us to the Roman era which features prominently in most history books. 
After a significantly long ride up the steps, we reach Marjan Hill and get this amazing view. Since the place is flocked by lot of people, there is a lovely cafe from where we can sit and enjoy this view. It is still raining and its now more than just a drizzle (The photo above was taken later when the skies cleared out, so it can be a bit misleading). We thought of resting in the cafe for a coffee break but realized that it was quite busy when no one turned up to serve us. We decided to move on with the photo sessions braving the rain. We saw that one could climb further up. We decided to explore, hoping that there would be an even better view from higher up. We reached a point which lead to a park which had more steps to climb. We went on climbing along with two elderly ladies who inspired us. We reached a road but that was it. There was no view so we decided to just head back to the cafe. As we headed down we saw the best possible event unfold – the rains subsiding, the skies clearing and soon the hills at a distance would be visible under the bright blue sky. We just could not ask for more. The gloomy weather made me think that I would come back again the next morning before boarding our flight just to get this view under bright sunshine. We would not need to do that now. It was a welcome mood change and we now duly sat at the cafe to have a wonderful sumptuous lunch. We continued with our photo sessions post lunch. The clear skies made the view more breathtaking. Due to the rains, we were deprived of one of the main attractions of Split, the beach. Though it was a bit late in the day we decided to make a dash for it to get a feel. We took the short cut down and soon we were on the harbor side. 
We started walking towards the beach but gave up after a while as it was a bit far and it made little sense at the time of the day. The main beaches around Split are anyways in the islands which need to be reached by ferry. It was now time to head back to the hotel for some much needed rest to gear up for the evening session. The weather was most pleasant. It was the ideal setting for the evening.
Evening sessions are always booked by my wife for shopping. The city center area had some wonderful local markets to shop around for some beautiful souvenirs. The entire area was alive to the core with all shops open and doing great business. While my wife shopped I headed to the promenade which was full of life with wonderful live music.
I sit quietly by the sea side and enjoy the wonderful live music on a wonderful evening. Sure this city knew how to party and enjoy. The promenade was a wonderful place to be. It was well lit up with a number of souvenir shops adding to the touristy atmosphere. We had dinner at one of the restaurants at the promenade. I was too happy to go through the entire trip without Indian food and not missing it at all. It was no time to wind up though. We made one more round of the ‘fortress’ and enjoyed watching the crowds at the never ending parties in the narrow lanes. 
The best part of it all was at the Diocletian palace where the music was in full swing. A crowd gathered, with some dancing to the tunes of the guitar being played. It was the best possible atmosphere to be in. We enjoyed the music for a while, started exploring the lanes once again and when we were finally convinced that there was nothing more to cover, we decided to call it a day and head back to our apartment.
The good news of the next day was the weather forecast. It was going to bright and sunny – basically the ‘real’ Split is going to show up. The bad news was of course that we had our flight back to London at 2 PM which meant that at the maximum we could enjoy the Split sunshine till noon. Luckily our land lady booked a cab to drop us at the airport so we could have the maximum possible time to enjoy. We landed up in a make-the-most-out-of-it situation. Despite our best efforts, we could only hit the streets at 10 AM. The day was something else. How much of a difference the sun makes, we wondered. The Adriatic was at its blue-est and everything seemed to be brighter than the day before.
The promenade looks more beautiful today with the bright blue sea at the background. The change in the shade of the water is clearly evident. We rue the fact that we encountered the rain the day before. This was an ideal day to go island hopping on a ferry but we just did not have the time. There were island trips which were as short as one hour but did not even have time for that. I thought at least I should visit a beach. Coming to Croatia and not seeing the beach would be some sort of a missing link. We first had breakfast in one of the cafes at the city center premises close to the palace after which I walked towards the beach.
I walked to the beach which was a makeshift one. The real beaches need to be visited by ferry and are a bit far from the city center. Due to the presence of the harbor, this was not really the open sea and hence the lack of a proper beach. It was still great to get a feel of the bright blue water and watching people swimming with a sip of beer. After basking in the sunshine for a while, I realize its time to head back as its close to noon.
As I walk back with a heavy heart, I sign off with this gorgeous view of Marjan Hill where we were a day earlier. The Adriatic has an even deeper shade of blue now. Its time for us to go now. We pack our bags and luckily the cab driver finds us at the apartment so we start off for the airport without any hassle. A sea-side airport awaited us making the departure all the more painful.
The airport provided some stunning view with the mountains behind the tarmac. The Easyjet aircraft looks more beautiful with the mountain backdrop. The sea was at the other side. 
How could the sea be missed? One last look at the Adriatic as we take-off for Cologne, Germany en route to London Heathrow. We go on following the Adriatic until the clouds came into effect. We would never have enough of it, can we?
