filet – Energy and Time

Croatia days 16-18: Split

September 4th: We flew out of Keflavík with a 5 hour layover in Copenhagen, during which Carol insisted on finding a Danish danish.

After arriving in Split, we got a taxi to our apartment in the old city center. It was small but well-located; there were at least 7 restaurants, 3 ice cream shops, 3 bakeries, and 2 grocery stores within 3 blocks. We got dinner from Kantun Paulina, a renowned street-food vendor only half a block away. They are especially famous for their ćevapi.

Ćevapi is a short sausage, which can be served alone, but usually in a bun with onions or cheese or, most often, bright red ajvar sauce made from roasted red sweet peppers. These buns were fresh-baked and still warm.

The drawback to our central location was that the nightlife and conversations outside our window went on for hours after we crashed.

September 5th: We were expecting to spend most of our time in Split just recovering from our vacation in Iceland.

We had breakfast at Baza. I got the omelet, with a latte and fresh-squeezed orange juice. But then we lazed around till lunch. I think I caught up a little on blogging Iceland.

Carol had a traditional Dalmatian beef stew with gnocchi.

I had a really nice grilled chicken, and a side tub of carrot salad.

The rest of the evening was a blur. Carol crashed, and I probably should have.

September 6th: We toured the area a bit.

a museum to tell you which Game Of Thrones scenes were filmed here

But the main target for the day was Diocletian’s Palace, built around 300 AD, which is the heart of old Split. Since it was only 300 meters from our apartment, a quick tour was obligatory.

medieval churches always tried to outdo the Roman construction

the stairway leading down to the South Gate, which was at dock level so supplies could be directly offloaded into the palace basement

Part of the basement. I think the scene where Arya discovers the dragon skeletons might have been filmed around here.

The important thing to understand about the palace is that it isn’t a ruin, isn’t (just) a tourist attraction. It’s been continuously inhabited since around 300 AD. When the nearby Roman capitol city of Salona was sacked by Avars and Huns in the 7th century, the residents fled here to take refuge inside the palace walls, and Split became the new capitol of Dalmatia. The palace is still the city core. It’s packed with shops and restaurants. It’s lived in.

In the afternoon, I napped while Carol walked down to the ocean and went snorkeling.

But I woke up in time for dinner. 🙂

Dinner was the seafood platter for two at Step By Step restaurant, featuring a whole sea bass, a whole sea bream, tuna filet (under the greens in the middle), scampi, and “mix shells” (mostly clams and mussels), with beer and a fruit smoothie.

Iceland day 13: Golden Circle

After packing up on Heimaey, we had a ferry ride back to the mainland, and then a moderate drive to get into the “Golden Circle”. Our first stop was for lunch at the tomato farm of Friedheimar, which is geothermally heated, artificially lit, and hydroponic. It produces over half of Iceland’s tomatoes. They also have a famous restaurant emphasizing tomato dishes.

They have to import bumblebee hives as pollinators.

The all-you-can-eat tomato soup and bread buffet is the best deal.

The garnishes included sour cream, a shredded cucumber relish, and a live basil plant with scissors so you could cut off and chop up fresh basil leaves.

For dessert, we split an apple and green tomato crisp with whipped cream.

We didn’t try the green- and red-tomato beers.

Next we stopped at Hraunalaug hot springs. It was originally developed as a sheep-washing station.

Next up was the mighty Gullfoss (“Gold Waterfall”) that gives the Golden Circle its name. It was putting out a lot of spray and you couldn’t get within a hundred meters without getting drizzled on.

The upper part of the falls is a series of gentle drops. Almost looks like it would be fun to raft.

But the last drop is gigantic, into a narrow slot canyon.

On to the famous Geysir hot spring area. Geysir itself, the source of the English word geyser, has been dormant for years and only erupts occasionally. But its neighbor Strokkur erupts every 5-10 minutes.

Strokkur in action. It actually goes about twice this high, I just caught it in mid-spurt.

By now it was 20:55 and most restaurants closed at 21:00. We were looking at possibly no food until breakfast. I managed to find one 5-star luxury hotel (Grímsborgir) that was open until 23:30, so we made a beeline for it and were able to order dinner off the very expensive menu. There was a jazz guitar duo playing instrumental versions of standards like Days Of Wine And Roses; they made me miss Tago-san. Carol ordered duck and I ordered the lamb filet. Both were stunningly good, easily the best cooked meal we had in Iceland, so maybe worth the price tag. The wine list was massive with over 60 wines, but we were too tired to try anything.