Split, Croatia

After leaving Venice, the ship sailed to Split in Croatia. The main reason we selected this cruise was that it was in an area we had not explored before and it is much easier getting to these places by sea rather than road.

Split is a historic town, named after a type of broom that is native to the area. It is home to ther ruins of Diocletian's palace. We decided not to stay in town and had booked a hiking trip to Krka falls.

First, a sunrise over the Adriatic.

A Roman aqueduct with greenhouses below.

It was cloudy with bits of sun as we started. The drive was beautiful but most of my photos have a reflection from the interior of the bus.

These two are slightly overexposed photos of the river as we climbed to the falls.

We were dropped off the bus and walked past this pretty spot to the little village and the boardwalk that goes to the falls.

A map of the area.

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There is a little reconstructed village at the top of the boardwalk. A water driven mill is an interesting place to visit. The other buildings have been turned into a cafe and tourist shop and other amenities. But they've kept the place looking untouched. The modern restrooms are in a hollow that you walk down to so they are out of sight.

A little fake donkey to show how people traversed these hills in the past.

There are many waterfalls here. This is the one near the mill. You can see some other small ones in the reflection photos above.

After walking through the mill, we went to a lookout spot where we could see some of the falls.

Looking out below the falls.

We set off on the boardwalk. It was supposed to be one-way. You go out and around to the bridge with the best view and then return. In the process, you go down a number of steps and then have to come up a steeper flight at the end. But there were people who circumvented this process. So we had to contend with crowding on the narrow boardwalk and people going both ways on the steps.

Crossing this bridge is the first step.

The water is very clear.

Walking past calm, shady, serene spots.

Looking up at the canopy of trees with the sun shining through them.

Looking down to see the canopy reflected in the water.

Past many little falls. The river is a braided stream here, with many little rivulets that wax and wane as the water level increases and decreases. There are times in the spring when the boardwalk is flooded.

There were wildflowers in bloom.

At one view point, you can see the little village on the other side with the falls in between.

Finally, one ends up on a bridge with a spectacular view of the main falls.

After crossing the bridge, one winds one'e way up a flight of stairs with more view points to look at the falls from different angles.

Along the way, we found this.

A final couple of views of the river as we start our journey back to Split. This was a beautiful location and I loved how calm it was even with lots of people around.

I captured a few more photos from the bus to show the landscape around. It was mountainous but also very populated.

We came back to the Adriatic in the distance with Split sprawled across the hills leading to it.

The clouds had turned into rain clouds and it was spitting water as we came back to Split. However, we didn't hang around on the ship. We headed into town to see the ruins.

This is the Silver Gate. The other gates are Gold and Bronze and one more which I don't remember. This is the most striking one. There are shops all along the outside.

We didn't climb the tower. It was extremely windy and raining a bit so we were just walking around trying not to slip on the marble tiles and absorbing the ambiance of the place. It isn't very big but there is a lot to see.

At this point, the wind was really bad and while it wasn't raining hard, it was blowing sideways into us. Looking out from the ruins to a modern street.

Underneath the ruins, there is a crypt and a spot where they put garbage. This room is a treasure trove for archeologists. The rest of the underground space is devoted to shops and it was crowded due to the rain and wind outside.

This is the Bronze gate. It is between two shops. We exited through it.

The street outside is right on the water and lined with palm trees. It would have been a nice spot to linger had the weather cooperated.

 Looking out at the harbor and the ships in it. The Dalmatian coast has a lot of islands and there is a government ferry service that goes to the various islands. There are also speed boats that one can take to a specific island. Some are inhabited and others are not.

We headed back to the ship which was just to the left of that last photo and got ready for the next day which was going to be a long one.