Pucisca to Split

We woke up this morning to find ourselves in Omis, a town with a pretty amazing pirate fortress (apparently....only one of our group made it on the early morning, hour-long uphill trek to the fort). The rest of us were stuck at ground level, where a very busy through-road made the noisy town smell overwhelmingly of petrol...not so good when you're slightly hungover. We tried to retreat to the quietest place we could find and ate chips for breakfast.

Luckily we were out of Omis pretty quickly, and on our way to Split. We squeezed in one last sunbathing session and one last swim stop: Beth and I FINALLY worked up the courage to jump from the second level of the boat...but not the top!

We got into Split in the afternoon and a few of us joined our guide Carla on a tour of the old town, which for some reason also included a trip to a launderette and a juice bar run by Australians. On a recommendation we ate huge meatballs with mash at a buffet restaurant, where I accidentally ordered lemonade which was, basically, lemon squeezed into water.

After joining up with the Canadians again, we spotted a couple of Roman soldiers hanging out in the pretty square of the old Dioclesian's Palace, and of course had to get a picture taken with them. We also came across a huge stage where a group of performers were rehearsing Croatian singing for some kind of musical show.

In the evening we were taken to a backpacker's bar, but as the atmosphere wasn't so great - or cultural! - we Brits and Canadians headed off in search of other entertainment. We found it in the form of a couple of musicians playing and singing live music - mostly old hits - in the square of the Diocletian's Palace: surrounded by old pillars, it was a great atmosphere. As we sat down at the front we got a shout-out from the singers straight away - "WHERE YOU FROM?"..possibly because we were the only members of the audience showing much enthusiasm. At one point, a drunk tourist in a cowboy hat tripped over and nose-dived into us. And we wonder why tourists get such a bad name sometimes...

Last night in Split

Live music in Split

Romans in Split

Split, Croatia