In Part 1 of this post, I shared my picks for geographical heights, and even some descents, from my explorations of Split.
For Part 2, I thought I would share some emotional highs and lows from the experience of living in Split, Croatia for a month, which was also the first month of a full year of travel.
I have written about many highs already – islands, sailboats, the shipyard, Canadian Thanksgiving…. But here are a few more:
Continue reading Five Highs and Two Lows – Croatia (Part 2)When presented with something to climb, usually to get a stunning panoramic view, I am always keen. Over many years, I have scrambled up large stones, navigated foot paths, conquered seemingly endless staircases, squeezed between inner domes and outer domes, put faith in wooden ladders and ropes, ridden small and large elevators (some with Art Deco interiors or digital displays; some randomly missing buttons on the console), and I even folded into a space pod at the Gateway Arch.
In Part 1 of this post, I am taking a moment to reflect on these physical heights that I discovered while in Croatia. I am throwing in some interesting lows as well, where we climbed down instead of up!
In the categories of best Hill, Fortress, Bell Tower, Oculus, Waterfall, Underground/Manmade, and Underground/Natural, here are my picks for Split, Croatia:
Continue reading Five Highs and Two Lows – Croatia (Part 1)I remember playing with LEGO as a kid. A lot. I loved to create planes and spaceships because then you could run around the house waving them in the air as they ‘flew’. And given how many towers I made, I doubt it was a surprise that I eventually studied both engineering and architecture. I am captivated by how things are built: bridges, buildings, planes, ships. You know, the big things you can see and touch, like real life LEGO.
Here in Split, we had an opportunity to see the inner workings of the biggest shipyard in Croatia. So I jumped at the chance! (Well, for those who read the post about the islands, you know that I had a boot on my foot, so don’t take the ‘jump’ part literally.)
Here are 7 reasons to take the tour:
Continue reading Steel LEGOOne piece of repeated advice I have received about Split is to “visit the islands!” So I did.
The only way to reach the islands is by boat* – ferry, catamaran, speed boat, sailboat, pirate ship (yes, one is available.) You can’t just drive over a bridge when it suits you. To visit an island means really engaging with the Adriatic Sea, and adapting your plans as boat schedules and nature see fit. It’s a good way to practice living in the moment.
Continue reading Island Time – CroatiaHave you enjoyed wandering around a city, only to suddenly realize that your phone is running out of juice? Did you let it roam continuously looking for WiFi or seeking to pair with anything via Bluetooth? Were you inspired to take a hundred photos? Did you forget your portable charger, or forget to charge the portable charger? No matter the reason, once the battery icon has turned red your heart seems to race a little as you wonder if you have enough to use a ride share app to get back to home base.
I’m here to say – just relax! Go sit on a bench.
Continue reading Sit Down, Power UpOn the blue horizon
200 white triangles
The expected call – “The boats are coming!”
It all started when I misunderstood where the Uber app wanted us to stand to catch our ride. We finally turned ourselves around, and the driver identified us as his likely missing tourists, and we connected. That opened some communication between us during the ride, as he pretended to have rescued us. After the usual back and forth about whether he grew up in Split, how the city has changed, and what additional jobs he had, he offered a restaurant suggestion. I apparently wasn’t repeating it back to him correctly as I tried to search for it on my phone, to the point where he almost pulled over to write it down for us. But again, we soon were on the same page.
First attempt:
On Saturday evening, we headed to Old Town and strolled over to Konoba Fetivi.
Continue reading One Restaurant, Three AttemptsI have cooked in foreign countries before, but trying to create the feel of a Canadian Thanksgiving outside of North America was a new challenge. I’m labeling this as a Travel Tip, because I definitely recommend trying something similar. It is a fantastic way to “dig deeper” as you explore a new city.
The basic image of Thanksgiving for me is a spread of turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, mashed potatoes, fiddleheads*, and pumpkin pie, surrounded by family on a quiet day with no shopping, no school, no parades, no football, but with card games and board games and walks in the crisp fall air. We would usually call our direct relatives for a quick check-in. This was well before video conferencing, and some years were even before the speaker phone feature. Perhaps some of you remember developing the choreography of when to pass the phone and when to recite messages, while keeping an ear for the oven timer. I loosely recall family friends joining us once, with the ulterior motive of having two of us play a clarinet duet as entertainment – not sure what they expected but everyone seemed to be thankful when (or that?) we finished.
Thanksgiving this year was Monday, October 14, 2019, and in our second week in our new city, here was the plan:
Continue reading Canadian Thanksgiving in CroatiaIt is day 4 of 33 in Split, Croatia, and I’ve so far managed to sputter Hvala for Thank You. Croatian is definitely ‘one of those languages’ that has various words with no vowels and/or lots of consonants jammed together. But a farmers market here is like everywhere else – pick out which zucchini, onions, tomatoes, and cucumbers you want, hand them money, and trust that they give you back some change. (Warning: if you are there mid afternoon, the older woman will try to send you home with all of her remaining spinach!)
Continue reading Angry SauceI admit right up front – I had never heard of the city of Split before looking into this Remote Year program, and I definitely could not have pointed to it on a map. If that is true for you now, then I am very happy to tell you about a really cool place you should definitely put on your list to see!
Continue reading Welcome to Split!
