We started off from Dubrovnik after breakfast and found a bus company to take us to Split. The journey takes approximately 5-6hours and costs around 120Kuna.
As I mentioned above, Dubrovnik is separated from the rest of Croatia by a sliver of land that is claimed by Bosnia. Crossing the Neum corridor was a breeze for us, Bosnian border patrol officers boarded our bus and we just had to show our passports. The 'Bosnian Riviera' runs for 23km before your back on Croatian soil.
We arrived in Split late afternoon and after finding our hostel we headed out to explore Diocletian's Palace.
It was a glorious evening in Split, pleasant temperature and a gorgeous sunset was in the making. Diocletian's Palace, is not so much a Palace - rather a city within the city of Split. There are plenty of shops, restaurants, bars and such within the walls of the Palace. By chance we came upon a Croatian wedding that was taking place at peristyle within the Palace. We climbed the clock tower in time to catch the serene Adriatic sunset over Split.
After a brief exploration of the Palace we decided to head back to the hostel.True to form there were some Aussies at the hostel and a girl who was at the same hostel as us in Dubrovnik was also there. This is where Real World: Split begins, albeit without the drama of the MTV show! After kicking it off with the folks at the hostel we decided to head out for dinner. There over a few liters of Karlovačka beer and some Croatian delicacies we hatched plans with some of them to head to the island of Brac in the morning.
We took one of the daily ferries to Brac the next morning with some of the girls from the hostel. The trip was 45minutes to Brac and provided sweeping views of Split and the Dalmatian coast. We docked at Supertar on the sleepy island of Brac and set about exploring. After hiking around the coast around Supertar's coast we found a beach to enjoy the azure waters of the Adriatic. Even though it was early October, the water was surprisingly pleasant.
We caught the ferry back to Split before sunset. After regrouping at the hostel, we headed out with our newly-made friends and explored the town of Split!
I have to say in all my travels the friends we made in Split we amongst some of the best. I keep in touch with most of them and to date and I've met 3 of them in different locales. It was just a great group of people that unlike The Real World, got along! For those of you who haven't been to the Dalmatian coast, I highly urge/encourage/will use all my persuasive skills to try convince you to visit.
Split, a city within a city, plenty of island hopping opportunities abound and a local feel to a beach town that is hard to find in many other top tourist traps!
