Adventures of Mark and Stu: Walking Around Split

Walking Around Split

Hills of Split

If you need to sound smart or seriously nerdy at your next function, you can drop the following tidbits. Daenerys Targaryen's dragons were held here in the palace. If they swoon, you know they watch Game of Thrones. If they blink blindly, drop fact number two. This palace inspired the Neoclassical Architectural style that epitomizes Washington, DC. Without this inspiration, DC could been blessed with a serious putti call of Baroque.

Like Breaking Bad is to Albuquerque, Game of Thrones is to Split. You can see it in quite a few places. Aside from bakeries and tacky trinket shops, you can imagine this being the perfect location for exotic anything!

In November 1979, the palace was named a UNESCO Heritage site for its global cultural relevance. (The Trump administration has pulled out of UNESCO.) At times, the palace was home to over 9,000 people (most of them selling postcards and really cheesy magnets for your refrigerator today). It is 2 football fields by 1 ¾ football fields. To put it simple, it’s big. Originally, the palace’s edge met the sea in case Diocletian needed to get out of town quickly. Today there is a sprawling promenade of cafes, restaurants, palm trees, and all the expected accompaniments like gelato and newsstands. Europeans have been coming to Split for some time whereas Americans may not even recognize the name. Imagine a place that never goes below freezing, has crystal blue water, amazing seafood, palm trees, and a well developed tourist industry.

Initially, this was a problem for me. We were staying in the heart of the palace. All roads may lead to Rome but all hallways in the palace led to our apartment. If you entered the Golden Gate, the main gate to the North, the Sea Gate to the South, the Iron Gate to the West, or the Silver to the East, you were going to easily find out apartment. We were surrounded by tourists, tourist restaurants, and low-quality overpriced souvenirs. Initially, I was a little disappointed since it felt like a tourist trap. If you walked around the palace and marveled at the architecture and experience, all the irrelevance drifted away. There was music in the corridors, roman arches in all directions, great places to sit and enjoy coffee and some cake. Every corner of the village was interesting and charming. You could not take a bad photo. In one direction was a daily green grocer market and the other a daily fish market with plenty of gelato in between.

Today we decided to walk up the hill to the North? (Never ask me for directions. More than 50% of the time I can be 180 degrees wrong). (West-editor) We have a code when we travel. No steps. This was violation number 1. The street became a hike, and then steps, and then more hill. It felt like I missed the price of Cream of Wheat on the Price is Right and the mountain climber was yodeling up the hill...and then we missed the price of the Sun Maid Raisins. Damn it was a long hike. The view from the top of the hill may have been worth the effort. (Once again, I violated the sacred rule of climbing stairs so it would be hard to admit the walk was worth it). On our way back, I spotted a snack shop that specializes in chimney cake. Chimney cake is a piece of yeast dough wrapped around a dowel and placed on a spit. Apparently it comes from Slovakia but is now made in many places. In Afrikaans, it is called ‘baguette’ which is just weird because the final product is a hollow tube. Stu got cinnamon and sugar filled with custard and I opted for Hazelnut and nutella. They were huge. The were so big in fact, I had to eat the rest of Stu’s! Don’t judge me! I had a sugar buzz for several hours as the insulin coursed through my veins.