Pallecinca is sad that we are leaving her for a week.
Our ferry, Marko Polo, sits in port in Ancona awaiting our departure. Jadrolinija is the Croatian ferry company that we used.
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The Marko Polo sits in port in Split at 7 am after a 10 hour overnight journey.
A artisitic rendering of what Diocletian's palace may have looked like when it was first built. The palace walls defined the first Roman settlement of Split until the locals booted the retired Roman emperor and his army. The temple of Jupiter was turned into a church and a huge tower was added that remains the city's symbol.
The ancient wall of Diocletian's palace that faces the ocean is partially intact but has been broken up by many centuries of construction and destruction.
Our tour guide was a local archaeologist who graduated from the local university and spoke really good English.
The substructure beneath the palace was apparently used as a set for an episode of Game of Thrones.
Roman mosaic floors are restored and maintained by students at the local university, which actually has a major for archaeological restoration.
One enormous vine stretches over a number of old buildings and a tiny alleyway.
This is the tower that is now attached to the old Temple of Jupiter.
These gentleman sing traditional Dalmatian songs in this incredible vestibule in the center of the old palace. Here's a video of them singing that I found on Youtube but did not take myself.
Looking up through the circular vestibule.
The Temple of Jupiter that is now a Catholic church.
An enormous wizard.
Rub his toe for good luck!
The narrowest street in Split. It's name roughly translates too, "Please let me pass."
The waterfront of the old city of Split.
Awaiting our arrival in Stari Grad on the island of Hvar after a two hour ferry ride from Split.
We then drove an hour or so and found ourselves in the city of Hvar on this patio being welcomed by Sandro's cousin, her husband, and a glass of juice of wine.
An amazing plant covered in spider webs on the patio.
The view from our room looking out over the harbor of Hvar.
The view looking northeast from one of the highest points of the island. You can see Stari Grad and beyond it another island and the farthest ridge is the mainland.
A stone hut built by herders some centuries ago. Most of the island of Hvar is too stony for cultivation and so much of the island's backbone was the site of sheep and goat herding. You can also see some terraces on the right side that were constructed in the 1800s.
A lime kiln next to the road. Lime was one of Hvar's major exports and because the entire island is limestone there has been no shortage of supply.
Green oranges! Although they are more tart than regular oranges, their juice can be mixed with more sugar or else they can be left on the tree all the way until the spring to over ripen.
This archaeological site in Stari Grad includes the foundations of the original Greek village from the 4th century BC and on top of that there are ruins of a church from the 6th century AD and at the very far left, the town's church that still stands is from the 12th century.
Lavender grows all over the island. The flowers have already been harvested otherwise there would be large swatches of purple in more of my photographs.
Looking across the Stari Grad plain that stretches from Stari Grad to Jelsa and is the only expanse of flat and silty farmland with developed soil on the island.
Olives and grapes have been cultivated widely on the island both for subsistence and for export and the tradition remains deeply engrained in the culture.
The village of Humac sits above the city of Jelsa and while most of the buildings are abandoned and ruined some have been renovated and used as vacation homes. We had lunch at the one restaurant in town and had wine, olive oil, beef, potatoes, bread, and more all grown right on the property.
The site of an olive or grape press.
These little fruits, about the size of a grape, grow on what the English call a strawberry tree and the Croatians call planika.
The restaurant's horse chillin' in their vineyard.
After lunch we took a gorgeous walk to the site of the oldest found artifacts on the island of Hvar.
Here's the cave.
Sandro likes to play in the dirt.
This is the view of the harbor of Jelsa from the gelateria where we stopped before heading home for the day.
A traditional sailboat of the Dalmatian coast is very utilitarian and tubby but the huge lateen sail is really quite majestic.
Another of Sandro's cousins drove us on his fishing-boat-turned-water-taxi to the island of Paklinski.
Sandro's childhood friend Branko hangs out on the front deck on the boat ride over.
The coast of Paklinski reminded me of Schoodic Point in Acadia, Maine.
Travis looks down a natural hole on the beach that was lined by naturally occuring calcite deposits and, despite reaching below sea level and being only about 50 feet from the sea, acts as a natural freshwater cistern.
All of us head along the shore to meet the boat again.
Preparing to board.
Lunch that day was maybe my favorite meal of the entire program.
Local seafood salad made of octopus, squid, cucumber, tomato, olives, chick peas, and onions. This was my favorite dish.
Eggplant lasagna drenched in olive oil. Yum!
Sam rides part of an old olive press.
Carob trees grow all around the Mediterranean.
Though very fibrous and tough, they have a sweetness much like honey and have been a source of nourishment for starved sailors for millennia.
The only remnant of a Roman villa on the island.
What a strange environment that breeds some species of plants recognizable to New York and yet also has cacti. Chickens!
This well used to be how the local people accessed the enormous cistern that lies below the main square in Hvar. Because the limestone bedrock of Hvar is so karstified and porous groundwater has always been difficult to find and exploit. Now water is pumped through an undersea aqueduct from the mainland.
The view of Hvar's harbor from the Venitian fort overlooking the city.
Capers! Capers cannot be cultivated and only really like growing in rocks but we did see them all over Croatia.
This is the first pomegranate tree I ever saw!
I figure these are an homage to Croatia's currency, the kuna, which means pine martin.
My first ever fresh orange was given to me by an old lady who handed them out to us in the street as we walked across town a geological site.
Robby puts on his perfume by rubbing his head in this rosemary bush.
On our walk through the city it started rain and the storm brought these waves with it. This one definitely got my feet because I was too busy thinking about the picture.
After a harrowing drive along a dirt road we came across this village, which has been completely abandoned except for one guy who owns a restaurant and makes his own wine, bread, and olive oil there.
The old olive press could still be turned. The village was only abandoned about 50 years ago.
We drove on this road along the dirt road you can see on the right side of the picture. With a precipitous drop to the ocean on one side and the hillside on the other it was a pretty sketchy time but we got some amazing views.
The rock layers here have been turned vertically from the time when Africa crashed into Europe to created the Alps. Here they create some dramatic vertical cliffs.
Travis conducts the sea like the Sorcerer's Apprentice.
Robby is chased by the crashing waves.
This is my last picture before I was hit by this wave and my camera stopped working for a week. After a rice bath and some time everything returned to normal.
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