On the Southbound Out of Town

September 01, 2017

The train ticket was written in Croatian. I suppose that is logical with this being Croatia and all, but for non speakers it is tough,

When I bought the ticket the woman said in English....but very loudly....like I would understand her better...."YOUR TRAIN IS ON TRACK NUMBER 2! (Holding up two fingers). NUMBER TWO! (Two fingers again).

"THANK YOU!" I said.

Then I asked her...."And what does the "v1" stand for and the "S52" which are on the ticket ?

She said...."vsitibluty"....(unintelligible) and "symctilutr"....(unintelligible again.)

"Pardon?" I replied.

"TRACK NUMBER 2!" She shouted again.

Oh....OK! I said.

I had a ticket. Still wasn't sure what "v1" and "S52" meant....but it still meant that I would be leaving town as planned and that was good enough for me.

The next morning. I happened on a train clerk beside "TRACK NUMBER 2!" Who explained that it was. Carriage #2 and seat 52.

Turns out there were only two cars on the train and so few people going to Split, Croatia that I could have sat in any seats from 1-52 and gotten an argument from no one.

Nothing better than a seat on a train as you head south....unless it is a seat on a train heading south with a cup of coffee in hand. (So civilized). I enjoyed my brief sojourn to Zagreb....it even sounds exotic to say the name. The train was nearly empty and modern and I was delighted to head to the coast.

(Take note the photo at the beginning of the blog is from the front of the train station where they have preserved an antique for display)

Everything is up to date in Croatia...including the train system...though they DO have a penchant for 70's Rock.

The train trip was uneventful and the scenery fun to view...but Dublin, Ohio folks take note: Croatia has you beat when it come to stone fences. If there is one thing that Croatia has...it is rocks. On the hills, on the plains, in the valleys. We stopped half way along the journey and I got out and I'd say Nevada is a garden spot in comparison. So, if they need a fence....stones are the material of choice. Miles and miles and miles of stone fences. And when they tired of building stone fences...they just built more stone fences. Dublin is not even a close second.

The destination for today was Split, Croatia on the Adriatic Sea. Due west is Italy, across the water. South of here is Greece. I passed by here a few years ago on a ferry boat and it is good to be come ashore. You'll note the Palm trees which adds a bit of charm to the place. During the months of July and August, I guess every 20 something in Europe and North America end up here as it is party central.

Alas, I have arrived after the party is mostly over, though I noted the big boats and the bars and I imagine the beer distributors will make their rent this month, along with the vodka sellers. And yet, there is a large number of Senior Citizens like myself...well not exactly like myself...few of them got off the 7 hour/$23 dollar train trip on TRACK NUMBER 2 from Zagreb this afternoon. And there seems to be grid lock with Mercedes and BMW's if you catch my drift.

Nevertheless, there is a great atmosphere in this Adriatic/Mediterranean city. My little room is way the heck up in the hills and the street winds around full of shops and the like.

Besides taking a recommendation from the owner for a place to eat...Restaurant Fife (look it up). She told me NOT to eat in the main tourist area as they charge too much. (NEVER would have imagined THAT.) It was good and though the waiter insisted that I have a large beer, which I declined and I got a really good meal....I nearly had to contact the Lord Mayor of the city to get my bill. Not like in the States where we get our bill with our order.

THIS is one of the reasons that I came. The Adriatic Sea. And it is quite beautiful. I'll be along it for the next four weeks as I go up and down the sea coast of Croatia and finally Venice across the water. There were plenty of sea going vessels along the quay. I did some reconnaissance work to find tomorrow's ferry which will take me a couple hundred miles down the coast to the south to Dubrovnik, Croatia at which time I will meet Makaila and start to island and city hop up along the coast until I read the Istrian Peninsula.

Here is the second reason that I came to Split. I wanted to see the magnificent Diocletian's Palace, built my a native son who through a turn in history because the Roman Emperor and then 30 years later actually defied history by retiring...having built his retirement home on the Adriatic Coast.

The Palace is huge and has been incorporated into the city itself these days. It's an architectural wonder which besides history, contains countless shops and restaurants (which my apartment owner warned me about!).

It is all quite remarkable...a destination worth its reputation to see. I have only teased you with a few evening photos of it, like the one above, but I'll be back in a week or so and give you a tour.

In the winding streets above the city, there is a constant stream of tourists and locals. The nearby school grounds had a ton of parents and little kids...I am quite surprised by the number of families in this Adriatic hot spot. I found a moment of solitude for this photo but most of the streets, which look like they should be included in an Indiana Jones movie set, are filled with people.