Split, Croatia: June 10, 2015 to June 16, 2015
10/19/2020
Travel
June 10, 2015
Croatian money is called Kuna (coon-a) and is about 6.7 Kuna to 1 USD.
Crafty Croatians. We rented a car from the airport and the guy escorted us to the car. Then, when it was time to pay, he said only cash, Kuna or Euro (I had none). My travel partner spent an hour at the bank at the airport trying to prove his identity to Bank of America so they would allow him to take out cash. Talk about a bait and switch—gave us a “discount,” but only because he assumed/dictated that we would be paying in cash. We got a GPS, but it was complete crap. It took us entirely in the wrong direction. My travel partner called someone at the apartment we were staying at and they sent an escort, Tony. Kate, the woman we would be working with directly, met us in the apartment's parking lot. She became our inadvertent tour guide…poor Kate. Kate too needed cash even though on the website, we used a credit card to secure our reservation. Since we yet again did not have cash, she took us to three banks: 1) the first would not let my travel partner to take out money from his credit card, 2) the second guy could do it, but there was no way to officially confirm the transaction, it would be “on his honor,” and he was uncomfortable with that, and 3) the last place finally let us take money out against the credit card. While on this adventure, we talked a lot with Kate.
She explained to us that a large majority of businesses in Split do not accept credit cards unless they are large businesses. She also told us that Croatians only speak two languages, their native Croatian and English because everyone speaks English. She told us that she learned English by watching shows with English subtitles, reading, and talking by with people. She even said that English is easy to learn. I think this was the first time I had ever heard that. Ever. She also spoke with us about herself and Croatian history. When she was ten, Serbia occupied Croatia and the Serbians tortured her and her family. She also discussed, briefly, the religious composition of the area. Serbia is Orthodox and Croatia is Catholic and to her, she lumps faith in with heritage. This way, it shows others the respect that they deserve regarding their religious preferences, she does not feel the need to judge or be judged, and she does not have to get into the whole “my God is better than your God” debate. We teased her a bit and said we bet she did not expect to go on this mission with us today. She said no, but that she felt bad about the situation and that this also helped her practice her English and learn new words. We taught her the American idiom, “silver lining.” She got it and applied it to the current situation right away.
She continued to tell us that people lived in Diocletian’s Palace because it is not being used, and, because rent is so expensive in Split. She said that this is so because the government does not get it and is trying to grow the economy too fast and the people suffer insomuch tax is 45%. People simply cannot afford it. She said that if the government lowered the tax people could spend, not be poor, and grow the economy. Right now, everything is tourist-based. People try to do jobs under the table for survival and have multi-generations living in one household because places are upwards of 2000 Euros for a flat.
The apartment is very nice and big! My travel partner and I each have our own rooms, Queen beds, and beautiful shutters that open up to the courtyard. We got this place for seven nights for 675 Euros (5,098 Kuna or $756.81 USD). Way cheaper and way nicer than a hostel. Plus, it is located in their Old Town and close to everything, including the University of Split, which is where we are presenting on Friday, June 12th. We ate dinner at Brasserie on 7 where I had veal with green mashed potatoes.
June 11, 2015
Eventful day for a low-key type of day. We explored Diocletian’s Palace, which also doubles, well, triples up, as living quarters and a place of business. In the streets of the palace, well, more specifically in the recesses and corridors, shops have been built into the walls, and in the wider, more open spaces, large umbrellas have been set up in order to designate space for outside dining. It is beautiful and a unique use, or recycled use, of space given there's no room in Croatia to expand outwards. There were places to eat, sit down places, grab-n-go good, gelato, clothing, shoes, high end items. It was essentially, at least in terms of content, a mall.
While roaming around, I found a men's group singing traditional songs in one of the towers. The echo that initially caught my attention was beautiful and led me to this open corridor with a huge cutout at the top, but the sound, the sound was exquisite. The echo intrigued me, but the purity of their voices completely captivated me. The cylindrical corridor funneled the sound and attracted all the viewers. Throughout the Palace were ruins, a remembrance of once Roman occupancy. They were beautiful as they contrasted the new (new commerce and use of space) with the old.
