We Split from Split, with no Banana Split …

… (just split skin … on his knee)

Twenty-eight years ago I was in Split.

When it was part of Yugoslavia.

I was there with a team from YWAM – Youth With A Misson and it was a small country-sized city, steeped in heritage.

And today as I walked through the arch of the walls of the city, I wanted to share my memories with my son who is nine years old.

I recall the fashion of beautiful local girls.

I also remember the city walls.  In fact, I remember that just by the city walls was a small cafe – bakery. Inside we met the locals and they laughed as we ordered coffee. We sat and made friends.  It was a special memory.

I also remember the market-place down the stairs under the Diocletian’s Palace.

Here nearly 2000 years ago people walked from the Bible era.

I had memories of a rural style market. Back then it was not a tourist market. It was authentic with rough large stones on the floor.

Now it is a packed market with touristic stalls.  Not a resemblance!

On entry we actually were pushed and shoved by two groups of tourists – I think they were off a cruise ship. As they flew past they had no regard for my son and I separated.  We called for each other and found this side area.

We have been collecting a little trinket from each country to hang on our world Christmas Tree, so we struggled to find anything authentically Croatian.  We have barely seen a traditional person with a headscarf like in the old days. Not a sign of a woman or man in a national dress. But w wanted one from this market, as it holds special memories for me.

I find it sad the western world seems to be sweeping over this planet and cultures are disappearing.

We head outside into the sunshine.

I had been warned by a friend who was here a week earlier that it is a tourist haven.  She is right.  We take time to look at the polished stones in the streets from hundreds of years of thousands of feet plodding upon them.  Now that is history.

Don’t get me wrong. The split is stunning. It is a lovely town.  I like it more than Zadar.  It is clean and it is beautiful.  It should be visited and enjoyed.  It has great signage and it explains where you are on the corner signs. The years, events and historical facts are there before you. Now that is great!

We hear a clock chime and we head to see where it is.  This is quite a large place and you can spend a while wandering the streets.

Oh, and if you have a car, car parking behind the bus station opposite the docks is a bargain price.  I think it works out to $1.50 an hour – about eight Kuna.  I didn’t know it was so inexpensive until we went to pay at the end. We could have stayed all day. And so close to getting there.  Now I really liked that!

Next, it is time for the local food.

Burek sa sirom is a Croatian-Serbian cheese pie made with flaky filo dough.

It is served warm. the slice is huge. I walk and eat, and find there is almost enough for two meals. And it is REALLY delicious. Please make sure you try some if you hit this region.

We love the central square area.  It is well worth a look.

Next, we are walking the laneways and there are people dressed in old clothing leaving a movie set.

We find ourselves in the midst of the filming of a movie.

We are NOT permitted to take photos of any of the sets, but I manage to find a few props in alleyways and snap those.

This is the making of GAME OF THE THRONES as a movie.

We stand as the director yells “CUT”.  How in the world we end up past security is beyond me. The director talks to us.  This is wonderful!  It is way more exciting for Explorason than ‘another old town’.

So we follow them. Up and down alleyways.  We see a lot of different areas where they are filming.  We see how they sit and direct people through TV sets so there are no shadows of people.

We believe life has perfect timing. To be in the right place at the right time.

Sometimes when things go wrong we forget it is all for a reason.

Like having this opportunity.  It is wonderful for Explorason.

Explorason ends up slipping on the polished flagstones and the skin is ripped off his knee. We sit in the square just off the docks.

We had wanted to find a “Banana Split” – in Split.  We don’t find any.  All we have is a split knee.

And we feel we “need to split from Split, with no Banana Split – just a split knee”

Unfortunately this morning we had a Travel Money Card issue and I can’t access my funds and I need to go and sort out our finances.  It was a bit of a shock, but I know there WERE funds in there.  I also have previously been robbed of over $11,000 on the same card.

So we decide to head out of town for a budget apartment/accommodation simile to last night.

As we wander along the docks I am in awe of the beauty of Split. I would love to stay a few days.

We are glad we did.

We end up with an amazing apartment for 25 Euro a night overlooking the sea.

This was another situation where there was a man on the side of the road with a sign “Apartman”. When we met him he was ten minutes out of town. So we had no idea that the apartment was located up a hill.

Neither did we have any idea the outlook was over the sea to a magnificent sunset.

But the best surprise when we went for a walk?

We had no idea the town was perched on the base of the magnificent rocks.

Such an incredibly beautiful town. OMIS is definitely worth a visit.

And below the rock, there is a road by the lights. It is not a good photograph, but it is an incredibly breathtaking place to visit.

So we stay here three nights.

Sadly our last day is stormy.

We don’t get to explore.

The weather forecast says thunderstorms here for three days, so we will move on.

But I think I would come back in a heartbeat.

Questions and Comments

• Are you a family that travels permanently?
• Have you been to Bosnia?
• What do you make of their culture?
• How is the experience?
• What is your take on families that travel permanently?
• Do share your experiences and comments with us below.