Hvala Dubrovnik, Dobar dan Split

Most tourists are only here for a few hours unloaded from tour group buses then repacked at the end of the day.  So, since we’ve been here almost 2 weeks we are now eligible to vote.  We qualify because we have done  everything you can do here besides the stuff that costs money.
That included climbing Srd Mountain, the steep 1352 foot mountain directly behind the Old City.
Since it was there, we had to go to the top.  There is a  gondola  that can take you to the top in a few minutes but where's the fun in (paying for) that so we hiked for an hour instead.

The hardest part was finding the direct way to the entrance, which we didn't find although we did find Bernard Shaw St and took that to the entrance,  crossing the main highway to get the the start of the trail.
George Bernard Shaw once called Dubrovnik "the pearl of the Adriatic, those who seek paradise on Earth should come to Dubrovnik".  So, naturally they named a street after him. 

The trail up Srd Mountain was initially cool and wooded with cypress and pine trees transitioning to  a barren, rocky landscape as we climbed higher.
The trail was steep with numerous cutbacks and at the end of every cutback turn was a large Station of the Cross plaque.  Going off the trail was discouraged because it is not clear if all the Serbian landmines have been removed from the mountain. 

The unseasonably hot day coupled with the uneven  rocky trail and threat of unexploded mines made this Stations of the Cross journey a little less intense than Nick's three hour Queen of All Saint's Good Friday ordeals growing up.

Pine, laurel and cypress were being burned below smelling sort of like incense so there were flashbacks as well.

Once we got to the top we stayed for few minutes trying to avoid other people's selfies in front of the Imperial Fortress built by Napoleon in1806.  Another aha moment,  realizing that Napoleon got this far east.  The fortress was repurposed by Serbia  to launch attacks/bombs during their siege of Dubrovnik and now repurposed by the Croats for a war memorial museum.

Over those hills, Montenegro and Bosnia/Herzegovina

In order to allow Patricia some childhood flashbacks, we walked down the other side of the mountain which resembled the hills surrounding the San Fernando Valley.    We had our wild animal moment,  encountering some Jackasses on the road just like the 101 freeway. 

Note goal nets

Continuing our civic experience we took a local  bus to Cavtat about 12 miles south of Dubrovnik, another pretty Croatian coastal town. We sound jaded because we are now locals, but it did have it's unique charms; water polo area in the harbor (salt water polo)?

Greater Dubrovnik  is apparently famous for its water polo teams winning multiple championships

According to our Mostar tour guide, Croatia excels at sports most other countries are not interested in, as with Dubrovnik and water polo, the tiny village of Metkovic, which we drove thru, is famous for its handball champions.

We hiked along the beach for a few miles and somehow ended up back where we started not realizing we had walked along a finger-like peninsula.  Then we walked in the other direction and  the same thing happened,  it was like walking a Mobius strip. The town is made up of two thin polyp- peninsulas it gave us the finger twice for our geographic ignorance.

We are also now experts on the supermarkets of Durbornik, usually going to either Tommy or  Konzum (means consumption in Croatian) and which we hope is pronounced consume.

Language-wise, we are still struggling. Nick has been mocked in his earnest attempts.  One native commented that he speaks better Chinese than Nick speaks Croatian, and all Nick said was "ne hvala" (no thank you).  Ouch! We can see why they were always fighting.  Or, maybe he thought he was speaking Serbian, which actually is the same language, or used to be. Since the war, each country has taught  their own slight variation of the original, unified Serbo-Croatian/Yugoslavian language. Croats have even gone so far as outlawing the Cryllic alphabet which Serbia has readopted and of course, Bosnia Herzogovina uses both.

Here's a link to an article in the NY Times (11/20/18) about Mostar similar to what we witnessed, better explaining the continuing differences which frighteningly portents the path the US and other nations are taking with the nationalism/ populist movements https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/19/world/europe/mostar-bosnia-ethnic-divisions-nationalism.html

Dubrovnik was still on our minds as we drove into Split. Starting with the bus station, rarely a good start, we were turned off by an initial feeling of neglect and general tackiness with restaurants, kiosks and  shops obscuring  the main attraction of the tourist draw- Diocletian's Palace. 

Original walls went right up to the water, thanks Wikipedia

Remodel; paved paradise, put up a boardwalk

Diocletian was a 4th century Roman Emperor who  retired to Split, using his 401K in 305 AD. His retirement palace was used as a fixer upper by each subsequent generation, adding, tearing down and repurposing the original along the way.  The palace and later, medieval fortifications became a framework for the growing city, utilized for both residential and commercial.  The mausoleum became the cathedral, a Roman temple became a museum and the bed-chambers became a Konzum.

Everything else became either a Game of Thrones filming location, upscale shops or an Air B&B. We thought our Air B&B might have been the old palace bathroom at first, but then realized the smells  were due to the adjacent fresh fish market and sulphur hot springs, which are housed in Patricia's favorite building in Split.

Outside of the old city, the Venetian and Austro-Hungarian influences are strongly felt with beautiful Secession-style architecture tempered with the benign neglect of communist years.

As we walked through the city, we appreciated it more.  There was this odd functional blend of every period, using what was there to fit the needs of the time.   While the beauty was evident in many places, sometimes we needed to squint to see it, obscured by multiple centuries of remodels.

After our first day requisite walk through the city, the second day we hiked Marjan Hill, all 584 feet. 

Marjan Hill seen later that evening

We were joined by half of the city of Split, going for a Sunday morning walk. The inventor of the Fit-Bit must have been Croatian, because they seem to be obsessed with steps, always identifying how many steps until the destination.

 Marjan is a lovely in-town forest with ancient hermitages (little rock hermit houses), 12th century St. Nicholas church (everywhere has at least one St. Nicholas church, he and Napoleon definitely got around) and the overgrown, Jewish cemetery.  Although the cemetery has not been used since 1945, the building is still in use, repurposed as a restaurant with a very nice view.

Hmm, why not used since 1945?

Split considers itself the "sportiest city in Europe" with more than  90 Olympic athletes hailing from Split.  Their Hollywood Walk of Fame is a series of plaques honoring Olympians along the very busy boardwalk, the Riva, along the marina.  Olympics, handball and water polo championships and almost winning the World cup this summer, losing in the finals to France.  Very impressive for a  27 year old country of about 4.2 million people-it must be the steps.

This week's photo of topless old man looking out window contemplating his life: "I did 12 steps today."