Next, I took a tour of the historic bell tower. Something about touching the very walls of this country’s history made me feel connected to them and it made me think about all the other people of old who took this path to the top and touched the same wall I was using merely for balance, but they touched with a purpose. The steps of the tower were the largest steps in the most confined space I ever climbed. Each step was at least 15-18 inches tall, challenging in general, but especially so with a knee brace on one leg. Once at the top, there was a beautiful view in all directions, all exhibiting different parts of the city.
Maybe they envied his bravery, maybe they just thought it was cute. Either way, that little boy owned us; and we let him. After watching this for about an hour, I ate dinner at an open air restaurant (Lvxor) where I had spinach wrapped in sea bass and tiramisu for dessert, to continue watching and listening. Listening to the emotion floating in the air, not being obstructed by thoughts, and ricocheting off the ruins was nothing shy of magical. I was consumed, drunk off this experience, pure expression and exchange that transcends history (battles, socioeconomic status, war, occupancy, etc.) and were connecting everyone via humanity. Observing the ruins lit up by subtle though obviously modern lighting fixtures which further added to the mood and ambiance. I felt like I was back in time to an extent, experiencing what it must have been like on some level to go out and listen to music in the square, watching dancing, and eating. Again, humanity transcending history.
When I got home it was 1am. I took a shower and reviewed my presentation until 2:30am. We had to be up by 7am to leave by 7:30am to walk to the conference, which is held at the Faculty of Medicine (Department of Medicine) at the University of Split.
June 12, 2015
Because my travel partner cannot keep to a schedule, we left at 8am, not 7:30am to walk to the University. It was not a bad walk per se, but pretty warm. Like the apartments in Old Town, people were drying laundry out windows. The campus of the university was very unique: 1) There were places of business within the confines of the school—so again, reusing space and 2) the entire campus, (department buildings, dormitories, places of business) looked post-apocalyptic. Everything was dirty, tinted with the color of dust sticking to the walls, and grey as if all the color and life had been sucked out of the buildings. In part, the view makes sense seeing how they as a country are just now beginning the recovery process from the wars and genocide. It was a bit eerie to see a place of academics beaten to hell, yet what was walking out of there on the faces of faculty and students were hope.
Once in the Medical Building A, a woman approached us saying she saw us asking students where to go. We later learned that her name was Ivanna, that she was a professor at the university, and that she lived in California for a year to go to school and visit in San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco while going to school. She said that she loved California because it was so beautiful to her. She then told us she lived with an uncle in Las Vegas for a little bit before moving to the east coast and then moving back to Croatia.
My presentation was seamless. It was very well received. After the presentations, my travel partner and I got some good questions about our presentations and had an insightful discussion for about 45 minutes afterwards. After we got back to home base, I fell asleep—out.
When I awoke, we went to grab dinner at a different restaurant in the Palace, Bajamonti. I got lobster with fresh pasta. It was good, but not worth the price or the 45 minute wait. This place was not nearly as good as last night and way more expensive. The scenery was cool and pleasant, but not nearly as engaging as last night. After dinner we watched two young women, Clara and Sonja, who were between 20-25 do some breakdancing, dual strength performances, feats of flexibility, and playing with fire. Clara was clearly the heart and soul of the duo. I got some video of one of their performances and some awesome shots, specifically of the fire bit of their act.
June 13, 2015
Today we met for the islands tour at 7:45am. Well, today was a complete and absolute bust. Not only did we leave late this morning, despite me doing everything I could do to get my travel partner going, but to add insult to injury, he stopped at the drug store and wasted an extra 7 minutes. We got to the place for check in on time, no thanks to him, but me because I power walked there. Once there, they said they are not going to Blue Cave because the tide was too high. That is the whole point of the excursion! We rescheduled for Tuesday. Aside from that, the whole day was nothing but one disappointment after another. A majority of the day was spent with my travel partner yelling at me, being demeaning, and violating my boundaries of no business talk when on vacation, which then resulted in two key disputes. First, him telling me he pays for my time so if he wants to take 15 minutes of my time, he is going to do it (which I responded “Yeah, I agree. I work 12 hours a week for you at your house, you bombard me with tons of texts, emails, and phone calls weekly, all of which I respond to promptly). Second, he came in my room and stood in the doorway for 40 minutes talking business, again, violating my boundaries and making it physically impossible for me to escape. His solution was to allow me to put $150 on the business card for souvenirs. Way to buy off your daughter ass-wipe. As an opportunist, I will take advantage of his offer because it is in my best interest, but interpersonally there is too much damage.
