After a couple of days waking up too early by cars or churches we not only decided it was time for some relaxation but also a hot shower.

Normally one can take a dip in the lake or the sea (with a shower afterwards) but now it’s a bit too cold to have bathing sessions in natural pools. Which means when we park & crash we do not have a shower nor do we have a toilet. We do have freedom but sometimes you want to smell good while feeling free right? 

Split, the second largest city of Croatia

So, we drive to this beautiful medieval Roman city of Split. Well not all of Split is nice to be honest, but the old town is amazing. Cute tiny alleys that are connected through squares and two or three bigger streets. It’s a lot smaller than Venice but one can get lost here a bit as well. It’s amazing to walk through a city which is truly built by the Romans.

I mean Roma is great right? One of my favourite cities. But it’s different. Over centuries Rome is built by so many people, the true old city centre is lost. But not in Split.

Split still has the Roman stronghold in tact. Yeah, much has been restored, but it’s still there, with the houses, squares and pillars. Now of course the streets are filled with souvenir & shoeshops, oh and not to forget the many sunglasses you can buy here. A heaven for me because my sunglasses break the moment I touch them.

However, no need for new sunglasses now, neither are we here to shop for shoes or souvenirs. We are here to get lost and so we find a synagogue and Muslim centre next to each other inside the old stronghold. Oh how I love when things come together in one place. It shows we do have the ability to live as one humanity with love towards one another. 

Anyway, you won’t get lost for too long here cause all the alleys and tiny streets are connected. After a while you will either end up at the gate of the stronghold or at one of the squares inside it. It’s not that big so it won’t take you hours to see it.

No sight of Corona

To really explore and experience of course one must drink a coffee and watch the people. And it’s easy to watch people cause it’s not as crowded as it used to be when tourists were all over this place, so one can actually see the locals. Then again, it is crowded considering the moment of time we are in. While in The Netherlands the worries regarding Corona are increasing instead of decreasing, here in Croatia it feels like Corona is as far away as the country it came from. The market is full of people, the sun is shining so the terraces are full, and people are enjoying their day shopping. For shoes and sunglasses of course. The only shops that are empty are the souvenir shops. So one can imagine how people in these shops treat us 😉

Anyway, we love to mingle, thus drink a coffee while the lady next to us is screaming to someone on her phone and at the same time trying to make sure her kids don’t fall off the steps of the stairs. I always wonder why these Romans made such huge steps. Were they so big? That can’t be it. Maybe they used the stairs like we do now; sitting on the steps while drinking a coffee. 

It’s leave o’clock

When the church bells ring it’s time for us to leave. Oh no, will that be our connotation with church bells from now on? When the church bells ring it’s ‘leave o’clock’! Don’t worry, Yuri still peaks into every church we come across. He loves the fact that churches always did their best to make it look amazing. The architecture of churches, outside and inside, is amazing according to Yuri. And to many others. I also like the buildings but when I enter, I do not feel the enlightenment of religion but the burden of how many life’s it cost to build it and to keep the church in power. From wars initiated by the church to mercenaries who impose their religion onto others and crusaders protecting treasures stolen by the church to a pope that believes homosexuality is a sin. But I have to be honest, many churches have incredible huge halls decorated with beautiful paintings of the most famous bestseller of all times. I also love the colours when the sun shines through the windows. But still, I often skip entering. 

Musings about historical events

Back to the Romans. Not a very friendly people but they did mighty things. Is that it? If you want to be mentioned in history books you must do unkind things? Think about the golden age of the Dutch, the start of New York, the Templars. Or what about Abel Tasman, Christopher Columbus and Hernán Cortés great explorers also great in doing whatever they wanted if it gave them a title or money. Anyway, the Romans did leave amazing structures behind. Something which we now love to visit and walk through. I do wonder how many people were beheaded at squares and how many weddings were celebrated at the same square. We always talk about history. What would it be like to walk through here when it was just built? How would it be like to build this? Would it feel safe when there was war? Would it feel alright when it was winter and there was an outbreak of the pest? Would there have been knights going through these streets with their horses? 

Camping Split

After our usual musings about the past it was time to get Alexine out of here and onto a campsite. Which was near so we only had to drive about 10 minutes. We chose a campsite at the sea and luckily for us there was a beautiful spot directly at the beach. Made for us! 

Surrounded by white German campers we attracted a lot of visitors right away. People curious about the beautiful van asking us where we are from and how old she is. Something you normally don’t ask a lady but when it’s a car “the older the more beautiful” but also the more unreliable. More on that later, for now we found the right spot to get our white skin brown and give the bags under our eyes a rest. Oh and of course that hot shower I started this post with. We got a wrist band for 7 showers!!! (We want to stay for 1 night) a bit too much, or are we smelling that bad? Maybe it’s my hair. However, after one shower (of 7 minutes max. they time it) we already feel so much better. The sun is shining, lots of seagulls are making a nice spectacle in the bay and we are sitting in our retro camping chairs drinking a glass of wine. 

This is the life! See you in a couple of days.

Love Milene & Yuri