Wednesday in Split, Thursday in Zadar

The last great Roman persecution of Christians took place at the end of the reign of  Emperor Diocletian. Born a commoner in Dalmatia, he joined the army and rose through the ranks and was proclaimed Emperor by the troops in Persia after the death of Emperor Carus (I'd never heard of him either!) On May 1, 305, Diocletian (who called himself Jovius, or Jove Jr.) became the first Roman emperor to voluntarily abdicate. He built a remarkable palace/fortress, five miles from his home town of Solana, in what is now Split. He lived out his retirement tending to his vegetable gardens.

When Rome fell, the surrounding population often dismantled the temples and monuments, treating them as simply another source of pre-quarried stone. Split was different. Salona, Diocletian's home town was the Roman capital of the province of Dalmatia. When Salona was sacked by the Slavs and Avars (nope, never heard of them either!), the Roman citizens of Dalmatia fled to Diocletian's fortified palace, and moved right in. Here are a few of them in the Peristyle, where they eke out a living posing for pictures with tourists.

The people who settled in the upper floors of the palace, drilled holes in the floor and tossed their garbage and sewage through them. "What a great place," they thought. "It has its own built-in garbage disposal." In the 1960s, archeologists realized that they had a centuries-old midden heap. Digging went on for the next few decades, with the eastern cellars being opened to the public in the 1990s. (I've been told that Daenerys kept her dragons there, but I don't know what that means.)

Kathy and I spent the afternoon visiting the basements of the palace. At first, we were impressed with how large they were, but then we listened to a guide explain how each room was actually two stories high. The wooden beams that Kathy is standing by would be placed in the upper holes you can see on the side of the wall, and planks laid across them to make the upper floor.

After several hours underground, we were ready to see daylight once again, so we climbed the stairs to Diocletian's foyer. (I'm not sure it's really called that. If you want to see all of the underground pictures, you'll find them here.)

Leaving his living quarters, here is what Diocletian would see when he stood on his balcony as Jovius, four times a year. Except, of course, that there would be no medieval city at the end of the Peristyle, but just a wide processional lane leading to the Golden Gate, or the front of his palace.

After touring the palace, we were ready for our final stop on our Somebody Feed Phil pilgrimage: Kantun Paulina for Cevapi sandwiches, made with small sausages, which are popular throughout the Balkans. We weren't that impressed. Kathy didn't like the meat, and I thought that they weren't as flavorful as, say, a gyros. They were certainly inexpensive, and now we can say we tried them.

In the morning, I got up early to go walkabout. To get out of the palace, I went through the basements. The shops that rent space there had hired a guard to make sure nothing was stolen, but as I walked out to the Riva, I could see that he was fast asleep. Not a morning person, I guess.

Out of the palace, I walked around the bay, meeting only a few people, and enjoying the sunrise over the palace. When I got back, I wandered around, trying to walk the parts of the palace that I hadn't yet seen. 

I found the statue of St. Anthony the Hermit, and made it back to the room as the sunlight was just lighting up the bell tower.

After breakfast, we packed up. The air conditioner in our room was "hidden" behind a copy of Gustav Klimt's painting, "The Kiss". Kathy purchased a Klimt scarf in Vienna, and wanted to take a picture before we moved on.

shoeDAHR not ZAYdar

Instead of the ferry, we took the bus to our next stop, Zadar; I bought the tickets online before we left using the Getbybus web site (which was easy). However, finding the correct bus wasn't so easy. When I asked a bus driver (whose bus clearly stated that it was going to Zadar) if this was the correct bus, he gave me a quizzical look and said "Zadar? No Zadar. I don't know." I showed him my tickets and he said, "Oh! You mean shoeDAHR. No, this is not the right bus!" 

After another forty-five minutes, the right bus arrived and we got on. Actually, the new bus driver looked at our ticket and our luggage, and said, "No, no luggage." We stood there looking at each other for a minute, and I asked "Do you mean we can't take our luggage?" Finally, I understood that our online ticket didn't include luggage, and we had to pay extra for that. It was 2E for both bags.

You can see from the Google Map photo above that there are two routes between Split and Zadar: the fast one, with tolls, and the slow one that hugs the Adriatic and which stops at all of the small towns, and picks up people along the way. We went the slow route. I don't know if we had a choice, but the scenery was beautiful.