After rescheduling the tour, my travel partner wanted to check out the beach. Biggest waste of time. Looked like a 1950’s image if what east coast beaches look like. It was small, all rocky, and in most areas, water was only deep enough to stand (up to waist). He went in the water. I was not going to waste my time with that so I sat in the shade at an outside café and waited. His narcissism and need for control, that ever persistent hydra, reared its ugly head in new form. He asked if I wanted orange juice, I politely declined, he asked again, I said no again, then finally he told me he was getting me a juice. Somehow, I thought no meant no, silly me. I got a few souvenirs for people. While walking around the Palace we watched some guy play a didgeridoo and checked out the chalk art. Pretty unimpressive. The ones I have seen in Temecula during the street art fair has better quality, more detail, and higher level of skill. We went home to sleep. Perhaps tomorrow will be better.
June 14, 2015
Another disastrous start to the day. We get in the car to go to Klis to see the ruins of the castle that Game of Thrones is filmed at, and my travel partner goes absolutely ballistic. He asks me to GPS the site, I do, then he goes on a about not having enough room in the alley way and is like, “put that fucking thing down and help me!! When someone asks you for help, you help them!!” So, I’m like “what the fuck. You just asked me to GPS!” After he's done freaking out about how narrow the alley way is, he then lost his shit when he noticed we needed gas. I look up the closest one and it’s 26 minutes from us. He's like, “that’s not good enough. I’m done fucking around with you!” So, I’m like “Fine. Let's go home.” He's like, “Fine!” Mind you, he's yelling at me throughout the duration of this pleasant exchange. Being the bigger person, once we headed back, I found a gas station six minutes away. Once we got gas he was nice and said, “you did good.” Schmuck.
So, we went to Klis. It was pretty cool. I got some good pictures. Afterwards, we went to see the ruins of the amphitheater. What was interesting about this was there was a giant house overlooking the ruins. Their backyard was the ruins. We then went to the park with the intent of going to a museum. We did not find the museum, but did find a nice beach. I fell asleep in the car. We stayed for an hour, then went home.
We ate at the Palace again at Mazzgoon. I had fresh pasta with shrimp and truffle sauce and for dessert I had chocolate truffles with cherry sauce. Apparently, I wanted all sorts of truffles today. Way to go subconscious.
June 15, 2015
Today we left for Plitvice National Park where we will get to see beautiful lakes and waterfalls. I am anticipating the pictures to be amazing. While on the three hour bus ride, the tour guide for this part of the journey gave us some history about various landmarks. On one of the newest highways, on the left side of the road, there is a lane with huge curved rib-like structures with glass in between to stop the wind because it gets up to 200 mph. We also passed an area where the Turks invaded and slaughtered the Croatians (Croatians fought for independence from 1990-1995). It occurred in a giant field, which is now known as Bloody Field. The guide said that this field was absolutely saturated in blood, thus the name. Now, she said that this area of the mountain is more or less abandoned because it gets snow October-May and they would get about two meters of snow frequently. Also, on the ride up she pointed out two tanks that were entrances to the once used army base, which the Croatian government will now permit NASA to set up their base there. Additionally, the guide told us that the Klis Fortress that we went to yesterday was used as a strong hold for the Croatians and then it fell and was taken by the Turks. Once we got to the park, the guide told us that there is a monument dedicated to the first victim of the Croatian/Turk war, a 16 year old civilian, at the front of the park. The death of this innocent shocked, scared, and freaked the Croatians out.
