Going to Split was due to be our first use of the Croatia Rail-Tickets that we bought, and would likely be the only time that we use it. After this it's boats all the way. We'd be about 7 hours or so on the train but we've had cramped buses for long enough now and even an old train would give us a lot more space to stretch our legs.

Shockingly enough the train was on time. In fact, it was there early. There was one change in a city called Knin so I took the first shift sleeping (it was early!). After making a good few stops in some random places in the middle of nowhere we got into Knin on schedule. Two hours to wait for the connection. We stayed near the train station; had a hot drink and an ice cream at a small cafe and did a few crosswords. We bought this crossword book in Glasgow before we left and its really making up some travel miles. There's a couple pages missing now though. We had lunch in Knin too before the train. Just a couple of pizza slices from a kiosk. They both had meat in which put Kate in a bit of a foul mood. I think she was quite happy with the crackers and cheese she bought as a replacement though...I couldn't finish both slices myself. Was stuffed :p

Train into Split was uneventful. We got into Split at a reasonable time. I think this is the first place we've been to where we've been bombarded by people offering accomodation straight off the train. They're not totally in your face which is pretty cool. They hold up their pictures and ask if you need accomodation. You say no and walk on. We stepped into the tourist office and picked up a map. Looks like Split is going to be fairly easy to navigate. The city, as far as a tourist is concerned, starts with the Riva. Basically a sea-front promenade. You can sit in one of the many bars and resaurants along this street and watch the boats coming and going. There's huge, well-trimmed palm trees lining each side of the walkway. The bars are on one side for the most part and the boats are all along the other. As you walk up here you'll see huge old walls behind the bars. They're quite impressive. These are the walls to Diocletian's Palace, a massive area that makes up the bulk of the original old town. More on this later as we walked right past it on our first day. We assumed that the palace would be a building within the old city.

Our apartment was located about a 5-10 minute walk away from here. Another sector of the old town, but not quite so old as what is in the palace. Its still a very nice place. The small old parts of the cities here seem to have nothing of the order that you see elsewhere. The streets don't intersect each other at regular angles and they're all built on different levels. Perhaps building on hillsides makes more practical street layouts...impractical. I'm not sure, just guessing. Anyway, it makes navigating your way around a lot better. Weaving your way through the streets, looking at all the buildings built quite high and close.

The apartment wasn't actually an apartment at all. I think we half expected it. It turned out to be a bit of a hostel, but without dorms. I think there were a couple of apartments there, but it was mainly private rooms. When you step through the gate you come into a small courtyard area. A couple of tables in the middle and a kitchen in a small room off the side. Its a lovely place to hang out in the evening. It was a bit of a shock to have to share a kitchen in a place that was actually brimming with people. We'd been living in such quiet places for a long time now. Outside of cities, away from hustle and bustle. This would be a nice return to city life. The kitchen and dining area were certainly the best we'd come across at least. The room wasn't too bad either. We got the only one with a balcony. The only real issue was that the shared bathroom was right next door to us. We'd clearly hear anybody coming down the stairs all through the night. Turns out a lot of European girls don't wash their hands!

I should talk about Split a while. Its a cool city. Not huge. Not the central part at least. There's definately no need for the extent of public transport we'd seen in other larger cities. In fact, most of the streets in the old-town areas are pedestrianised. Plenty of room for scooters though. It doesn't take long to get anywhere you want to go.

Split has a long history. The Romans started the original construction of the place as a town a long time ago. It became a Croat town after Romans, but was influenced greatly by the Venetians and later the Austrian Empire. Its also been popular with tourists for a long long time. The Yugoslav wars obviously put a bit of a halt to that, but its definately picking up again.

I don't think Split itself was affected too much by the Yugoslav Wars. A waiter that we talked to was very much anti-EU and seemed to think Croatia would be far better off if Yugoslavia had stayed as it was. An opinion that, i think, differs slightly from those who were present in more affected areas. Its was interesting to hear his opinion though. He certainly had a point, but there's always two sides to a coin.

Politics aside, there was plenty of history to see. Well, the history was everywhere. Especially in Diocletian's Palace itself. We had a Split-Card. A tourist card which gets you free access to certain places as well as money-off certain others. So we got to work, making our way through all the free exhibits. They're free for a reason though. Some of them are nice, but small (The Treasury). Others are just a bit silly (Natural History Museum). That latter was hilarious. I kind of expected something akin to what they have in London. Maybe not so big and impressive, but I thought there might be a dinosaur or two. Turns out it wasa lot of very old stuffed birds and fish and a whole pile of sea-shells. It was a diversion at least. The Ethnographic Museum was another one. That was OK. Had a lot of information about Croat history. Something we had to know a bit about considering the length of time we've had here.

Outside of the city there is a large hill. You can walk up a long stairway that leads to a cafe overlooking the city itself. We've made an effort generally to see cities from above. Its a great way to see them and every one is different. Split was particularly interesting because you could look at where the palace is and try to trace the old walls, seeing where they end and where the new buildings begin. After you take in the view you can just continue along the paths around the hillside and look over other parts of the city. Its a long walk. I think most people hire bicycles from the other entrance. A lot of local people come here to run and cycle to get fit though. Its like a quiet green area set aside from the city to give people a place to get away from things.

There are also beaches along the bottom. Rocky beaches of course, but nice ones. We took a day to come here and do a bit of sun-bathing. It was a bit windy though, so I didn't really feel like swimming. I burnt my tummy instead. I think even Katie burnt a bit that day. Though her tan is coming along very nicely.

We didn't just sight-see and sun-bathe in Split. For the first time in a long time we were staying in the middle of a city. In what was basically a hostel too. We planned to go out and get proper drunk on Friday. I had my rum and Kate had her wine. We started by having a quick few drink to ourselves before heading out. Then an Australian couple turned up and we had a couple more drinks in the courtyard with them and got talking. A few hours later another Aussie couple turns up and we just carry on chatting until its far too late to be heading anywhere. Our plans were a bit scuppered, but we'd had a good night. Was great to chat to new people again, in English. Besides, there was still Saturday night.

We got started late again. One Aussie couple had left that morning but the other seemed to be up for going out too. Once they appeared Katie and myself had already had a couple of drinks. We headed out to a place that Kate had heard of. Our new pals had to go get some cigarrettes so left us there for the time-being. We had another drink. Met an incredibly posh dude from Edinburgh, out on a stag night and by the time our drinking buddies came back the bar owners had to get everybody inside the bar out of respect for the neighbours. This made the place a bit cramped so we headed on. We found another nice place though. Got a couple in before they had to close. Bit of a bummer. Especially since the Australians had barely got started. They were having to leave the hostel the next morning, but they were up for heading to a club. If we knew where to go. I remembered exactly where the clubs were. It was a bit of a walk, but the club was free entrance and it was full of people. We even managed to get seats at a table. It was a great night, but it didn't last quite long enough. Met plenty of people along the way though.

So Split was a good re-introduction to city living. It was strange to get back into the routine of sightseeing, figuring out how to fill your days. We did fill them though. Next up would be a short stay in an island town before heading to the even bigger city of Dubrovnik. Both by boat. Very exciting!