SPLIT

Kath with Old Town Split in the background:)

After another bus ride of picturesque views of the Croatian countryside (we truly took the scenic route on our way back from the park, stopping every two minutes as we got closer to the city) we were finally back to the lively port of Split, this time to stay for the night.

We navigated towards our hostel, the sweating ensuing as we trekked up an incline only to be greeted at the top by a hot breeze, gorgeous views of the ocean and hundreds of people cooling off in knee-deep water at sunset (noooot bad Split, not bad at all;)).

We reached our destination where we were welcomed by the strange (to say the least) hostel owner—a free-spirited woman in her fifties with red, frizzy hair who went by the name of ‘Ladybird’. We were led to our tiny room where we were bombarded with chatty Scottish girls with such thick accents it took us a minute to realize they we speaking English.

Beauty around every corner!

Famished from a long day of travel we finally set out in search of food…with little success. We settled for one of the only places open just outside of Old Town and enjoyed a slice of pizza that tasted much like cardboard (we were too hungry to care) and a bench-side view of the ocean (a corny yet perfect image of our simple every day life over the course of our blissful three-week vacation:)).

We got an early start the following day and set out in search of coffee, food, and exploration time in the beautiful Old Town of Split. We settled for a cute little café right outside of Old Town for our usual cheese omelet + coffee breakfast combo, accompanied by people-watching and some brief lounging. From breakfast we headed to town to explore some Croatian ruins in the oh-so-famous Diocletian palace grounds—one of countless moments on this trip where we could not take enough pictures to justify the gorgeous architecture and breathtaking backdrop (in this case, the lovely Adriatic Sea:)).

We <3 Split:)

Since many vacations revolve around sight-seeing, food, and drinks (all vacations, in my opinion;)), our idea of spending the next couple of hours led us to a beach-side bar where we indulged in a couple of beers while taking in a panoramic view of the beautiful beach, followed by sighs of content as we basked in the relaxed, surrounding beach environment with no cares in the world.

Eventually the heat lured us into the refreshing, shallow water where we splashed around for a bit while trying to avoid all the naked small children and babies doing the same. After one last meal in Split (at the same café we had breakfast that morning..) we were on a bus back to Dubrovnik for the last night of our Croatian adventure (tear!!).

Our last hostel in Croatia had a beautiful view of ‘New Town’ Dubrovnik. We arrived late in the evening but earlier than we were expected, so the owners of the hostel were no where to be found. We ended up knocking on the wrong door where an old German man (clearly used to this process) kindly showed us to our room while continuing to talk to us in German even though it was very obvious we did not speak, let alone understand, the language.

Beach livin'

After setting down all of our bags we were eager to walk down the hill into town to find this pizza restaurant we had heard about to satisfy our large appetites. As previous reviews had indicated, the pizza was DELICIOUS. I ordered an interesting-sounding ‘Pizza Mexico’, only to end up with something that strongly resembled a pepperoni pizza + an extra spicy pepper ingredient… further confirming our suspicions that many European countries associate “Mexico” with anything spicy. Regardless…it was scrumptious. On a side note, eating pizza with your hands > eating pizza with a fork and knife (or European style). Call us ‘American’ or call us lazy, but eating a LARGE non-cut pizza to yourself nearly everyday with a fork and a butter knife can prove to be quite the rigorous activity.;) ..."first world problems" at its finest…

Split:)

After finishing up we meandered across the street to help ourselves to another serving of gelato. Due to our delirious state of mind from another long day of travel + the people in front of us who took ten minutes to order one scoop of ice cream, the lady serving us was barely able to translate our order through our constant laughter.

We trekked back up the hill to our place only to be lured back outside by the distant sound of music coming from Old Town for the famous Dubrovnik Summer Festival. Right before turning to go back inside we saw a shooting star, symbolizing a perfect end to another glorious day in Croatia.:)

The following morning we headed back down the hill in search of food and went to nearly every restaurant before finding a place that served breakfast. Another cheese omelet + coffee combo for two, please.:) We walked to the end of the street, soaking in our last few hours in paradise and following tourists in swim attire to explore different beaches across town. Croatia, don't make us leave!!

Old Town Split

As we waited for the bus to the airport that afternoon, we had no idea what the next 24 hours had in store for us. Our flight plans back to Madrid that night quickly changed to a night's stay in Munich + a flight to Madrid in the morning and hours of waiting for our lost luggage. It was all worth it in the end when we were finally on our way to our next exciting destination: BUDAPEST, here we come!!:)