This place was incredible! I have never seen water so turquoise, let alone lake water. I really felt as though I was back in time and was part of the first few to see this glory. It reminded me of a fairy world with the amount of waterfalls, brilliantly blue dragonflies, vibrant and diverse foliage, lakes, and just over all how pristine and preserved this place was. I repeatedly asked myself if this place was for real. In part, it is a shame we were on the tour because I would have loved to have not felt rushed and really sit there and take my time and take in this unique atmosphere.
At one point, me, my travel partner, and two British girls got separated from the group. We all started talking and discussing the sights we have seen or will see. We all came to a consensus that our tour guide at the park sucked. She did not do anything to keep us together, make herself visible, or educate us about the significance of certain lakes, falls, or history of the parks. Rather, she just said ok, bye. Jamie, one of the Brits, told me she's from Kent which is a little south of London. Because it is so rural, it's nick name is the “Garden of London.” It was fun talking to Jamie and her friend (did not get her name). It is good to know that I can make acquaintances in foreign countries and get along and join forces when needed.
When we got to the restaurant for lunch, my travel partner and I met Sophie, a woman from Singapore. She was telling us that she has been to most of the Asian countries (China, Thailand, Vietnam, parts of Korea, a lot of Malaysia), how it is cheap for her to travel from Singapore and it becomes even cheaper when she “open jaws” (which means her to-route is different than her return route). Not only is it cheaper, but she can also visit more countries. She was also telling us how her friends amuse her when they show so much concern for her when she travels even after thoroughly researching her destinations. She likes traveling with friends, but prefers solo because she can do what she wants—I like her. We all exchanged emails. Sophie's email is soph-yap@yahoo.com .
About 45 minutes from Split the bus guide said she was going to treat us to one more stop so we could use the bathroom and because the tour started 30 minutes late. She took us to the opening of the Krka River. She said this area is important for the Croatians because it is where their hydro-electric plant is located. She told us that this was huge for them because it was only the second one made (first being Niagra Falls) which means Croatia had this resource (electricity) before any other country. While looking at the Krka River, I noticed a statue with a platform in front where people place coins. This was a statue of the Virgin Mary and its tradition for drivers of all kinds to place a coin at Mary's feet for safe passage and travels.
One thing I saw once we got back to Split at the original pick up spot was a bearded lady. I.kid.you.not. This woman was about 5’9”, broad, and had long, grey whiskers growing from her chin. I probably would not have noticed this except for the fact my travel partner, Sophie, and I were talking and this woman came barreling through us, a total disregard for us occupying that space—she was not changing course. My travel partner and I ate at Mazzgoon. They brought us a complimentary strudel with ricotta cheese, olive leaf, and something else. The main meal was gnocchi with Adriatic shrimp and prosciutto in a sauce. Absolutely delicious!! Tomorrow we go on our five island tour. The British girls said they did this yesterday and it was phenomenal. Super stoked!
June 16, 2015
Ok, got out the door, got breakfast, and made it to the check in and could enjoy being 20 minutes early. Once on the speed boat, I knew I was going to be hurtin’. The seats were bench-like (6 inches wide) that we had to straddle like a horse, with a back to lay against behind us, and on the back of the seat in front were handles. Spoiler alert, Iam so sore after the day’s adventure.
To begin the day, it took an hour and 40 minutes to get to Bisevo Island where the famous Blue Cave resides. On the way, our Captain, Peter, blasted dance/trance/dub-step—so great! We saw a few dolphins. Peter said that the dolphins here are scared of the boats and will swim away if he were to try and get closer. In the states dolphins swim with the boats. Interesting the “cultural difference” of dolphins here and that they adopted (or maintained) a fear of humans. I also saw several odd groupings of plastic bottles with what looked like netted kids soccer balls. Peter said that these act as buoys for fishing nets. Clever recycling tactic. Seems to be a trend/strength (or maybe just due to availability) of the Croatian people. Once we got to Bisevo Island, we loaded on to an even smaller boat and then ducked to get into the mouth of Blue Cave. Once in the Blue Cave, the natural brightness of the blue was incredible. It was a blue light that washed over me, entranced me, and drew me in. I have never seen anything like this.
