Monday in Korcula, Tuesday in Split

Just two hours north of Dubrovnik, as the ferry flies, lies the island of Korcula, along with it's old town, also named Korcula. Korcula is sometimes called a mini-Dubrovnik. During the time of the Venetian empire, this was its southern-most outpost in the Adriatic. 

As you walk through the main city gate, Veliki Revelin, you can see the lion of Venice in the center, flanked by the Doge of Venice on the left, and the Rector of Korcula on the right.

The old town is on a peninsula, and its streets are arranged like a fish skeleton. The central street is its spine, and the east-and-west facing streets branching off are its ribs. The street were designed to maximize shade and to allow breezes to cool the city down. It really works.

Since Korcula was an outpost of Venice, the main church in town is Saint Mark's Cathedral, named after Venice's patron saint. Above the main door you'll find a statue of St. Mark, along with Adam and Eve on either side.

The town was much less crowded that Dubrovnik, and much cooler. You can see the marks of a civilized city; Coca Cola advertising (banned during Communism) and ash trays on every table, even in the nicest restaurants. Not Kathy's favorite thing; she keeps a fan in her purse to fan the smoke right back to anyone who has the temerity to light up at the table next door.

We only stayed one night on Korcula, so we had to check out by 11:00 am. Our ferry didn't leave for Split until 3:00 pm. We left our luggage at the hotel, and we walked up to the Tommy supermarket on the hill, where we could look out over the old city.

The ferry from Korcula to Split was smaller than the one we took from Dubrovnik yesterday. 

On this ferry, we had to stow our luggage outside as we got on board. The seats, though, were very comfortable. Both of us (and half the rest of the passengers) fell asleep.

When we arrived in Split, we headed straight for our rooms. We're staying at Grgur Ninski Rooms, just inside Diocletian's Palace, next to the statue of Grgur Ninski, appropriately enough. This is the nicest room we've had so far. It's roomy, with good air-conditioning, and it's right in the center of everything. 

We have yet to meet the owner. He used WhatsApp to send us the door code, and left the keys to the room in the door. He also sent us some recommendations for dinner. It was after 5:00 pm and we both felt like we'd better eat before looking around. For starters, Kathy had some split-pea soup and I had a crispy chicken salad. We kept switching plates when the waiter wasn't looking. (We didn't want him to think that we were uncultured!)

For the main dishes, I had the traditional leg of lamb with peas, while Kathy had sea bass with a side of truffle sauce. This meal was our one big splurge, so far. (Tomorrow we'll return to our frugal ways.)

After dinner, we walked the half-block to the Peristyle, the main square in Diocletian's Palace. There still were quite a few people about. We're going to come back tomorrow and visit the cellars and the church (if it's open). 

After one last selfie, the solemn obligation of every modern tourist.

On our way back our room, we continued with our "Somebody Feed Phil" pilgrimage with a stop at Gelateria Emiliana, where there is always a line and gelato is 2E a scoop. I had one scoop of limon-lavender, and one scoop of peach-rose. Kathy had one of pistachio and another of chocolate.  

Visiting St. Burek

Tuesday morning we left our rooms late, because I couldn't seem to get my computer on WiFi, even when I created a hot-spot with my phone. I had an anxious hour as I tried everything I could think of, and then finally realized that my computer was on "airplane mode". I didn't even realize that my computer had an airplane mode.

For breakfast we received vouchers to eat at the Lvxor, right on the Peristyle. I had yogurt, fruit, and granola, while Kathy stuck with bacon, eggs, and a green salad.

After breakfast we walked past the statue of Grgur Ninski ...

... where Kathy rubbed his toe for good luck, along with all the other tourists. (Actually, she only did it because I insisted.) Our guidebook said that we should avoid visiting the palace at 9:00 am, since that's when the cruise ships arrived. It encouraged us to find interesting secondary sights.

I was tempted by this museum, the largest collection of stuffed frogs in the world, but Kathy vetoed that.

Instead, we walked across town to Chipoteka Split, an electronics store where we replaced our European iPhone charger plug, which had gone bad. We also bought a second battery and made the obligatory stop at Tommy. Then, we walked back to Marmontova street, which bound the north-west corner of the palace. Kids played at the fountain named "The Teacup" where a hand spouted water from the city walls ...

... only to be caught by a three-foot "teacup" placed on the sidewalk. It was fun.

It was after noon by this time, and I convinced Kathy that we needed to continue our "Somebody Feed Phil" tour with a visit to St. Burek.

From Wikipedia: "Börek or burek is a family of pastries or pies found in the Balkans, Middle East, and Central Asia. The pastry is made of a thin flaky dough such as filo with a variety of fillings, such as meat, cheese, spinach, or potatoes." We had one slice of meat and one of spinach. Our total bill, with two cokes, was 20E. We can use our change to stop on the way back to our room at Emiliana, where I had peach and pistachio, and Kathy had cheesecake and mango.

After our siesta, we'll go out again and see the cellars of Diocletian. But that's a story for tomorrow.