Saturday 7^th April

 

We go home this evening and on the spur of the moment as we drag our cases to the main hotel we decide to leave on the next bus for Split and not trek the long hill down only to come up again later. Our flight doesn’t leave until after 9 and we have the whole day to look around Trogir and maybe Ciovo both linked by bridges so no boat today!

We catch the bus at 10, cases stowed in the special hold underneath. At the bus station we leave our cases at the left luggage place by the airport bus stop. This is open till 9pm at 5 kunar the first hour and 1½ kunar every hour after. Split was heaving with people especially around the markets which looked enticingly interesting. It is a Saint’s Day and a tannoy sends what sounds like a religious message across the crowds.

Lonely Planet had said to take bus number 1 to Trogir but there were no buses here so we walked further into town where we learnt that the bus station for Trogir was quite a way further up and a number 37 bus.

It took nearly an hour of slow moving, picking up at every stop ridiculously close to one another, mainly through housing. It was nice to hear English voices and a little girl singing the wheels on the bus and we saw the family again in the queue for the plane home. We passed by industry and derelict factories. The bus drove by the airport and on for another 5 miles when the bus would leave Trogir back to Split. There were frequent buses both ways.

Trogir is a listed UNESCO site and most of it is on an island, walled and with 2 gates. We crossed a short bridge to it. The water here seemed more like a moat.

 You can see that tourism is important here as there are many restaurants with front of house people touting for trade. We settled for one selling” craft beer” though this was perhaps a clever ploy as we had had the beer in several places previously. We liked it anyway. We had pasta dishes and salad and sitting by the harbour the wind was really cooling us down. We had been extremely hot.

 

 

Ciovo is on the opposite bank and cruisers and sailing ships are anchored both sides. Above us aeroplanes take off and come down for landing which makes it a little noisy.

We walk over the bridge to Ciovo. Only when we have walked several miles do we realise how big it is. Most buildings are apartments for holiday makers.  It is pretty and the houses have charm but the roads are so busy particularly with motor bikes, even down narrow alleyways we thought for pedestrians only. It is probably more than 20 miles round and we had had enough of the traffic with no footpaths by the road! We went back to Trogir.

We walked towards Kamerlengo Castle on the SW corner. Built by the Venetians about 1430 it is imposing with high walls facing the sea. It wasn’t open but perhaps it will be in high season. The views from the top are supposed to be splendid.  The castle used to be connected to St Mark’s tower which was to be used in defence of the strip of water between island and mainland- artillery was installed on the circular top. Now the area between the 2 buildings is a sports field.

Bits of shiny stones protruded through the gravel paths and I tripped. My sandals have a rocking base supposed to be good for posture but unfortunately in trying to correct my balance I actually fell forwards more to my embarrassment with only a little grazing. I did jar my jaw though and for several days my bite was altered which was weird!

We walked through a sort of park where green lizards sunning themselves, skittered back to the shelter of the rocky wall underneath as we threw shadows over them. There must be hundreds here. I needed to clean up my hands and check I wasn’t bleeding but we didn’t see public loos. I asked a café worker if I bought an ice cream could I wash my hands first. It was a lovely ice with cherries and under £1 and luckily there wasn’t much blood!

In the square there were young men wearing traditional dress. I think they were waiting for enough tourists to gather. They were singers and their CDs were on show. They didn’t seem very enthusiastic though and we never heard them while we were on Trogir which is small enough wherever you are. Above the “stage” which is the town’s Loggia, an ancient roof supported by 6 columns, incongruously white washing flaps in the wind.

 

 

 

The buildings are beautiful and interesting, the stuff of artists though Bob doesn't seem to have captured it too much today.The Cathedral is open but many groups seem to be inside. We watch people climb the Gothic Belltower. You can see them through the latticed windows. The view is probably breathtaking but you need plenty of breath to get up the stairs. I wasn’t risking it…

We went around the opposite outside wall then back through the middle. The island had been a little disappointing as buildings were still shut for the winter season. It must be very bad in the summer when more tourists come as we thought it busy today( though this might have something to do with the Saints’Day)

It was back on the slow bus to Split. It didn’t seem to take as long though and at 6 o’clock Split Harbour with the market still in full swing was as busy as ever. I wanted to buy well- made wooden bows and arrows for the grandchildren but Bob said we wouldn’t get them through customs so we settled for cotton Pirate T shirts instead, which really weren’t exciting enough! We retrieved our bags and bought tickets for the airport bus. There seemed to be a lot of people arriving which made us think the earlier we left the better. We only just all squeezed on and I worried the cases might fall out the other side of the hold as people threw their bags in on top.

At least everyone was going to the same place and there were no lost cases. Split airport is tiny and from upstairs you can see the sea. The time soon passed and we were on the plane home. We had added another 4 islands to our list and I have to say my favourite was Hvar near Starigrad where we had the beautiful unexpected bike ride through the countryside.