Next we went to Vis Island and explored Komiza, an authentic fisherman's village. Peter told us that this island has only been occupied with civilians since 1995. Prior to that (1990-1995), the island was occupied and no one lived on it. The history showed with the stone buildings (many having wooden shutters, falling a part, or just struggling to see another day) at the forefront with green happy hills juxtaposing the buildings sadness in the background. We had an hour to explore. The entire village can be explored in about 15 minutes from tip to tip. Interestingly, there were three pizza shops, two cafes, and an ice cream vendor—that is it. The beach was way nicer than the one in Split, still rocky, but the water was a clear, healthy green by the stone edge, picking up the color of the green moss on the rocks, then it transitioned to a crystal clear turquoise, and finally transitioned to a bright yet deep cerulean.
On our way to Morro Bay at Stiniva Island, I saw that the cliffs of the island were riddled with caves. I wonder if any of these were used during the war? The bay water was the same clear turquoise and some people were cliff jumping into it. I would have, but since I am healing from a leg injury and wearing a brace, I did not think it would have been wise. I watched an inexperienced and naïve male Brit jump. He somehow hurt himself, could not swim back, and had to ride on the back of another guide back to our boat.
After that we went to Ravnik Island to check out the Green Cave. Unlike Blue Cave, which was naturally made, Green Cave was man made. During Croatia’s fight for independence (1990-1995), the military drilled into the side of the island, creating the cave to store armament. They also cut a hole into the ceiling of the cave to put the antenna for communication. Because of where the hole is, the sun entered the cave in a concentrated beam, like a natural spotlight. From one angle it’s a spotlight, but when we went at another angle, you just see the bright blue sky and a part of a bright green plant contrasted with the dark pitch black cave ceiling.
Once we left Green Cave, we were taken to our own private (and complimentary) lunch at Konoba Mareta. They made us tuna salad. When I think of tuna salad I was skeptical because when I make tuna salad, tuna is the hero and vegetables are thrown in. They made it where it was predominately bow tie pasta, veggies, and tuna chunks. Delicious. During lunch, we spoke to a young (my age) German couple about politics, the NSA, his work, speaking multiple languages, and the autobahn.
Regarding politics, Germany current has the first female chancellor in office. Regarding NSA, the German people are pissed at the chancellor for doing lip service and pretending to address it. What happened was she was pissed that the U.S.(allies) used Germans through NSA to spy on the Germans and because she did not know her own people did this. The guy works at Cee Vee where they take people's pictures and enhance them to order. My travel partner was talking to the guy about doing his post-doc in Heidelberg and how he was never motivated to learn German because everyone learned English. I brought up that culturally it makes sense for European cultures to be multilingual because it is necessary, increases the sense of community and connectivity, and told the guy we do not have this in the states because as a collective, we all speak English, we are isolated, and there is “no need” to learn other languages because we have Canada above us who speak English and Mexico below us who try to get into the U.S. This got me thinking. There is a need for Europeans to be multilingual because they are constantly in contact with their neighbors, many of whom work in Germany. We do not have that sense of urgency or need to survive to motivate us as Americans to become multilingual. In all other nations in general, but Mexico in particular, people come to the U.S. and learn the language to acculturate. In the states people merely acculturate. In European countries they truly assimilate, adopting beliefs, language, traditions, etc., of the dominant culture, but still maintaining their language and traditions. Thus to survive, they must be multicultural. The German guy was funny when we were talking about the speed limit on the autobahn we experienced and how that differed from when my travel partner was a kid. The guy said well (referring to the higher speed limits when my travel partner was a kid) they probably set the speed limits for 130/kmh because they knew the cars at the time maxed out at 80/kmh. haha.
Our last stop was Hvar Island where we had an hour and a half to look around. There was a fortress on the top of the hill that we wanted to check out, but we did not have enough time. Hvar has the second oldest theater in all of Europe. We shopped around for a bit, people watched, and then it was time to re-board the boat.
