SPLIT, CROATIA

Or

Mother of Dragons Was Here!

Ok… so it’s a G o T reference, and not about our Dragon Chic.

And for those that don’t follow the HBO Blockbuster, our last port is Split, or as our tour guide would pronounce it “Spleeet”. 

The surrounding Dalmatian Coast along with Trogir and the Fortress of Klisa high above the city, play starring roles as the seats of Power in the Seven Kingdoms of The Game of Thrones.  In fact, the Ship has a special Game of Thrones Excursion for the avid followers of the show, which includes the magnificent palace of the Roman Emperor Diocletian who, of Dalmatian descent, ruled the area from 284-311 AD.

His palace, which actually is a small city within fortress walls, would be the final stop on our ship sponsored excursion, which we'll get around to in due course.  But first…

The day before was a Sea Day and nothing really memorable happened as everyone was still trying to recover from the heat and travails of our day on Santorini.

The Tempelshifs spent the day sunning, or trying to, as did apparently everyone else on the ship, who keep trying to steal their pool chaises.

Dragon Chick found a quite spot to read and relax while Chucky tried to catch up on NOWAT production, before heading to the cabin to start packing for Saturday’s debarkation in Venice.

Dinner was another uneventful, exercise of which waiter, maître d’, captain etc. could unobtrusively hover over our table the most to insure “All Was Well at PaPa’s Table”, as My Time Dining Manager Domingos has taken to referring to our table.  Early after dinner libations were cut short as it would be a VERY early morning in Split.

The morning started with a rude 530AM wake up call and of course Chucky forgot to order Room service the night before, so it was a mad dash to the Windjammer buffet to grab coffee and a Danish before reporting to the Show Room to join the “Highlights of the Split Rivera Small Group” tour and head to the gangway.

Once organized and on the bus [no front seats reserved, but the T’s did manage to grab seats behind the driver while our Wacky Duo were relegated to a few rows back… not that it really mattered] our guide Maria proceeded to fill us in on the country side we were passing through along with a smattering of History on our way to our first stop of Trogir.

 

Before exiting the bus, Maria passed out audio receivers which were barely useful until Chucky helped her adjust the Mic so we could actually hear her when she turned her head from side to side.

Our primary goal, aside from strolling the usual tight alleys, was to visit the Cathedral of St. Lawrence also known as the Trogir Cathedral before being turned lose for Pics and Tchotchkes.

After the Cathedral, we were treated to a tradition of Trogir, the impromptu [wellll this time staged] Acapella songs of a group of strolling Dalmatian Troubadours.

After the performance we were dismissed with instructions to be back at the bus in slot #6 in the Bus Station in 1 hour.

Lenny was anxious to stop at the little pastry shop we had passed on the way to the Cathedral Square for a snack and coffee, but found that it had nowhere to sit so after traipsing half way back to the bus, We4 found a small café that served minor breakfast items, sandwiches and coffee, but no Pastry. 

No worry, Lenny had bought a pastry at the no seat pastry shop so we ordered a sandwich, coffees and proceeded to sneak bits of the pastry while waiting for the sandwich to arrive, just in time to hot foot it back to the bus, which turned out to be in slot #3, thus confusing and almost losing half of the group.

Next stop on the way back to “Spleeet” was the Pantan Old Mill that had been restored and turned into a restaurant.  Here we were treated to sandwiches of Dried Ham and Cheese, some Local wine.  We4 found a lovely table outside on the pond, where the owner was tossing bread to attract the resident ducks and swans who put on quite a show fighting for the bread scraps.

After some scenic pics, we were back on the bus and headed back to “Spleeet” for the previously mentioned tour of Diocletian’s Palace.

As we mentioned, it was in actuality a small city, but it’s Cellars, which were our main entry point were used in GoT as the dungeon used to imprison the 3 Dragons of "The Khalese" Daenerys Targaryen, {Mother of Dragons},  played by Emilia Clarke.  Ok, enough about GoT… 
Wellll almost.

It turns out that while on the trek through the palace grounds {and small city}, We4 stumbled on a Tchotchke shop that featured a replica of the Iron Throne of GoT, where, if you “buy a souvenir” you can take your own picture on the throne, “For Free”. 

Well of course, Dragon Lady, [How Appropriate a name at this time] decreed that Chucky just had to get his picture taken on the throne, as well as a pose next to a statue of Tyrian Lannister {of the fabled tee Shirt Quote}, if for no other reason than for his Daughter-in-Law, a BIG GoT fan.

All of this was done after being turned loose by Maria and back tracking to the Iron Throne shop.

A highlight for the T’s was a visit to the Split Synagogue one of the oldest in Dalmatia, down a nondescript alley, up narrow stairs, where we were treated to a small lecture about the Jewish Community from the resident maven which was quite emotional for us all.

Then it was time to wind our way around the area, looking for nothing in particular and finding… nothing in particular, other than a Farmers market with Enormous Peppers, and hanging meat.

And then it was time to take the long trek back to the Ship, and we mean a LONG TREK, just in time to freshen up before heading to the lounge and Soul Man’s excellent Cocktails.

Our last dinner was more of the Same Outstanding Service and food, where we started with the last of the Champagne from our cabins, followed by the last of the Wine, from our cabins and after dinner libations in the Casino.

Tomorrow we are back in Venice early so it was time to finish packing, put the bags in the hall and get some rest, the day will be long.

Ciao 4 Now

Uncle Chuck & The sorry it will soon be over, 

Dragon Lady