Railing thru Europe: Stop 15.1 Croatia – Split

Posted by ourjotterbook on Wednesday, March 2, 2011 · 3 Comments 

As we were heading back to our hostel in Munich to collect our backpack and stuff, the weather became gloomy and it started to rain again. We reached the hostel just in time before it became a thunderstorm. Usually during a thunderstorm one would try to stay indoor for fear of getting drenched to the bone, however we do not have the luxury to choose that option as we have got a train to catch to Zagreb. After gearing ourselves with our ponchos and brollies, we decided to tackle the storm hoping we would emerge unscathed. How naive we were…

As the wind got wilder, the rain got heavier and we were battered by the combined elements of the fury of mother nature. Pools of water were everywhere, making every step like stepping into a mini pond. Our luggage, backpacks and shoes were soaked. We were at breaking point but we still had some distance to go. After what seemed like eternity, we arrived at the train station.

I took out one of my shoe and empty its contents, water gushed out as if from a mineral bottle. (I wouldn’t be surprise if a goldfish were to flow out from there.) All our stuff were drenched and nothing was spared. I believe, that i have never cursed as loud and as frequent as i did before… till today. Having said that, we realized that all this were just part of the experience of traveling and backpacking…. and we both had a good laugh at our predicament. As the night train departed, we wondered will Croatia welcome us with the warm shower of sunlight, or the cold and gloominess of another rainstorm. It was to be a long night ahead for us…

Thankfully for us, we didn’t have to face another rainstorm in Zagreb, maybe things might turn for the better? However we still had to wait for a few hours before we could take our connecting train to Split. Split? what a strange name for a city located on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Split is also one of the oldest Dalmatian cities in the area.

Split train station

Finally found our hotel with the help of a local police officer. We were walking around for an hour! We didn't realized that the hotel is just behind the train station!

Substructure of the Diocletian's Palace (Dioklecijanova palača)

The entrance leads to a underground bazaar

Bell tower of the Split Cathedral or also known as Cathedral of St. Duje (Katedrala Svetog Duje)

Views taken from the surrounding of our hotel

We could even see the bell tower from our Hotel

Split was where the Palace of the Roman Emperor Diocletian was located. Hence the appearance of these 2 Roman Soldiers

The statue of Gregory of Nin (Grgur Ninski) by (Ivan Meštrović). It is a popular place with tourist and rubbing the statue's toe is said to bring good luck

The City's Republic Square (Prokurative)

We couldn't have enough of 'Surf N' Fries' as it was really good especially with its great selection of dips.

On a sunny day like today, its a great day to be at the beach!

Yummy pizza~!

View of the peristyle

Next, the capital of Croatia, Zagreb.

Luv, J and Yee