October 5th: Our B&B came with breakfast, which turned out to be coupons for a bakery two blocks away
Carol got a fruit pastry, and I got a croissant sandwich. Note the wiggly spoon hooked over the cup rim.
Fontanella is an ancient town, going back at least to a fort built in the 5th century.
La Porta di Sopra, part of the ancient boundary wall (but possibly remodeled at a later date).The master tower complex.It has a moat.The inner courtyard.
We chose to drive back roads through this part of Italy, which is rated very high for “quality of life”. We stopped for lunch at a random restaurant, but the food was excellent.
First course. Carol is a gnocchi-holic, but I opted for the squid pasta. Both the gnocchi and pasta were handmade.We split one second course. Veal, in a lemon-caper-mint sauce that was amazing.
After lunch, we walked around the town square and got some gelato.
The weather cleared up to merely cloudy as we continued our long drive to Duino. But we arrived around 7 PM, and it was hard to find an open restaurant. We finally ate at Dama Bianca down by the water.
September 13th: We started by grabbing breakfast at the bakery near the bus station.
A slice of meat pie, and an apple pastry
Bakeries all over Croatia are multi-purpose. They’re breakfast places, and early morning coffee shops, as well as serving desserts and breads. (This was also true in Iceland.) One breakfast staple is a flaky deep pie with either cheese or ground meat inside.
The main task for the day was for me to find a medical clinic and get a blood test that I usually have once a month. My doctor insisted. 🙂 The first clinic I visited could not do the test, but directed me to one that could.
Me at the first clinic, waiting to be told that the test could not be done here.
On the way to the second clinic, we passed a “pyroshop” claiming to sell “pirotehnika”. My head swum with fantasies of hundreds of new ways to make fire. But sadly, it was only selling sporting goods like bicycles and scuba masks.
When we reached the second clinic, I had to show my vaccination certificates again, and wait a bit, but the doctor doing the blood draw was very professional. The charge for the test was 65 kuna (= about $10.72). That’s the full price; I was a foreigner with no applicable health insurance. Results were emailed to me in a little under 2 hours, about the same time as the Express Lab in Fort Collins takes. Makes “socialized medicine” (= “affordable health care”) start to sound reasonable.
The only minor snag was that “prothrombin time” was abbreviated PV, not PT. Because the Croatian word for “time” is “vrijeme”, naturally. So “PT/INR” became “PV/INR”.
Zadar is the oldest continuously-inhabited Croatian city, going back further than just Roman times (when it was called Jadera). The easiest way to get to the Old Town was to walk further out the harbor and cross over on a foot bridge.
Random columns dot the landscape. I just column like I see ’em.The old city gate and walls.I found the local EDM bar, but it was too early for anyone to be dancing.
Finding lunch took a long time. We could have just eaten near where we were – there were at least 2 open restaurants – but Carol was fixated on a particular street-food restaurant, so we walked a kilometer to get there. But it wasn’t open yet, and there was nothing near it, so we ended up walking almost back to where we started, through sights we had already seen. I think we need to start taking that “bird in the hand” idea a bit more seriously.
Carol had some mammal with gnocchi, and I had the seafood pasta.
Our main goal for the afternoon was the Museum Of Ancient Glass.
Bulk glass raw material, from a shipwreck near Mljet, 2nd century ADAn optical illusion mosaic “Old man and young boy”, made from glass tiles. Don’t see the young boy? Try turning it upside down.
The theme of the main exhibit was originals and imitations.
On raised stand, a glass bowl with ribs, 1st century AD. Below, 3 attempts to imitate it.Some ancient tableware sets were all-glass, including plates, bowls, cups, vases, and jugs for wine and oil and vinegar.
Some public benches in Zadar are for sitting, but some are for lying back and resting.
Remains of the Roman forumFor dinner, I had “mixed shells”, mostly clams and mussels but with a few razor shells. Carol went for the seafood risotto.
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 local fish marketa 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.
the West Gatea looted Egyptian sphinxmedieval churches always tried to outdo the Roman constructionthe stairway leading down to the South Gate, which was at dock level so supplies could be directly offloaded into the palace basementPart of the basement. I think the scene where Arya discovers the dragon skeletons might have been filmed around here.some ancient mosaic workthe East Gatethe North Gate from insidethe North Gate from outside
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.
Energy and Time 