Split, Croatia

Here we are in Split Croatia. Ron and I and the Hoods took a 14 hour train ride from Vienna two days ago. It was a long time but provided time to see the beautiful scenery. We arrived at Split and checked into the Villa Ana Hotel and Patti and RT were waiting for us having flown in... The small hotel is wonderful-5 rooms in a stone building. We are on the third floor, nice room with 3 windows and ac. The breakfast in the basement was great. Maybe the biggest plus was the clerk Branka. She spoke wonderful English and was full of suggestions and information. One night we called Debbie on Skype. We tried to contact Jerry but he did not answer his phone. We miss them and this is the part of the trip when we were to meet up with them. If you are not familiar with Skype it is a great program that makes telephone calls through the computer. Cheap and great connections.

Split is a lovely old town with Roman ruins. We took a city tour and saw the ruins inside the old Diocletian Palace. The Caesar Diocletian built it in the third century AD, and later retired to it. He died here as did the last of the Roman Caesar’s. Many people still live within these walls. A maze of narrow alleys has shops, restaurants and private homes. Ken and Diane hiked outside the city center and reported ugly suburban sprawl. Split is a tourist town, full of Europeans on holiday arriving by bus, ferry, plane and train. Sitting in the Café’s drinking a coffee or beer and people watching is a treat. Between the Old Town and the Dalmatian Coast is the Riva (waterfront promenade lined with benches and palm trees).

Last night we are seafood in a waterfront restaurant and watched the sea and the sun set. On the way back to the hotel we ate ice cream. Earlier in the day we had visited the fish market situated close to a sulfur spa as the sulfur keeps down the flies.

In less than an hour we leave the Villa Ana for the sailboat. We have a Mooring’s 4600-a 46 foot catamaran with 4 queen sized staterooms, 2 additional berths, and wonderful salon and cockpit spaces. We have sailed a similar, earlier iteration of this boat in the southern Caribbean some years ago. Ron has to get a Croatian sailing license and has been cramming for his exam. Cramming in Croatia always involves beer. We are not sure of the availability of internet connections once we set sail so this may be out last post for a while.

The Crew.