Today was Matt's birthday. He's quite lucky because we seem to always be traveling on his birthday. A day in Split was how we celebrated it.
Most of the day was spent exploring the nooks and crannies of Old Town Split within the old palace walls once belonging to Diocletian who built his palace in 284 AD. Old Town was bustling with locals, tour groups, tour guides hustling for walking tours, Roman soldiers hustling for photo ops with tourists and Klapa singers. We toured the required sites like the cathedral, baptistry and crypt, but had more fun people watching and exploring the little alley ways not packed with tour groups.
The Klapa singers were very impressive and we enjoyed walking along the harbor but at a certain point, it was time to escape the cruise ship tour groups. We headed up the Marjan and found some much needed quiet from the hustle below. The Marjan is a forested mountain above Split. Along the trail are little churches and monasteries along with some great views of the city and the Adriatic.
In the evening, we found a locals hangout for dinner. The menu changed daily and was handwritten, posted to a board with thumbtacks. The owners dog, Rocky, sat outside with us while we enjoyed a birthday meal of gorgonzola gnocchi and spaghetti bolagnaise. I loved that the menu was hand written. They served whatever they felt like cooking that night.
After dinner, we sat on the palace steps and enjoyed some live music. According to my guidebook, we were suppose to enjoy local Croatian music, but tonight it was a medley of classic American songs from the 70's. It was still a nice way to enjoy a warm evening on the Adriatic coast.
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