Split

I loved Split. Getting off the bus I saw palm trees, cruise ships, the sea, souvenirs and people relaxing outside on swanky chairs enjoying the scenery. Right away I knew I would love the town.

The hostel was quiet but very nice. It was also VERY close to the old town, being 2 minutes from the green market, park with the famous saint, and the old town. The beach was nothing special. It seemed like a beach at a cottage lake. With that said, it was awesome to be able to say that I was swimming in the Adriatic Sea! When we arrived, there was a huge down pour. Thus, we spent the afternoon souvenir shopping underneath tarps. Then we walked around the palace. We saw a quartet singing and trying to sell their CDs, a bride and groom doing a photo shoot, little boys throwing water balloons at us while we were making our own photo shoot. Then we got a quick bite to eat and headed down to the main strip.

On Friday night, the main strip had a dance festival, similar to ones in Toronto. A bunch of children were performing a variety of dances. It reminded me of summers with my parents in Toronto, but with a MUCH better backdrop. We also met a famous former basketball player who showed us around that night. (I am not that into cars but we got to ride around in Mercedez and Sebring convertibles all night and hang out at a place near their stadium which was awesome!)

Saturday, we went to the beach. The first time we went in the water for 30 minutes before it started to rain. Then we looked around the palace again, rubbed the foot of a saint and made a wish, and then we went up to the top of a famous hill-Marian- where the view of the city was SPECTACULAR! (Well worth the hundreds of stairs). We went to the beach one more time and then checked out the beach clubs along the coast, although we opted to relax at a local cafe. Lastly, we walked along the coast at night. It reminded me of last summer when I viewed Toronto with Judee (my co-worker and friend) and her friends from lakeshore at night (it was spectacular).

Saturday night we also went back to the main strip. There was a huge celebration because it was a food company´s 50th anniversary. We got free food and drinks and got to watch chiefs at work. Then I was chosen to salsa dance with a professional dancer in front of hundreds of people. I also got some free goodies. Lastly, I got to see my future husband, Luka Nižetić, serenade me. (Just joking) But I did get to see the Croatian singer from Eurovision perform 3 songs, and I got to take a picture with him and Jill.

Sunday, Jill and I ventured back to GVU on our own.