Heading from Krka National Park into Split I knew I could take a scenic route which would take me through the town of Kastel Novi, where my grandfather was from.
Just outside of Kastel Novi I had a magnificent view of Split, the mountains, and the Adriatic coastline.
As I stepped out of the car I noticed a patch of poppy flowers. These were some of my mom’s favorites.
I remember she always used to keep the poppy gift she received from making donations to the veterans that stood on the street corners around Memorial Day.
I made it to Kastel Novi and jumped out of the car for a quick photo and wondered how far away he lived from that very spot. The town seemed very nice and was quite residential.
The main drag had every type of business you would need – a grocery store, laundry mat, bank, etc. It seemed like a really nice place to live.
Split is where I would drop off my car and then take public transportation or walk for the rest of the trip. Returning the car in Split was less than an easy task. I parked in the parking garage attached to the rental return office and as it turned out, the actual car return location was a few blocks away from the actual office. By the time I returned the car and then went to the office to settle my bill nearly 1 ½ hours had passed and I missed the opportunity to photograph the sunset in Split. I was pretty disappointed, so I just wandered over to the closest restaurant that seemed to have a nice view. As it turned out, it ended up being a nice evening because the weather was perfect, the food and wine were good, and the people watching was outstanding on a Friday night.
Since it was starting to turn dark by the time I finished my dinner I decided to do a little night photography. I wandered over to a pier that extended out to the sea where I was able to get a nice panoramic view of Split.
As I walked towards the pier there were a bunch of adults sitting on benches playing music and singing. As I approached the pier, I noticed that the entire sea wall was covered with young adults – probably in the 18 to 25 year old range – sitting and chatting with one another all while having some beers and smoking pot. 
I’m pretty sure I got a contact high just walking past them but they just kept to themselves and I was able to get some nice photos. I started thinking about these kids and those adults that I had seen earlier and figured that at some time I am sure that those adults were once those kids sitting on that pier; making memories and lifetime friendships.
The next day was the day I had been looking forward to for a very long time. This was the day I was going to meet my cousin, Dusanka, and two of her granddaughters. I hadn’t planned on meeting them until later in the morning so I slept in a little. 
My apartment in Split was the most complete of all the places I had stayed thus far. It was a real apartment with a living room, full kitchen, and a washing machine. Since I was about half way through my trip I had accumulated enough dirty clothes to warrant doing a few loads of laundry. I did not plan this in my itinerary, but it worked out great since it made it so that I didn’t have to do laundry for the rest of the trip.
Since I had a little time before meeting my cousins, I wandered around the local farmer’s market. All of the produce and flowers were so fresh and fragrant. It appears that the climate for fruits and veggies is ideal given the quality of the produce I saw.
Around noon I met Dusanka and her two granddaughters, Tea and Nina. They have another older sister Vlatka but she had to work that day. Thankfully they brought along Tea’s best friend Antonella (Nella) who works at the airport and speaks very good English and was able to be our
translator for the day. We wandered along the coast and stopped for some coffee and sodas while we caught up. We each shared photos of our families and connected some more of the missing dots in the genealogy of our family. As it turns out Dusanka in fact does have two Rottweilers and loves to cook and her youngest granddaughter Nina loves animals of all kinds and currently is taking riding lessons. Dusanka brought me a few gifts from Kastel Novi – one of which was a magnet with a photo that showed the place where my grandfather lived. She also gave me some other books about the town, so I can learn more about it. All of her gifts were very thoughtful.
I feel like Dusanka and I are definitely kindred spirits. She is a firecracker and a practical joker. She speaks EVERYTHING that is on her mind and does not mince her words at all. When walking past a bunch of police officers she was telling them to take a good look at her granddaughters and friend because they were single, beautiful, and good girls and would make good wives. Then, at one point she asked me if I knew any Croatian. When I told her that I only knew the bad words she started blurting all of them out one after another to test my skills. It made me laugh and really reminded me of my Aunt Elaine; who would also blurt out those words on more than one occasion. I really enjoyed my time meeting them and wished I had more time with them, but Nella had to leave for work and without a translator, the conversation would have been difficult.
After we said our goodbyes and headed our separate ways I ventured into the heart of Split which is Diocletian’s Palace. It is a Roman emperor’s palace built in the 4th century AD. When Rome fell, it was abandoned and then over time it turned into a medieval town. What was once the hallways of the palace are now the streets of today. About 3000 people live within the walls of Diocletian’s palace today.
At one point I was taking a break in an area called the “Peristyle” which is essentially a porch that is surrounded by columns. Anyway, I heard some amazing a-capella music coming from just around the corner. It immediately brought back memories from my childhood. The music was coming from
Diocletian’s vestibule which was the entry way to the private quarters of the palace. Dusanka commented on my Facebook post about it and told me it was called Klapa music and is traditionally from Dalmatia – the central region of Croatia. I enjoyed the little mini-concert so much that I ended up buying one of their CDs.
After I listened to the music, I bought a ticket to go into the Cathedral of St. Domnius and its out-buildings. The Cathedral was once Diocletian’s mausoleum but was converted to a cathedral later on.
One of the one things you are supposed to do in Split is climb the bell tower of the cathedral – so I did. 
It was 180 steps up, which sounds like a lot but because the views were so amazing with good places to stop and take photos, I didn’t even notice I had made it to the top – until the next morning when my legs reminded me I had climbed 180 steps the day before. :o)
The next stop on my trip around the palace was once Jupiter’s Temple but then converted to a baptistry dedicated to John the Baptist.
I continued to wander around the palace and saw many amazing sites that I knew were historic but unfortunately didn’t know what they were. The next time I am in Split I will take a guided tour of the palace, so I can learn more about its history. I really feel like I missed out on a lot of important details.
I finished the day with a nice meal overlooking the palace while sipping some wine from the town where my grandfather was from; which supposedly are some of the oldest vineyards in the region.
At the end of the day, I feel like I barely scratched the surface of the city and definitely would like more time with my family.
