Split is the city that I never knew I always wanted to visit, until I got there.  It’s a city that has literally grown out of the walls of the 4th century Diocletian’s Palace, complete with classical orange tiled roofs, cobblestone roads, and open air cafes littered across the boardwalk.  The thing that is most surprising to me about Split is that while many European cities look similar, here more than most you feel an unescapable feeling that the ways of the old times are stronger and fresher.  Yet despite this obvious nod to history, Split never feels old fashioned, it simply feels… well, Croatian.

Boardwalk cafes outside the palace walls

When we first decided to venture to Croatia, it was to attend Ultra Music Festival.  We began planning our time in Italy before, Greece after, and I’m ashamed to say, almost viewed the time in Split as a “necessary evil” to attend the show.  I couldn’t have been more wrong.  I think the two preconceived notions that were strongest in my mind as we were planning our trip to Croatia were “beautiful women” and “world class beaches.”  It turns out that while neither was a disappointment (after about a day, we stopped pointing out the beautiful women to each other – it was such a regular occurrence it hardly felt worth doing), Croatia had so much more in store for us.

Our “deluxe” accommodations from Italy

When we arrived, we were told that if you wanted a photo of the city, the bell tower was the place to go.  We paid our entrance fee and started climbing the stairs in the tower.  It was about halfway up when somebody pointed out how old these metal stairs were, and how incredibly tired the few fasteners to the stone looked.  We climbed quicker.  It turns out that we weren’t lied to, the views were incredible – the top of the bell tower was where the cover photo for this post and many of the others were taken from.

Belinda, Kyle, and Mike at the top of the bell tower

Kyle climbing down the bell tower

One of the things that you always hear about in Croatia is the water and it did not disappoint – warm, calm, and filled with beautiful women – what more could you ask for?  We were having lunch on one of the boardwalk cafes and as we waited for our drinks, I noticed a small pier that people were jumping off right outside the entrance to the patio.  “Here Kyle, watch this… actually, do you think you can get a photo of this?”

Mid-lunch flip

We took this photo from just outside the city on our last night.  Split was an incredible city that exceeded the lofty expectations I had in every way.  The people were incredibly friendly and welcoming, always doing their best to accommodate anything we needed.  The food was spectacular, I would have a hard time defining a “typical” Croatian dish that we ate, but we ate fresh seafood with fantastic produce at virtually every meal and while prepared simply, it was incredible.

Looking at Split

Here are some of the other photos I took: