Arrival in Split: Out of 5 Stars, I give it 6

 

Oh. Split. Divine. Mama like. 

(...is what I texted to our travel agent, Tamara after two hours in Croatia)

We didn’t arrive in Split until 10pm (22.00), and during the short ride from the airport, I wondered if I would be able to feed my family dinner so late at night.

SNORT!

Nightlife was in full swing when our driver dropped of us on the Promenade, with another porter guiding us the last few minutes through the alleys to our hotel.  We quickly changed for a night on the town and set off to find the perfect place to dine.  In our case, perfect meant “Pizza, pasta, and something good for the adults”.  We found just the spot and quickly embraced the late night dinner schedule.  Dinner was good, but really just fuel for some more exploring.  

A note about Split. The Diocletian Palace (grayed area on the map) IS old town, if one can call 1700 year old walls merely "old". It is not a vast area, but with only side streets and alleyways, once can quickly add to the day's mileage. It is wondefully cluttered with gelato stands and hole-in-the-wall stores adn patio restaurants. [Our hotel is the red star I  scribbled on the map.] 

Dwayne and I were already well charmed before we turned a corner and came across this:

People were sitting on steps, drinking wine and enjoying the ambiance that an ancient Roman-built palace square effortlessly radiates.  I was determined Dwayne and I, sans children, would be back the next evening.

This is what a professional, stolen-from-the-internet picture of the Diocletian Palace looks like:

Not too shabby, eh?

Our marvelous travel agent booked us a very fine hotel right in Old Town, just a few minutes meandering from this gorgeous center.

More, more, more tomorrow.