The way back to Split’s harbor was just like how the day started, fast, dub-step blaring, and fun. Because of the wind we got some good air off the waves, got a bit wet. One interesting thing I noticed was the Adriatic Sea’s remaining salt on my face felt differently than west coast ocean residue. West coast residue either completely evaporates or leaves the skin tacky, but no left over salt. The water from the Adriatic Sea did not taste as salty and when it dried on my face, it was nothing but salt, kind of grainy and flaked off.
Concluding Thoughts
In the short time I have been in Split, Croatia I have been to the mountains (Klis), the forest (Plitvice), inland (ruins of the Roman amphitheater), and to the coast (Old Town, beaches, and harbor). Each environment had its own unique feel and aesthetic. As are most countries in Europe, Split is no different in that it is a melting pot. Not because people are choosing to migrate here and live, but because Split is marketing itself as a post-war tourist spot. Since I have been here, I have come across Germans, British, Italians, people of many Asian backgrounds, Americans, Irish, Swiss, French, Spaniards, and Canadians. Everyone comes here to vacation. On one hand I suppose it is good because it builds Croatia's economy so they can continue to rebuild post-war, however, in a backwards way, it is almost like the rest of the world sees Croatia as the set up to a bad joke. It is only there to supply the jolt of adrenaline found secondary to the punchline and that it is only here for one purpose—tourism. Perhaps that is a pessimistic way to view it, however, other than Croatians that ran the businesses and waited on us at restaurants, it seemed like mostly everyone I ran into or spoke to were from other countries (and this is taking into consideration I was both doing touristy stuff as well as roaming around). It is almost like on a global economic scale, while Croatia is in this on-going recovery/transition period, they are the international jokers, the entertainment slaves of the international population, who in this case are the affluent bourgeoisie. Other countries (at least from the perspective of its members that I have spoken to) view Croatia as a vacation spot and disregard the history; or perhaps they feel like they are contributing to Croatia’s reconstruction by coming here?
From what I have observed, the Croatian’s are hopeful for their future, especially those that were young during the 1990-1995 war of independence (i.e., around 25-35). They definitely have a strong sense of history, perhaps because their’s was so recent so to speak. All the people of all the countries I have visited knew their history, but not like the Croatians, and yet I cannot quite put my finger on the difference. It is differently quantifiable though, perhaps because the sense of hope is fronted by the younger generation rather than the older generation recounting it. That being said, there definitely is a new found sense of safety. Frequently, I saw children about 10-12 out in small groups hanging out at 10pm-12am at night.
The night life also reflects this period of transition, safety, and independence in so much stores stay open until 9pm and the open restaurants along the harbor are open until very late to serve or to just have people stop by for drinks or coffee. Almost every night we went out there were multiple street performers throughout Old Town and the waterfront. Aside from needing extra money, seems like they are celebrating their independence, everything from street art, musicians (duets, soloists, didgeridoos, etc.) to street performers (gypsy dancers, break dancers, and fire players). I am not sure if they were young native Croatian women (12-35) or foreigners, but the way they promenade is definitely different than in the states. I much prefer it personally. I think it presents more of a mystique and generates more of an interest. They dress nicely (some loud colors), do not glob on the makeup. Conversely, women peacock both with their fashion sense (or lack thereof) and their makeup choices to attract attention. I noticed that the women in Split are much more oriented towards enjoying each-others’ company rather than attracting attention. I wonder if this different approach so to speak attracts a better caliber mate, let alone attention?
General Cultural Observations
Gracious people
Croatians have a greater sense of history than Americans
Might be because: 1) the war for their independence was 20 years ago and 2) everyone that I came into contact with guide-wise were young so they lived through it differently and it affected them differently than the adults
Very hopeful for a brighter more progressive future for Croatian
Very tall, both men and women
Their cars are about 1-2 feet narrower than those of the states, which permits them to fit in their narrow alleyways with cars parked on both sides—and by fit, I mean speed through and almost knock pedestrians over like it’s no problem
No protected left turn
No traffic cameras
Cafes and bars are combined
The airport is small, organized, and precise. You get your pass, then immediately go through security and passport check, then immediately at the gates--done
