Split is an amazing city! Only really intended to use it as a gateway to some islands and then pass on straight through to Dubrovnik, but it could well turn out to be the most eye-catching city we see in Croatia. I'm not normally into Roman ruins as generally they tend to be little more than a pile of stones, Zadar perfect case in point (although I may not have mentioned the ones there earlier (exactly, in fact!)). Apologies to any archaeologists for my ignorance. However, the entire city centre of Split is built around a gleaming, white stone, 3rd century Roman palace, on the waterfront, and when I say palace that's quoting it's title and I think sounds slightly understating; it's actually a whole network of streets and buildings. When we walked through it on the first evening it felt like we were wandering around a film set, albeit strangely alongside the bustle of the general public. In daylight the next day the make-up of Split's centre became clearer. At varying points in history, where sections of buildings or city walls must have fallen into disrepair, rather than letting them fall further into ruin or leaving them as mere artefacts for observation, gaps have been filled by architectures of whatever the time, creating a fantastic tapestry of histories all woven together, and only serving to reinforce the presence of the original Roman settlement. And the great thing is that Split is still a living, breathing city, filled with normal day to day inhabitants.

Anyway, enough waffle. We liked Split. Which was a good thing, as it made up for the accomodation while we were there. Thought we'd try an unofficial private room on the first night, in part due to a dearth of available hostel beds on account of Carl Cox's much hyped appearance on the sea front. I.e. a room touted by an old lady, or in our case man, with a photo of a room and half a dozen words of English, as you alight from the bus. It looked good, location was fantastic, and naturally it was cheaper than through an official agency. But they wouldn't leave us alone! I could swear that one of the old man or his trouser wearing wife were within two yards of us at all times, either in the little room next door (ear to a glass against the wall, I imagined), by the front door, or in the corridor between the two. Initially taken aback by the 9am check out time, check out the following morning didn't come a moment too soon. At which point we moved to the hostel we'd booked for two nights. Again, looked great. Nice living room, kitchen, balcony, free internet, TVs in all rooms. Until they showed us to the musty dungeon across the road which served as the dorm room, within which night never became day... Ah well, win some, lose some.

Following day, prior to journeying further down the coast to Dubrovnik, we took a ferry out to Vis, the outermost, most wild and rugged, and supposedly least touristy of the islands off the Dalmation coast. Left to grey skies and a smattering of raindrops, but spent over an hour being entertained by ze seagulls following ze ferry, one of which had a hilarious oversteer problem whilst trying to latch onto the air currents. Hot sun by the time we got there, and after a little wander around the coast we spent most of the afternoon on our own private beach! Fantastic sunset over the Adriatic from the ferry on the way back.

Finished my first book of the trip, quite some behind Neildy's rate of 8 a month. And he had to do it around Deborah talking! (Hmm, or perhaps not...).

Bus down from Split to Dubrovnik was even better than the one from Rijeka to Zadar, in terms of coastal scenery. Made a bit more exciting by passing through Bosnia for about half an hour too! No passport stamp, alas, but may pass through again anyway. Next update, Dubrovnik!