Trogir (in the middle of the Trogir Riviera area as it is known) was our eventual destination as we spent the day completing what really was a couple of hours drive. We stopped at a viewpoints and enjoyed the coastline along the Croation Coast/Adriatic Sea.the coast line was often rock lined and featured little island dotted along the coastline a few kms out. With the striking mountains as a backdrop it was lovely. We had wanted to visit Split, but hotels and parking proved problematic. We stumbled on to Trogir, after reading a blog. Managed to book an apartment near the old town, on a little island. Crossed 2 little bridges and as we approached the second one out excitement mounted as we realised we had stumbled onto a gem of a place. Checked in to our apartment (4 stars booking.com said....2 in reality). Got organised and decided to walk into the old town for a look and dinner. Dusk was setting in as we made our way down very narrow little lanes to the old town. Crossed the bridge and we were in the UNESCO historical town. Along the boulevard you could see the sea, cafes, old castles, church steeples. Glorious. I always get a childlike excitement when I see such fantastic stuff. Walked through the smallest of streets just looking at the shops, restaurants etc. Finally settled on one and enjoyed yet another beer with some delicious calamari. The stroll back to the apartment was about a 1 km walk...pretty steep for most of it...back to our apartment, but works off the beer. Spent the following day back in the old town exploring all the buildings...churches, castles...all the nooks and crannies. Trogir is a really pretty place. There were people there, but not the bus loads of tourists we had seen at some other places. Most tourists...and many were American, seem to come from the cruise ships.
Decided we would take the 8.30 ferry the next day to Split...which is where we thought we would originally stay. Took about 1 hour, but the trip was lovely. Clearly Split is the place to be. This was packed full tourists, clearly a cruise ship stopover. There appeared to be about 5-6 or more in port. There were also a lot of young people here...After some brekkie....coffee and a sweet delight.....I think that is all Europeans eat... We headed into the old town...about 20 meters. This place was truly amazing. Nooks, crannies and tiny lane ways etc like Trogir...but old ruins...it wasn't hard to imagine gladiators etc. It would appear that lavender is very popular here. Every second shop was selling little purses of lavender. Purchased one for the case...strong and clean smell...really nice. We must have covered many kilometres during the hot day, including a tiring and sweaty walk up to a lookout...which, when we got there, was really nice to look back over the town and harbour. The markets here were an array of colours, with beautiful big bunches of flowers and very nice looking fruit and vegetables everywhere. Lots of blue and white striped clothing....a store holder told me that it is the colour of the fishermen. There are also a lot of coffee shops. A couple of highlights were the Diocletian's Palace and the Cathedral of Saint Dominius. Saw some gladiators just hanging around. For a couple of euro (BR word out they would be making a fortune) and a bit of fun, I had my photo taken. Also saw a guy walking around dressed as a summer Santa. Although he only needed the clothing....everything else was real. The Croatian coast is so stunning. Although I don't think I would like a cruise, a cruise up and down the coast and islands would be fantastic I think.
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