It was almost 2:00 pm when we got to the Zadar bus station, and we were starving. After running the gauntlet of taxi drivers, we went next door to a big, new, popular McDonald's. It was familiar. Kathy wasn't interested in going all the way to Croatia and then eating at McDonalds, so she just got a Diet Coke. I couldn't resist getting the Royale with Cheese. 

It was actually a long walk to our hotel; we probably should have taken a taxi. We used Google Maps to find it, as always. We had booked the Boutique Hotel Teatro Verdi, but when we got to the address, there was no sign, just a locked door with a set of buzzers beside it. One woman tried to send us to the street next door. Finally Kathy went into a flower shop and asked. The clerk told us we had the right building, but that the front door was around the other side. Our room was very nice, with a desk for my computer.

After dinner, we walked out to the seaside promenade to watch the sunset. Alfred Hitchcock is reported to have said that Zadar has the most beautiful sunsets in the world. Certainly many people think so, as the quay at the end of the old town is filled with those wanting to experience it. This is the first video I've posted. In addition to the sunset, you can hear the music from the Sea Organ in the background.

The Croatian architect Nikola Bašić created the Sea Organ in 2005. Carved into the steps of the seafront promenade, 35 organ pipes catch the sounds of waves entering and escaping the hollowed out holes, producing a unique soundtrack exclusive to Zadar. Bašić followed up the Sea Organ with another work on the promenade, called the Greeting to the Sun. All day, the solar cells store energy, and, when the sun goes down, it lights up with random patterns and colors.

After the light show, we walked back to our hotel through the Roman forum, overlooked by the 9th century Church of St. Donatus. Both of us slept well.

On our last day in Split, I noticed that we'd miscounted my blood thinner prescription, which I take twice a day. I downloaded the Kaiser Permanente App and messaged my doctor, asking if I could cut back to once a day, until we got back. She said absolutely not! So, Kathy and I went to a pharmacy and asked if we could get a hold-over prescription, just for the three weeks. She said we could, but we'd have to go to a tourist doctor to get a local prescription.

Since we were leaving Split, we didn't have time to do that. When we got into Zadar, though, one of the first things we did was find a pharmacy, to see if they could give us a referral to a local doctor. The pharmacist said we'd have to go to a hospital to get it, but, before we left, she asked to see the prescription, (from the Kaiser App). She then said, "Why don't you take a screenshot, and email it to me?" I did, and we were able to purchase a supply for the rest of our trip. Really an answer to prayer.

In the morning, I didn't wake up until almost 8:00 am. (I think Kathy woke up a little earlier.) We had breakfast at our hotel. I was a little anxious booking the trip, because I've heard that breakfast in some countries could be a croissant and a cup of coffee. On our first trip to Venice in 2007, we were give a Twinkie and a small bottle of Orangina. In any event, I needn't have worried; at each stop the breakfast has been great.

Today, Thursday, we scheduled in some touring time. We visited the Church of St. Donatus.

Everything from the foundation to the pillars were repurposed Roman ruins.

Outside, we walked up and down the square, looking at all of the Roman ruins, trying to get Google Translate to read the inscriptions (very unsatisfactory).

We finished up our morning at the Museum of Archeology across the street. They had an impressive collection of pre-Roman artifacts, but the Antiquity section was the real show stealer. I got to take a picture between Augustus and Tiberius.

We had a disappointing lunch at La Famiglia, a well-reviewed burger restaurant. I don't think we'll be having burgers again on this trip. The ones I've had seem over-cooked and too dry. I guess that's just the style. After lunch, we went back to our room, and I worked on the blog, then took a nap, while Kathy read her Kindle.

Around 6:00 pm, we left for the promenade, to see the sunset and hear the Sea Organ one last time. Today there were fewer clouds, so it wasn't quite as gorgeous as yesterday. Still lovely, though.

After lunch, I realized that one of the top-rated pizza restaurants I had researched was literally right next door to our hotel. We hadn't especially liked the pizza we got in Dubrovnik, but we decided to give this place, Tri Bunara, a chance. We're so happy we did. We shared a salami (pepperoni) pizza and a Greek-like feta salad. It was one of the best meals we've had.

Tomorrow, we're off for the Plitvice Lakes National Park.