Summer Trip Day 7: Plitvice National Park - Split

Seventh day of the trip. We're still in Croatia, but today we'll move on to the next city, leaving the beautiful Plitvice National Park behind. Guess where we were heading to today!! Well, today we were going to visit another UNESCO protected site, not because of the natural beauty but because of its architectural uniqueness. That's the city of Split (well, the old part of the city to be exact).

Heading towards Split

As usual, along the way towards the next destination, we saw many beautiful sceneries from the bus. The view was simply magnificent, that we decided to take a quick shot of it. :)

View towards Split,

which is located in coastal area

The drive to Split took around 3-4 hours from Plitvice, so we had to stop halfway for lunch. We had a traditional Croatian food, called Kebab ChiChi. It was grilled beef shaped like rolls and tasted like sausages. If you like the taste of meat, you will like Kebab ChiChi. :) And we had our lunch near the quay, where many yachts were docking. The view was also fantastic.

The quay outside our restaurant for lunch

After lunch time, we continued the drive towards Split. It was a very sunny day in Split when we finally arrived. The itinerary for today was just sightseeing the old town of Split. Just a little historical information. The old town of Split was previously known as Diocletian Palace. It was the palace of the famous Roman emperor, Diocletian. He was famous for killing many Christians at his era (this is a very bad reason to get famous). Diocletian built his palace in Split because he was born in Dalmatia region, in which Split was included. :Well, let's stop talking about history now. Time to show you the real old town of Split. ;)

The picture of the reconstructed Diocletian Palace,

it was located directly along the coastal line

Sign of UNESCO Protected Site

Part of the upper level of Diocletian Palace

A big tree with beautiful purple flowers that blossomed

in the middle of the old town

Diocletian Mausoleum (used to be Diocletian's tomb)

and the newly constructed bell tower

The open air dome in the

middle of the palace

St. Duje Cathedral,

named after the protector of the city

The statue of St. Gregory, the archbishop

who fought to hold service in Croatian

language. It is believed that rubbing the toe

of the statue will bring good luck.

That's practically the end of the sightseeing inside Split. We were then given free time for 1 hour to shop for souvenirs or rest in the nearby coffee shop. We decided to take a walk along the coast to enjoy the sea breeze and look for souvenirs.

One of the hotels in the old town area

Now, it was really time to leave the old town of Split. We moved to the newer part of the town for dinner. And perhaps you wondered where were Hugo and Rosa all these times. During the sightseeing in Split, they stayed inside the bus because we already carried quite a lot of things and the bag was full. So, they were just resting inside the bus while waiting for us. :D But, they joined us for dinner in a chinese restaurant located on top of the building, where we could see the view of the new town.

New town of Split

The day concluded when we arrived in the hotel. This time, the hotel was very nice and looked luxurious. We stayed in Le Meridien Lav and took some pictures in the swimming pool area. :D

Swimming pool by the sea,

sadly no time to swim :(

Hugo and Rosa enjoying the sea breeze at night

"Say cheese!!"

Last shot before going back to the room ;)

Let's have a good night rest and continue the trip tomorrow!! See you in the next post. ^^