Split, Croatia

Our final nine-day stretch is filled with re-entry workshops and program reflections in Split, a delightful seaside town in the Dalmatia region of Croatia. This is our last day here and we love it. Ceca, our program director, grew up in Split, has many friends here, and knows the best spots. For some reason this town of tourism is not teeming with tourists, the streets and city center aren’t packed with vacationers. Kotor, the tourist town in Montenegro, is very small: the center has four main open areas with shops and restaurants and the rest of the center is just a labyrinth of alleyways between those squares. Split is larger with a larger center, a long and wide boardwalk, and a few beaches (pebble and sand). Maybe the tourists are more spread out so they appear fewer, but we’ve only seen one cruise ship so I have a feeling the peak season for Split hasn’t begun.



Isn't this a neat picture? I swear it has no effects; Catholic church


Diocletian's Palace. The remains of this palace from the 4th century AD are in the center of the pedestrian zone in Split. The palace was built for the Roman emporer Diocletian in preparation for his retirement. Since the palace was spread out in its heyday, a large portion of the city center has pillars and disintegrated palace walls. The architecture in general is more Roman-esque at these cities along the Adriatic Sea so though the remains have kept their glory they don't stand out too much from the rest of the city center. The preservation of this palace eludes me. It's seventeen centuries old! And it's not simply roped off and looked at from afar nor has it ever been. Many tourists, including ourselves, enjoyed walking on, sitting around, and dancing through the remains and there's nothing prohibiting it.